Simulation study of the main road network of south-eastern Finland

The increasing number of heavy vehicles has caused problems at the road network of South-eastern Finland. To study the effects of heavy traffic on traffic performance, a simulation model of the main roads was build. The simulation model was used to study the traffic performance with current traffic volumes and in two future scenarios. With current traffic volumes, the average speed is decreased especially at road sections around the major cities. The majority of delays of the cross border traffic are caused by the queues at border stations. In the growth scenarios, the traffic conditions weaken most around cities and close to the Russian border. The travel times through the study area to the border stations increase 3 to 4 percent, not including the increased waiting time at the border. In general, the simulation model of the south-eastern main road network was able to express the traffic conditions fairly realistically. However, the estimated traffic volumes and distributions around cities were not accurate enough for microsimulation use, and the lack of a validated overtaking model on two lane roads decreases the reliability of the simulation. Regardless, the network model built in this project can be utilized in future projects with minor changes.