Previous sections of this chapter reviewed the basic fundamentals of the geometric design of streets and highways. This section summarizes the guidelines in A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (AASHTO, 2001), commonly called the Green Book. Throughout this section, any reference to the Green Book will pertain to the 2001 edition unless stated otherwise.

The Green Book is widely accepted as the standard reference for the geometric design of roadways. However, it exceeds 900 pages and is somewhat difficult to use by the uninitiated. The reader is urged to become familiar with the Green Book prior to the exam. This section is intended to help in that effort.

The guidelines summarized in this section are for the design of local, collector, and arterial roadways, including freeways, in both rural and urban areas. A summary of design guidelines for at-grade intersections and for grade separations and interchanges is also presented. The design guidelines are summarized in a series of tables. The tables refer the reader to key tables, figures, and page numbers in the Green Book. This section is more of a quick reference guide than a standalone summary of the Green Book, and it concludes with a brief review of roadside-design guidelines.