| The number of category four and five hurricanes has nearly doubled over the past decade. Charleston, the second most populous city in South Carolina, is located on a very low peninsula, making it susceptible to floods during hurricanes and storm surges. In the event of a hurricane, the population at-risk must be evacuated to safety as quickly as possible. The Interstate system is the primary mode to evacuate at-risk population out of Charleston. Effective traffic management strategies are needed to manage the significant increase in demand on highways during the evacuation and contra-flowing traffic has been applied as a strategy to meet this need. This study evaluated the reduction in delay by proposing a new ramp and implementing different contra-flow strategies, along the I-26 corridor out of Charleston using a microscopic simulation tool called PARAMICS. This study found that the addition of a ramp along with contra-flow strategies significantly reduces traffic delay during an evacuation. |
