H-1 Freeway Morning Rush Hour Traffic Images
H-1 EB, 6th Ave. off-ramp backs up. Heavy WB flow to town. 5th Ave.
on-ramp flow is light.
(Camera looking east)
(All AM pictures are Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996)
H-1 WB traffic merges with heavy flow on Old Waialae on-ramp. The
merge
activity causes frequent stoppages on the right lane of the freeway.
Observe the large difference in the headway density between the freeway's right and left lanes.
(Camera looking east)
Back-up of the University Ave. (east) on-ramp is typical and dictated
by
the YIELD sign at the top of the ramp. Merging is strictly a courtesy function. The ramp usually works well when the mainline is congested.
(Camera looking east)
The concrete wall adjacent to the McCully on-ramp (near top of picture)
seems to force drivers to merge right at the beginning of the ramp when the mainline is congested. Heavy in-flow makes this on-ramp a potential bottleneck.
The Punahou on-ramp, EB, has a moderate to heavy flow and seems to work well under most conditions.
On the other side, the Punahou off-ramp, WB, often fills to capacity due to the long signal cycle controlling the flow at the top of the ramp.
(Camera looking east)
The downstream Lunalilo on-ramp (further down the bottom of the image)
causes obvious congestion
waves (compression and release waves; both shown on the image) on the
mainline, WB.
(Camera looking east)
The Lunalilo on-ramp's (right side) heavy flow causes stoppages to the
right lane of the freeway.
The Vineyard/Ward on-ramps (left side) are a definite bottleneck as shown by the vastly different densities before and after the ramps.
(Camera looking west)
Same location and orientation as above, but at a later time.
The stoppages on the right lane of the freeway, WB (right side) due to the heavy merging at the Lunalilo on-ramp are obvious.
(Camera looking west)
A different perspective of the Vineyard and Ward on-ramp merge (top of
picture) where in about 1/4 mile 6 lanes converge into 3. In this photo, the right lane, WB (going from right to left) is stopped and brake lights are visible for most vehicles on the other freeway lanes.
(Camera looking south)
The Pali Hwy. ramp onto H-1, EB (left side) is busy but functions well
except when the back-up from the Vineyard/Ward ramp merge propagates to this location. Noticeable is the low density of the freeway WB (right side) past the Vineyard off
ramp. Early in the peak period, no back-up is observed on the Punchbowl
off-ramp...
(Camera looking west)
...but later in the peak period, the Punchbowl off-ramp backs-up
extensively, partly due to the long cycle and insufficient green time at the Punchbowl/Vineyard intersection.
(Camera looking east)
The Liliha St. on-ramp (right side) is one of the heaviest-flow
on-ramps.
Both ramp and mainline are congested during both AM and PM peak periods. Congestion shock waves caused by this bottleneck are frequent.
(Camera looking east)
The Likelike Hwy. on-ramp (bottom) joins the Kalihi St. on-ramp (right
side; empty at the moment this picture was taken) and converge into a typically saturated mainline flow through an auxiliary lane which becomes the Vineyard off-ramp.
(Camera looking east)
Congestion at the Moanalua Fwy. prior to merging with the H-1 Fwy. at
Middle St. (bottom) extends for miles. The King St. off-ramp (left side) also is extremely heavily loaded.
(Camera looking west)
Despite the heavy traffic on Moanalua Fwy., EB, a wide path is provided
to the ambulance.
(Camera looking west)
All downtown-bound paths of the Keehi interchange back-up in the
morning.
From right to left: Nimitz Hwy., Dillingham Blvd., and H-1 Fwy. Of these three corridors, Dillingham Blvd. is the least congested.
(Camera looking east)