ACCESS MANAGEMENT:MAIN STREET OR THE HIGHWAY

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ACCESS MANAGEMENTMAIN STREET OR THE HIGHWAY?

• Presented by Dan Cohen/Tim Preece

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ACCESS MANAGEMENT

• What It Is
• Why It Isnt
• What Business Says
• The Evidence Says
• What To Do

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WHAT IT IS

• The careful planning of the location, design, and
  operation of driveways, median openings,
  interchanges, and street connections. (Florida
  DOT)
• Access Management is the process that provides
  access to land development while simultaneously
  preserving the flow of traffic on the surrounding
  road system in terms of safety, capacity, and
  speed. (FHWA)

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WHAT IT IS
Freeway
Major Arterial
Minor Arterial
Increasing Mobility
Major Collector
Minor Collector
Local Street
Increasing Access
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WHAT IT IS

• More access less mobility
• Less access more mobility

Mobility
Access
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WHAT IT IS

• Road improvement techniques and projects
• Driveway permitting
• Prior to new development
• Prior to expanded development
• Land use regulations
• Subdivision regulations, such as joint or cross
  access regulations
• Zoning

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WHAT IT IS

• Access management should maintain the functional
  integrity of the roadway system
• Roadways are classified for access control based
  upon their level of importance to regional
  mobility
• The challenge tends to be greatest on arterial
  roads-demand for individual property access
  conflicts with demand for through traffic movement

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WHAT IT IS

• Controlled access (high level of access
  management)

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WHAT IT IS

• High level of access (low level of access
  management)

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WHAT IT IS

• Levels of access control

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WHAT IT IS
Access Unmanaged
Development demands driveways and street
intersections.
New roadways and rural roadways do not appear to
need access management.
Unmanaged access results in high levels of
access, but low levels of mobility.
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WHY IT ISNT

• Why access doesnt get managed

• Businesses and developers perceive access
  management as a threat to their success
• It is difficult to coordinate

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WHY IT ISNT
You might hear

• After the road is fixed, this location will no
  longer be viable for a restaurant
• The current highway is congested, but thats good
  for our auto dealership. Although car dealerships
  are primarily a destination business, there is a
  certain amount of impulse purchasing involved
• Our parcels will no longer be good locations due
  to reduced visibility from the roadway.

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• Customers will not be able to find or reach my
  business
• My customers will complain
• My business sales will suffer
• Development will stagnate after access is managed
• Land values will decline
• Land will become un-developable

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• In point of fact
• Access management tends to expand the market
  reach of businesses because it preserves travel
  speed on the network
• Business sales do not seem to depend much at all
  on details of access
• Land values depend on accessibility and other
  factors, and on not how access is managed
• Location, location, location
• Highest and best use for land is either stable or
  increases when access is managed

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• Areas with mature Access Management programs
• Colorado
• Michigan
• Florida
• Maine
• Iowa
• many others

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• Access Management Techniques
• Access spacing
• Driveway spacing
• Safe turning lanes
• Median treatments
• Right-of-way management (preservation, site
  distances, driveway design)

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• Three major benefits of access management
• Increased roadway capacity
• Reduced crashes
• Shortened travel time for motorists

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• The results
• 78 of drivers felt safer1
• 84 of drivers felt traffic moved better1
• Most businesses report sales as least as high as
  they were before access management projects.
• Significant crash rate reductions (25-58)2

1 - Drivers surveyed in central Florida by Ivey
Harris Walls, 1995. 2 Long, Gan, Morrison,
University of Florida, 1993 and NCHRP Report
420, 2000.
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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• Key research studies on this topic
• Texas
• Documented changes in property values in a
  limited number of improved urban arterial
  corridors.
• Key FindingProperty values along improved
  corridors continued to rise.
• Kansas
• Conducted Before vs. After studies of a
  limited number of parcels from around Kansas that
  were involved in litigation.
• Key FindingRelatively minor changes in access (lt
  1 mile) were not sufficient to cause significant
  changes in land use and value.

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• 1955 Report to President Eisenhower, A Ten Year
  National Highway Program
• "One of its principal features in the provision
  for adequate right of way is to permit control of
  access to the highway itself. Otherwise,
  experience shows that the facility becomes
  prematurely obsolete due to developments crowding
  against the roadway which make if unfit for the
  purposes for which it was designed. Control of
  access to the degree required by traffic
  conditions is essential to the protection of life
  and property. It is also essential to preserve
  the capacity of the highway. So far as the
  investment of funds in major roads is concerned,
  provisions for control of access to the extent
  required by traffic is fundamental."

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WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

• In 1907 the U.S. Supreme court deemed access
  control was a property rights issue controlled by
  the sovereign power of the states not the federal
  government.
• Sauer v. City of New York 206 US 536 (1907)

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So, Why Not?
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WHAT TO DO

• How is Access Management achieved?
• State and local policies, directives and
  guidelines
• Enforceable regulations, codes and guidelines
• Acquisition of access rights
• Land development regulations
• Development review and impact assessments
• Good geometric design criteria
• Understanding of access implications by business
  and property owners

Federal Highway Administration, Office of
Operations Office of Travel Management
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WHAT TO DO

• Is Access Management enforceable in Georgia?
• Georgia law entitles land owners to access to
  adjacent roadways unless otherwise compensated
• The Georgia DOT has the authority to regulate
  access
• The Georgia DOT has the authority to purchase
  access rights
• Local governments have the authority to regulate
  driveway design and connections

Alfred R. Politzer, Growth Management Law Final
Report, Prof. Reuter and Prof. Juergensmeyer
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WHAT TO DO

• Driveway permits do not override local regulatory
  requirements
• Local government has the authority to enact
  policies and regulations that are stricter than
  GDOT

Alfred R. Politzer, Growth Management Law Final
Report, Prof. Reuter and Prof. Juergensmeyer
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WHAT TO DO

• In Georgia
• The Department has the responsibility of
  providing safe and efficient transportation while
  providing reasonable access to adjacent property
  through access management.
• Roadways that serve higher volumes of regional
  through traffic need more access control to
  preserve their traffic function.

Georgia DOT, TOPPS Policy 4A-4, Granting Breaks
in Access Control and 4A-3, Establishing Access
Control.
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WHAT TO DO

• In Georgia

Median Crossover Spacing (ft)
Area Type
Desirable
Minimum
Rural
2640
1320
Urban
1320
660
Georgia DOT, Regulations for Driveway and
Encroachment Control
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WHAT TO DO

• In Florida

Median Opening Spacing (ft)
Design Features
Access Class
Directional
Full
Restrictive w/ service roads
2
1320
2640
restrictive
3
1320
2640
non-restrictive
4
n/a
n/a
restrictive
5
660
1320
Non-restrictive
6
n/a
n/a
both
7
330
660
Florida DOT, Access Management Classification
System and Standards.
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Should we have stronger state regulations?
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WHAT TO DO

• Tends to be greatest on arterial roads-demand for
  individual property access conflicts with demand
  for through traffic movement

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WHAT TO DO

• Planning solutions should include
• Description of existing conditions types of
  roads public transportation location and
  condition of transportation facilities, bike
  routes, and sidewalks the communitys place in
  the region and issues of regional concern.
• Traffic counts for major roads and intersections.
• Description of existing sidewalk and trail
  network.
• Identification of current problems with access
  (driveways) on roadways by examining accident
  patterns.

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WHAT TO DO

• Identification of nodal development / zoning
  strategies to limit the amount of development
  along less developed, rural roads.
• Incorporation of access management strategies as
  part of site plan review and subdivision
  regulations to ensure that development along
  highways does not significantly reduce traffic
  safety and carrying capacity.
• Recommendation for traffic impact analysis for
  all Site Plan Review and Subdivision applications
  exceeding a prescribed threshold.

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WHAT TO DO

• Requirements known early in planning stage
• Determine feasibility of development based on
  requirements and criteria
• Efficient financing of project
• Prepare final site plans meeting all agencies
  requirements

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What are local governments doing?
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Questions?
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Contact
Timothy Preece tim.preece_at_arcadis-us.com Dan
Cohen cohend_at_pondco.com