Highway Design Speed and Its Impacts: Some Evidence in South Korea

In an effort to increase the operational efficiency of highways, South Korea has been increasing its design speed recently. However, the use of higher design speed will also increase construction costs. Moreover, increasing the design speed is expected to have an impact on safety. Hence, there is a strong need to demonstrate that the benefits outweigh the cost of having a higher design speed. This study surveyed a sample of design engineers to determine their awareness of the consequences of increasing design speed and their assessment of the right design speed for an actual rural arterial. In addition to the survey, a case study of three recently upgraded highways was conducted to determine the changes in traffic volumes, speeds, travel times, and safety.