Year after year, traffic volumes in Palestine increase because of the increase in population, and due to the development of industry and commerce. That means more need for transportation, which produces more and more traffic.
Nablus city is a major city in Palestine. It lies in the north of the West Bank as shown in Figure (1.1). It is considered one of commercial centers in the West Bank, but it suffers from high congestion because of its mountainous nature, high population, and high numbers of people coming into and leaving the city everyday. Therefore its road network needs development and upgrading.
The city connects the northern districts such as: Jenin, Tulkarm, and Qalqilya, etc. With the southern districts such as: Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Hebron, etc. This project deals with the geometric design of Nablus-Deir Sharaf road (the western entrance of Nablus city) which carries a considerable volume of traffic from and to the northern districts.
Geometric design deals with geometry of the road such as the vertical and horizontal curves, width and number of lanes, right of way, superelevation, etc. That means the transportation design includes all the specifications of all features of the road to make it functions smoothly and effectively.