Operational and Statistical Assessment of Checkpoint-Induced Bottlenecks on a Selected Segment in Expressway No. 1, Iraq

Muqdad Al-Hamami; Abdalmhiman Aldahhan; Yousif Raad Muhsen; Hashim Al-Sumaiday; Alhamzah Al Noor

doi:10.2478/cee-2026-0097

Operational and Statistical Assessment of Checkpoint-Induced Bottlenecks on a Selected Segment in Expressway No. 1, Iraq

Civil and Environmental Engineering

AHEAD OF PRINT

By: Muqdad Al-Hamami, Abdalmhiman Aldahhan, Yousif Raad Muhsen, Hashim Al-Sumaiday and Alhamzah Al Noor

Open Access

|Apr 2026

Figures & Tables

Selected segment of expressway no.1 within Anbar governorate, Iraq

Table 1:

Traffic counting stations

Station No.	Details
P1	From Baghdad to Ramadi (R.H.S)
P2	From Ramadi to Baghdad (L.H.S)
P3	From Baghdad to Karma at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P4	From Fallujah to Ramadi at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P5	From Baghdad to Fallujah at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P6	From Karma to Ramadi at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P7	From Ramadi to Fallujah at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P8	From Karma to Baghdad at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P9	From Ramadi to Karma at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P10	From Fallujah to Baghdad at Al-Muadhafin interchange
P11	From Ramadi to Baghdad (L.H.S)
P12	From Baghdad to Ramadi (R.H.S)
P13	By Al-Soqur checkpoint for speed counting

Table 2:

Collected traffic volumes for AM peak periods of the study area

Day	Time [hr]	Station No. [vph]
		P1	P2	P12	P11
		R.H.S	L.H.S	R.H.S	L.H.S
Tuesday	7:00 – 8:00	4220	2903	2288	1630
	8:00 – 9:00	4620	3960	2148	1993
	9:00 – 10:00	3510	3550	2523	1695
Thursday	7:00 – 8:00	3188	2008	1165	1683
	8:00 – 9:00	3740	2963	1860	2490
	9:00 – 10:00	5128	3135	1883	2520
Sunday	7:00 – 8:00	3345	2825	1963	2570
	8:00 – 9:00	4633	3445	2138	3108
	9:00 – 10:00	5165	2693	1868	3873

Table 3:

Collected traffic volumes for PM peak periods of the study area

Day	Time [hr]	Station No. [vph]
		P1	P2	P12	P11
		R.H.S	L.H.S	R.H.S	L.H.S
Tuesday	3:00–4:00	3171	5899	2081	3060
	4:00–5:00	3355	6298	2669	3230
	5:00–6:00	4199	5025	2237	3852
Thursday	3:00–4:00	4406	4811	2050	3441
	4:00–5:00	3487	4029	2550	3968
	5:00–6:00	4953	5025	3043	4019
Sunday	3:00–4:00	4712	4474	2237	3601
	4:00–5:00	4964	4342	2309	4862
	5:00–6:00	4610	4512	2584	4573

Collected traffic volumes for AM peak periods of the study area [vph]

Collected traffic volumes for PM peak periods of the study area [vph]

Table 4:

Entry/exit stations [-]

R.H.S
Entry	Exit
P1	P3
P4	P5
P6	P12
L.H.S
Entry	Exit
P11	P7
P8	P9
P10	P2

Table 5:

Trip distribution difference with percentages for Right direction R.H.S

Day	Time [hr]		P1 [vph]	P3 [vph]	P4 [vph]	P5 [vph]	P6 [vph]	P12 [vph]	Difference (D) [vph]	Imbalance % [-]
Tuesday	AM	7:00–8:00	4220	395	205	1565	220	2288	397	9
		8:00–9:00	4620	598	108	1895	193	2148	280	6
		9:00–10:00	3510	393	263	1258	338	2523	63	2
	PM	3:00–4:00	3171	350	258	1813	423	2081	392	9
		4:00–5:00	3355	281	343	1470	430	2669	292	7
		5:00–6:00	4199	578	340	1723	355	2237	356	8
Thursday	AM	7:00–8:00	3188	513	223	1830	261	1165	164	5
		8:00–9:00	3740	513	270	1738	485	1860	384	9
		9:00–10:00	5128	643	193	2593	195	1883	397	8
	PM	3:00–4:00	4406	493	207	2195	273	2050	148	3
		4:00–5:00	3487	478	348	1638	398	2550	433	9
		5:00–6:00	4953	263	510	2095	305	3043	367	7
Sunday	AM	7:00–8:00	3345	455	288	1878	398	1963	265	6
		8:00–9:00	4633	492	203	2078	205	2138	333	7
		9:00–10:00	5165	613	108	2493	168	1868	467	9
	PM	3:00–4:00	4712	383	185	2088	203	2237	392	8
		4:00–5:00	4964	498	231	2135	197	2309	450	9
		5:00–6:00	4610	368	258	1940	283	2584	259	5

Table 6:

Trip distribution differences with percentages for left direction L.H.S [vph]

Day	Time[hr]		P11 [vph]	P7 [vph]	P8 [vph]	P9 [vph]	P10 [vph]	P2 [vph]	Difference (D) [vph]	Imbalance % [-]
Tuesday	AM	7:00–8:00	1630	320	190	488	1840	2903	51	1
		8:00–9:00	1993	623	648	375	1974	3960	343	7
		9:00–10:00	1695	455	523	440	1893	3550	334	8
	PM	3:00–4:00	3060	313	985	255	1983	5899	439	7
		4:00–5:00	3230	295	1295	205	1893	6298	380	6
		5:00–6:00	3852	320	135	483	1648	5025	193	3
Thursday	AM	7:00–8:00	1683	483	445	433	1040	2008	244	8
		8:00–9:00	2490	338	455	420	828	2963	52	1
		9:00–10:00	2520	245	543	460	615	3135	162	4
	PM	3:00–4:00	3441	300	460	333	1113	4811	430	8
		4:00–5:00	3968	415	298	485	965	4029	302	6
		5:00–6:00	4019	333	145	398	1175	5025	417	7
Sunday	AM	7:00–8:00	2570	323	210	450	915	2825	97	3
		8:00–9:00	3108	298	443	648	1105	3445	265	6
		9:00–10:00	3873	495	308	1089	494	2693	398	9
	PM	3:00–4:00	3601	308	325	313	1058	4474	111	2
		4:00–5:00	4862	450	202	593	818	4342	497	9
		5:00–6:00	4573	405	240	498	1025	4512	423	8

Table 7:

LOS for base year (2024) and target year (2034) without mitigation [-]

Station No.	Details	LOS
Station No.	Details	Base Year (2024)	Year (2034) without mitigation
P1	R.H.S	D	F
P2	L.H.S	F	F

Table 8:

LOS for opening and target years with the proposed mitigation [-]

Station No.	Details	LOS
Station No.	Details	2025	2034
P1	R.H.S	C	D
P2	L.H.S	C	D

Table 9:

Statistical outcomes of analysis

Speed Class [km/hr]	Class Mid Value (ui) [km/hr]	Frequency fi [-]	Percentage of fi [-]	Cumulative Percent of fi [-]	P₈₅ [-]	P₅₀[-]
<55		7	1.4%	1.4%	1.4%	1.4%
55–59	57	25	5.0%	6.4%	6.4%	6.4%
60–64	62	56	11.2%	17.6%	17.6%	17.6%
65–69	67	81	16.2%	33.9%	33.9%	33.9%
70–74	72	99	19.8%	53.7%	53.7%	0.0%
75–79	77	93	18.6%	72.3%	72.3%	0.0%
80–84	82	67	13.4%	85.8%	0.0%	0.0%
85–89	87	34	6.8%	92.6%	0.0%	0.0%
90–94	92	21	4.2%	96.8%	0.0%	0.0%
95–99	97	10	2.0%	98.8%	0.0%	0.0%
>99		6	1.2%	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%
		499	100%

Table 8:

Statistical outcomes with trucks

Parameter [km/hr]	Value
Arithmetic Average Speed (ū):	74.1
Standard Deviation (σ):	10.15
From chart, Mode	70–74
Pace:	69–79
P₈₅	84
P₅₀	74

Table 9:

Statistical outcomes without trucks

Parameter [km/hr]	Value
Arithmetic Average Speed (ū):	76.0
Standard Deviation (σ):	9.98
From chart, Mode	70–74
Pace:	72–82
P₈₅	87.5
P₅₀	75.5

Table 10:

Percentage of change differences

Parameter [km/hr]	With Trucks [km/hr]	Without Trucks [km/hr]	% Change [-]
Pace	69–79	72–82	4.3
Average Speed	74.1	76.0	2.58
Standard Deviation	10.15	9.98	−1.68
P₈₅	84	87.5	4.2
P₅₀	74	75.5	2

Abbreviation	Full Term
AASHTO	American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
AM	Ante Meridiem (Morning Peak Period)
HCM	Highway Capacity Manual
HCS-2010	Highway Capacity Software (Release 6, McTrans Center, University of Florida)
km/h	Kilometres per Hour
L.H.S	Left-hand side of the selected segment of Expressway no. 1
LOS	Level of Service
P₅₀	50^th Percentile Speed (Median Speed)
P₈₅	85^th Percentile Speed
PCU	Passenger Car Unit
PM	Post Meridiem (Evening Peak Period)
R.H.S	Right-hand side of the selected segment of Expressway no. 1
RBD	Roads and Bridges Department
VBA	Volume Balance Analysis
vph	Vehicles per Hour

References

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/cee-2026-0097 | Journal eISSN: 2199-6512 (formerly 1336-5835) | Journal ISSN: 1336-5835

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Language: English

Submitted on: Jan 12, 2026

Accepted on: Feb 21, 2026

Published on: Apr 24, 2026

Published by: University of Žilina

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

Keywords:

Freeway Capacity Analysis,

Capacity Enhancement Strategies,

Mobility,

Traffic Flow Analysis,

Roadway Efficacy,

Bottleneck Propagation Dynamics

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Business management,

Industries,

Environmental management

© 2026 Muqdad Al-Hamami, Abdalmhiman Aldahhan, Yousif Raad Muhsen, Hashim Al-Sumaiday, Alhamzah Al Noor, published by University of Žilina
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

AHEAD OF PRINT

Operational and Statistical Assessment of Checkpoint-Induced Bottlenecks on a Selected Segment in Expressway No. 1, Iraq

Figures & Tables

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Paradigm

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