It is common to increase road capacity by constructing ring roads to reduce traffic congestion in city areas, although this is often found to be ineffective in the long run. Accordingly, this study investigates various traffic congestion management approaches and their effectiveness in major cities, and explores an identical transport problem in Almaty, Kazakhstan: The Big Almaty Ring Road (BAKAD). Several case examples from the existing literature are examined in which various approaches were taken for managing traffic congestion problems, and these approaches are classified into three concepts. The first concept comprises heavy engineering measures such as ring road development, new road construction, expansion of existing roads, etc. Such measures can initially reduce traffic congestion, but often become ineffective with time due to the generation of induced traffic. Many cities have taken Push and Pull measures that ensure more efficient use of existing capacity and have initiated environmentally friendly alternative transportation modes such as decreased car usage; promotion of public transport, biking and walking; minimization of the necessity of people’s movement by changing urban land use patterns; and so on. These approaches have been found to be effective in providing sustainable transportation solutions and are classified as concept 2. Nevertheless, Push and Pull measures might not be enough for managing traffic congestion, and it might be necessary to increase the road capacity through heavy engineering measures, especially if the city experiences heavy transit traffic. This combined approach is categorized as concept 3. Consequently, the BAKAD project is examined under the umbrella of three concepts, and recommendations are provided based on the findings from the experience of different cities and interviews with experts from Almaty city. Both the results and recommendations developed are relevant for this specific case only, and are not necessarily transferable.

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This paper presents the results of an experimental study of freezing and thawing patterns of highways in Kazakhstan. Special sensors measure temperature and moisture change every hour in automatic mode. The purpose of this work is to develop a methodology for determining the depth of freezing of subgrade soils of roads of Kazakhstan, and the task is to establish the pattern of cold temperature change (temperature “0 °C”) through certain points (sensors) at any time. In the upper part of the pavement (up to 30–40 cm), the temperature changes in annual and daily cycles. As the depth increases, the daily temperature fluctuations disappear, leaving only the annual fluctuation. At a depth of 180 cm and below, temperature fluctuations occur only in the annual cycle. The freezing rate varied from 14 cm/day to 0.33 cm/day. The maximum freezing depth was 227 cm. The descending branch of thawing occurs almost uniformly, with an average rate of 6.25 cm/day to a depth of 220 cm; the average rate of the ascending branch of thawing is 0.9 cm/day. Asphalt–concrete layers of the pavement and the upper part of the subgrade were in a frozen state for 151 and 166 days, respectively. In the subgrade at the beginning and end of the cold period, there are abrupt changes in moisture, which are explained by phase transitions of the second order: the transition from the liquid state to the solid (ice) at the beginning of the cold period and the transition of moisture from the solid state to liquid at the end of the cold period.