Route location

A wide range of factors control the location of the optimum route for a new road. The significance of these factors varies from project to project, region to region, and country to country, depending in each instance upon transport network and strategic planning, and socioeconomic, environmental, engineering and financial considerations. In all cases, the essential engineering requirements need to be satisfied; that is, a route needs to be selected and then designed to accommodate the anticipated traffic with an alignment that allows vehicles to travel safely at the design speed dictated by the category of road required. Route location is usually governed by environmental and social factors, public perception and stakeholder interests, the need to integrate the alignment with other transport infrastructure, and the desire to maximise socio-economic benefits and minimise route length and construction and operation costs.