Operational problems of 2+1 bypass road sections

The paper presents several problems of designing trunk-road bypasses of towns, which can be very helpful in improving their traffic performance. Such roads perform supplementary functions to the operation of network of motorways and express-roads constructed in Poland over the last decade. These problems include: selection of the cross section, selection and design of intersections and interchanges on bypasses, safety and traffic operation problems. The authors highlight the advantages of bypasses and point out some errors, which can be seen in the operation stage, basing on research and observation of 8 bypasses. In the paper traffic operation and road safety analyses for Zyrardow bypass are presented. The final part of the paper gives conclusions and recommendations for 2+1 bypass use and design.