How to redesign urbanized arterial roads? The case of Italian small cities

This paper poses the question of the redesign of urbanized arterial roads following a multi-objective approach. These infrastructures usually have wide lanes that allow high speeds and low safety conditions, resulting in the roads with the highest accident rates in suburban areas. However, since they experienced a rapid urbanization, they need to be redesigned. The aim of this paper is to focus on different technical alternatives aimed at redesigning such roads by increasing their safety performance without downgrading their functionality. The suggested approach moves from the global analysis of the local context and consists of the identification of different objectives and consequent interventions that can be used to reach them. The case of some Sicilian urbanized roads has been analyzed to test the approach and highlight further research steps.