Built-In Risk: A Comparative Audit Of Conflict Geometry On Lahore's Signal-Free And Signalized Corridors
Signal-Free Corridor (SFC) developments have reshaped major arterial roads in Pakistani cities, yet their consequences for motorcycle users, who constitute the dominant mode of travel in Lahore, remain largely unexamined. This paper investigates how SFC infrastructure restructures motorcycle exposure to conflict through a comparative, node-based spatial analysis of two arterial corridors: Jail Road, examined before and after its conversion to signal-free design, and the signalized Mall Road. Roadway nodes were identified along each corridor and scored on the frequency of U-turn facilities, merge points, and access points, alongside segment-level operating speeds. SFC conversion increased the number of identified nodes along Jail Road from 6 to 9, with the dominant node type shifting from signalized intersections toward median U-turns and merge zones. Jail Road recorded a higher mean Node Exposure Score (10.67 per node) and greater score variability than Mall Road (8.63 per node), with exposure concentrated at nodes that also fall within the corridor's highest-speed segment. Jail Road's mean operating speed (21.0 km/h) was roughly 65% higher than Mall Road's (12.7 km/h), which recorded no U-turn facilities at any node. These findings indicate that signal-free corridor design concentrates conflict-generating features at specific high-speed locations rather than distributing them evenly, contributing corridor-level evidence to broader critiques of car-centric arterial investment in motorcycle-dominant cities.