• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.2D
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• pp.167-173
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• 2009

In general, an influenced area of merging section is defined as 500 m including 100 m upstream and 400 m downstream. However, from an observation of the actual traffic flow, it is found that merging effect influences more on downstream than upstream. In this study, an influenced area of merging section on freeway is analyzed by using turbulence which is defined as conflicts between vehicles. In order to overcome the limits of existing traffic flow detection system established with intervals of about 500 m, this study uses raw data collected from the detectors which are established in entrance ramps with similar road conditions. To divide data of each point into similar road conditions, the data of total 72 hours is sorted by Level of Service. An influenced area analyzed by standard deviation of speed is 700 m section of highway, including 300 m upstream and 400 m downstream, for both right and left ramps. It is the result including upstream 200 m more than previous studies.