A Study on Traffic Flow Distribution in Road Networks Considering the Impact of Construction Zones

The construction of urban expressways will significantly impact the travel of surrounding residents. Traffic flow assignment is a key method to address this issue. This study, therefore, addresses the impact of urban expressway construction on nearby residents’ travel by proposing an optimised traffic flow assignment method. Traditional methods rely on labour-intensive OD (origin-destination) matrix acquisition, but this research introduces an OD reverse derivation model that eliminates the need for a prior matrix. Key road sections are identified using the stepwise point placement method, with peak-hour traffic volumes surveyed. An incremental assignment method generates a distribution matrix, and the original OD matrix is derived using a maximum entropy-based model. A stochastic user equilibrium assignment model incorporating a path length-corrected logit is constructed, and a genetic algorithm solves the objective function. Using evening peak traffic data from Huai’an’s road network, including an expressway construction zone, the results show that total travel time decreased by 14.11% after applying the method, from 4,050,327.517 seconds to 3,478,967.635 seconds. This demonstrates the proposed method’s effectiveness in reducing congestion and improving travel efficiency for surrounding residents.