6 Types of Road Patterns

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When a road is constructed in a rectangular, radial, hexagonal, or any other pattern for proper traffic management, it is called a road pattern. 

Roadway patterns are essential for developing a city's settlements. Current urban development does not analyze road designs before construction which leads to several interconnected roadways, housing projects, and commercial developments built far from town centers.

Because of the increasing distances between the city's residential and business hubs, an increasing number of people are forced to rely on vehicles to make their daily commute. The primary goal of executing road patterns is to shorten travel time, reduce pollution, and distance for vehicles. It also emphasizes how the branch roads are connected.

Types of Road Patterns

1. Rectangular or block pattern
2. Radial pattern
   • Radial or star and block pattern
   • Radial or star and circular pattern
   • Radial or star and grid pattern
3. Hexagonal pattern
4. Minimum travel pattern
5. Grid pattern
6. Linear pattern

1. Rectangular or Block Pattern

In this type of road pattern, the complete area is divided into a rectangle or block-shaped plots to create a rectangle or block pattern. Streets and roads in block patterns intersect at a 90° (right angle).

Other branch roads may be slightly narrow, but the main road that goes through the center of the area should be sufficiently wide. The rectangle or block design provides a nice view when seen from a height.

Benefits of Block or Rectangular Pattern

1. To construct back-to-back buildings with front-facing roadways, the rectangular plots may be further divided into smaller rectangular blocks.
2. The city roadways have adopted this pattern.
3. Construction and maintenance of highways using this design are relatively simpler.

Drawbacks of Block or Rectangular Patterns

1. This pattern is inconvenient since the roads are perpendicular at junctions, causing the traffic to converge towards a single point.

2. Radial Road Pattern

In this road pattern, the network of roadways is constructed in the shape of a circle that radiates away from the center of the area.

This pattern is divided into three types based on its layout.

2.1 Radial or Star & Block Pattern

This type of road network combines radial and block road patterns. The whole area is arranged into a block-pattern road network that runs between the radial main streets and radiates outward from the center.

Benefits of Radial or Star & Block Patterns

1. Safer when compared to a rectangular pattern.
2. It reduces congestion at the main bottleneck point.
3. If one radial route is closed, another may be utilized as an alternative.

Drawbacks of Radial or Star & Block Pattern

1. Lack of safety equipment such as post-support bases, crash attenuators, and rail transitions.
2. It is only effective when the downstream end of a two-lane ramp does not need a merging.

2.2 Radial or Star & Circular Pattern

This network is a combination of radial and circular road patterns.  It is a road pattern in which the major roadways, or radial roads, radiate outward from the center and are joined by the ring roads, or concentric roads, which likewise radiate outward.

Benefits of Radial or Star & Circle Pattern

1. Compared to the abovementioned patterns, it is safer since all the traffic moves in the same direction.
2. This traffic plan includes roundabouts, which enhances traffic flow. Additionally, this lowers the vehicle's fuel consumption.
3. Lowers the chances of rear-end collisions.

Drawbacks of Radial or Star & Circle Pattern

1. Its design is complex, and it isn't easy to provide a decent curve.
2. It impacts driving abilities (most drivers experiencing this issue are senior citizens).
3. The appropriate installation of traffic signals, road markings, and illumination is required to alert the driver.
4. Splitter islands must be made long enough to include a crosswalk and a roundabout description.

 2.3 Radial or Star & Grid Pattern

This kind of road network combines radial and grid patterns. From the center, a radial network of roads radiates outward. The grid pattern is then used to interconnect the main radial streets.

Benefits of Grid and Star and Radial Pattern

1. It increases the effectiveness of land usage unit density.
2. Using Savannah's cellular structure improves traffic flow in both directions.
3. It has a high percentage of 3-way intersections, offering great vehicle traffic safety.
4. Cut-through traffic is reduced.

Drawbacks of Grid and Star and Radial Pattern

1. There should be sufficient distance between splitter islands.
2. High construction cost for additional traffic lights and road markings.

 3. Hexagonal Road Pattern

A hexagonal pattern is a network of roadways that form a hexagonal shape, similar to a circular road pattern. Three roads intersect with the constructed region at each corner of the hexagon. A hexagonal boundary is further split into plots of the appropriate sizes.

Benefits of Hexagonal Road Pattern

1. Travel time and distance are cut down.
2. Reduced traffic congestion

Drawbacks of Hexagonal Road Pattern

1. There should be enough traffic signs, pavement markings, and illumination to alert vehicles to lower their travel speed and minimize the risk of accidents.

 4. Minimum Travel Pattern

The town is served by sector centers, suburban facilities, and neighborhood centers in this road plan, all of which are connected to the city center by a highway that can be reached in the shortest amount of time. Also, the shortest roads interconnect the city center with neighboring and suburban centers. The alignment of the road is made straight to shorten it.

Benefits of a Minimum Travel Pattern

1. The potentially dangerous collisions are almost eliminated.

Drawbacks of the Minimum Travel Pattern

1. The right amount of traffic signs, pavement markings, and illumination should be in place to alert vehicles to slow down.
2. For senior drivers, intersections may be particularly difficult.

5. Grid Pattern

A network of intersecting parallel lines, real or imaginary, is referred to as a grid. When seen from above, this pattern is made up of streets that connect at right angles to form squares. A physical network not always constructed of straight or parallel lines may also be called a grid.

Regular grid systems often have greater infrastructure costs than those with disjointed street patterns.

Street width, street length, block width, and pavement width are the four main factors that affect street costs.

Benefits of a Grid Pattern

1. Grids benefit pedestrians since there are several routes from point A to point B.
2. Grids benefit restaurants and retail establishments since they provide several corner lots.
3. A grid's navigation is quite simple.

Drawbacks of Grid Pattern

1. Grids are dangerous for motorists and bicycles because they contain numerous junctions and many potential conflict places.
2. Grids may encourage individuals to take shortcuts through residential areas.
3. Grids don't work well in places with many hills since they result in unnecessarily steep streets.
4. Traffic mayhem may readily occur on a grid that is uneven or unfinished. 

6. Linear Pattern

It comprises a road that expands linearly in one direction, potentially due to certain natural resources like the sea or ocean existing on one side of the city.

Benefits of a Linear Pattern

1. The potentially dangerous collisions are almost eliminated.

Drawbacks of the Linear Pattern

1. The right amount of traffic signs, pavement markings, speed breakers, and illumination should be in place to alert vehicles to slow down.

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