The increasing number of trucks has a negative impact pertinent to efficiency and safety concerns on the operation of mixed traffic flow along freeways, especially at freeway entrance and exit ramps. To address such issue, this study proposes a simulation‐based method for truck‐prohibit ramp placement along freeways. The method framework contains two parts: the first part is to generate a set of new truck restriction schemes using simulation experiments, and the second part is to evaluate the generated schemes and find out the current optimal location of truck‐prohibit ramps based upon the AHP‐TOPSIS method. Three patterns of evaluation indicators are utilized to estimate the performance of freeway service in terms of traffic efficiency, road safety, and accessibility. A case study of the Beijing‐Hong Kong‐Macao freeway within Henan Province, China, is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results could provide beneficial insights on the optimal location setting of truck‐prohibit ramps to enhance the entire performance of mixed traffic flow along freeways.

Ramps provide entrances and exits for residents to conveniently use the freeway service. Due to the high construction cost and geometric design requirements, the decision of ramp locations involves a trade-off between multiple influencing factors, such as accessibility, safety, efficiency, construction costs, etc. This study proposed a methodology for optimizing freeway ramp placement in an effort to improve freeway accessibility. The freeway ramp locating problem was formulated as a bi-objective optimization model. Two objectives were pertinent to the reduction of total social costs: the minimization of total travel cost and minimization of total construction cost. To reflect the safety concern of ramp locations, the frequency of lane changes around the ramps and the minimum spacing between ramps were constrained. We developed an exact solution method based upon dynamic programming to solve the proposed model. Finally, a case study of the Beijing–Hong Kong–Macau Expressway within Henan Province, China, was conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and solution method.