Route Selection Using Group Decision Making Techniques and Spatial Analysis in Early Stage Design

Highway design includes many process and sub process from planning to real construction. Before precise engineering and road design، early stage of road location should be done. This is stage that basic criteria should be met with minimum negative environmental، social and economic impacts as well as road engineering criteria. This stage without attention to environmental، social and economic patterns of region might design a route that is ideal from engineering aspects، but might has negative impacts on this region، and so led to people dissatisfaction and sometimes stopping project. Therefore، since decision making in planning and highway construction involve many factors and stakeholders، is complex. Using multi-criteria methods and spatial analysis can reduce decision maker problems in route selection. The goal of this paper، using GIS spatial analysis and multi-criteria decision making method by considering environmental، social-economic and technical criteria in route selection. In this paper، fuzzy group AHP for weighting criteria (with comparing criteria by transportation experts and public) and VIKOR method for rating route alternatives. The results of implementation for Gilangharb-Sumar project shows that selected route using decision making methods and spatial analysis corresponds to determined route by consultant engineering company.