A Traffic Signal Control Strategy to Avoid Spillback on Short Links

Abstract

Short links at signalized intersections, even in undersaturated traffic conditions are often subject to overflow. The spillback phenomena in those links can significantly degrade the performance of the optimal signal control algorithm by blocking other movements at the intersection or an adjacent one. In this paper, we analytically derive the necessary and sufficient conditions for the spillover phenomena in an undersaturated intersection. We further propose a real-time data-driven Spill-back Avoidance Signal Control (SASC) framework to treat the problem for a two-phase intersection. A microsimulation study is conducted to emphasize the effectiveness of the proposed SASC algorithm. Over 28 percent reduction in total vehicle delay of the system is achieved with respect to the optimal signal timing that ignores the spillback effects.