The road designs in Florida are expected to change within the next decade or so, as the state prepares its infrastructure to adapt to autonomous vehicles (AVs).
Some of the changes will include narrower lanes, flyover ramps at intersections, fewer public parking lots and more shortcuts through neighborhoods, according local traffic managers who are already assessing the effects.
As fewer crashes are among the expected improvements to traffic flow as a result of AVs, existing lanes can be narrowed and more lanes added to each road to handle more vehicles. The belief is that as more travelers switch to AVs, then eventually self-driving vehicles will saturate roadways, forcing changes in road design. For instance, instead of two lanes on a 30-ft-wide street, there will be three or four lanes.
Narrower lanes in the redesign may leave space for other uses, which might include adding dedicated lanes for driverless buses and trolleys on Florida’s roads. Miami-Dade already has several bus-only roads where autonomous buses could roll.
With more cars expected to be on the roadway from the AV shift, the look of the roads will change, and some intersections will get flyover ramps to handle the flow.
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Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
