PURPOSES: The purpose of this paper is to estimate expected effects on traffic operational and economic aspects of 2+1 roads application in Korea. METHODS : Micro simulation study using VISSIM 5.0 was used to analyze the operation efficiency of 2+1 roads compared to two-lane highways and four-lane highways. Some scenarios for various traffic volumes were set up in order to analyze the effect of 2+1 roads under various traffic situations. Also imaginary road networks were set up for each type of roads. The MOEs to measure the operation efficiency were selected with average travel speed and delay. For analyzing economic effect of 2+1 roads, construction cost of a specific imaginary 2+1 road was compared to construction cost of a four-lane highway with same conditions. RESULTS: The results of study show that a 2+1 road is more effective with 19 percents higher average travel speed and 39 percents lower average delay than a two-lane highway. In the economic analysis, construction costs to construct a 2+1 road are saved as approximately 26.4~40.7 percents when compared to construction of four-lane highway. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that 2+1 roads can improve the traffic operational level of service for two-lane highways and 2+1 roads can be applied as an effective design alternative for higher-volume two-lane highways in Korea.