Evaluation of the situation at Korsvägen during the construction period of Västlänken – A case study of a layout proposal

Abstract

The construction of Västlänken will have a large impact on the city of Gothenburg in many aspects. As a consequence of Västlänken, Korsvägen will be transformed into a construction site during several years. The focus of this master thesis is based on three main topics regarding Korsvägen; pedestrian density, vehicle transit time and air pollution. The strategy by Trafikverket is to divide the structure of Korsvägen into two different construction stages, Stage 1 and 2. This investigation is performed in contrast with the current state of Korsvägen. Necessary and relevant data associated to this project is collected and utilized in a simulation program, PTV Vissim. Results regarding the topics are recorded and stored. A comparable analysis is made for each result separately in contrast with the different stages of Korsvägen and the time of the day. Passengers using the public transport stops are affected by increased pedestrian density on the waiting areas in Stage 2. This is a result of smaller waiting areas in association with the temporary public transport stops. The difference in transit time for mass transportation trucks during a typical work day was surprisingly small. The appearances of traffic jams do not occur in the simulation model and explains the insignificant variation. The air pollution surrounding Korsvägen will decrease due to reduced traffic intensity as a result of the new limited traffic diversion. Västlänken is today in its planning phase which means that the available data for this assignment is limited.