The Benefits and Impacts of Roadway Access Management

1. The Benefits and Impacts of Roadway Access Management AASHTO Mississippi Valley Meeting Chicago, Illinois July 1999

2. Presentation Outline • What is access management? • An example corridor • Benefits of managing access • Techniques and treatments for managing access • Access management and business vitality • Implementing access management • Conclusions

3. What Is Access Management? • “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”. (Source: Federal Highway Administration)

4. A Key Goal • A key goal of access management is to maintain the functional integrity of the roadway system

5. Functional Integrity • Reserve high speed, high capacity roads for high speed, long-distance travel • Maintain a “hierarchy” of roads • Balance traffic movement and access to adjacent land by providing land access compatible with the roadway classification

6. Functional Integrity Freeway Arterial Through Traffic Movement Collector Local Access to Property

7. Presentation Outline • What is access management? • An example corridor • Benefits of managing access • Techniques and treatments for managing access • Access management and business vitality • Implementing access management • Conclusions

10. Douglas Avenue: High Access Management

11. Douglas Avenue: Moderate Access Management

12. Douglas Avenue: Little/No Access Management

13. Douglas Avenue: Little/No Access Management

14. Douglas Avenue: Little/No Access Management

15. Presentation Outline • What is access management? • An example corridor • Benefits of managing access • Techniques and treatments for managing access • Access management and business vitality • Implementing access management • Conclusions

16. What Are The Benefits of Managing Access? • Improved safety (reduction in accidents and accident rates) • Better traffic operations (increased LOS, capacity, and speed) • Other public benefits (for pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit, taxpayers, and the environment) • Potentially, a better environment in which to do business

17. Safety: Driveway Spacing And Accident Rates Are Strongly Related

18. Safety: Accident Rates Are Lower On Better Managed Roads

19. Safety: Iowa Case Studies • Seven Iowa case studies • Case studies show nearly a 40 percent average reduction in accident rates after access management projects were completed.

20. Iowa Case Studies:Accident Reduction By Type

21. Operations: Capacity Is Higher On Better Managed Roads

22. Operations: Travel Speed Is Higher On Managed Roads

23. Presentation Outline • What is access management? • An example corridor • Benefits of managing access • Techniques and treatments for managing access • Access management and business vitality • Implementing access management • Conclusions

24. How to Manage Access • Maintain the functional integrity of the roadway system by: • Limiting conflict points • Separating conflict points • Removing turning traffic from through traffic lanes

25. Conflict Points at Intersection

26. Limiting Conflict Points: Medians

27. Separating Conflict Points: Why? • Drivers can only mentally process one conflict point at a time • Separation also provides enough time and space for drivers to react to the unexpected • Conflict points represent opportunities for accidents, congestion, and delay

28. Separating Conflict Points

29. Facilitating Turning Movements: Important Strategies • Increased turning radii (driveway flares) • Increased driveway width • Decreased driveway slope • Including turn lanes or tapers • Improved sight distance for turning traffic • Improved internal site design

30. Facilitating Turning Movements

31. Steep Driveways, Slower Turns

32. Common Access Management Treatments • Driveway consolidation • Corner clearance • Raised medians • Raised medians at intersections • Two-way left-turn lanes • Frontage roads • Backage roads

33. Presentation Outline • What is access management? • An example corridor • Benefits of managing access • Techniques and treatments for managing access • Access management and business vitality • Implementing access management • Conclusions

34. Business Vitality: • Business owners often oppose access changes or restrictions • Overall impacts on businesses are neutral to positive • Iowa study results mainly show: • Lower business failure rates • Improved retail sales levels • Potential for land redevelopment • Some individual businesses may be negatively affected

35. Five Year ComparativeBusiness Survival Rates Note: Based on a five year period bracketing project completion. For corridors, business name changes or moves are counted as failures. First round projects only.

36. Case Study Corridor Sales Tax Revenue Growth

37. Same Businesses Sales After Project Completion Source: Opinion survey of business owners and managers.

38. Businesses Reporting A Loss Of Sales After Project Completion • Nine of 162 businesses surveyed (6%) reported sales losses; these were: • Two gasoline stations (both Des Moines--MAI) • Two real estate offices (Ankeny--Median and Coralville--TWLTL) • A convenience store (Bettendorf--TWLTL) • A supermarket (Ankeny--Median) • A tanning salon (Clive--Median) • A music store (Coralville--TWLTL) • A fast food restaurant (Coralville--TWLTL) • Five of these were “auto-oriented” businesses • Five of these involved medians while four involved TWLTLs

39. Businesses Reporting Customer Complaints About Highway Access After Project Completion

40. Businesses Reporting Customer Access Complaints, By Type

41. Presentation Outline • What is access management? • An example corridor • Benefits of managing access • Techniques and treatments for managing access • Access management and business vitality • Implementing access management • Conclusions

42. Implementing Access Management • In most states, roadway jurisdictions are legally responsible for managing access and providing access to properties. • State legislation usually spells out the regulatory powers of roadway jurisdictions • Local governments can usually also manage access via land use regulations

43. Implementing Access Management • 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

44. Implementing Access Management • Cooperation among and involvement of • All government agencies involved • Business owners • Land developers • The public, including motorists • Acquisition of access rights

45. Presentation Outline • What is access management? • Typical problems related to access • Benefits of managing access • Techniques and treatments for managing access • Access management and business vitality • Implementing access management • Conclusions

46. Who Wins When Access Management Is Done Right? • Motorists: safer, less congested roads • Taxpayers: less expensive roads • Most business persons and their customers: improved business environment • Communities as a whole: environmental and other benefits

47. Contact David J. Plazak Center for Transportation Research and Education, ISU Research Park, Ames, IA 50010-8615 Telephone: (515) 294-8103 Fax: (515) 294-0467 E-mail: dplazak@iastate.edu URL: http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/access