NATIONAL HIGHWAY INSTITUTE WORKSHOP

Sensible Solutions for Tomorrow's Traffic

What is Access Management?

Constantly growing traffic congestion, concerns over traffic safety, and the ever increasing cost of upgrading our roads have generated a new interest in managing the access to our roadway system.

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.

Access Management attempts to balance the need to provide good mobility for through traffic with the requirements for reasonable access to adjacent land uses.

Studies have shown that anywhere between 50 and 70% of all crashes that occur on the urban street system are access related.

With good access management, the flow of traffic will be smoother and average travel speeds higher and there will be less potential for accidents.  Before and after analyses show that routes with well managed access can experience 50% fewer accidents than comparable facilities with no access controls.

How Does Access Management Work?

A good access management program will:

Limit the Number of Conflict Points at Driveway Locations

Conflict points are good indicators of the potential for accidents.  The more conflict points that occur at an intersection the higher the potential for vehicular crashes.  When left turns and cross street through movements are restricted, the number of conflict points is significantly reduced.

Separate Conflict Areas

Intersections created by public streets and driveways represent basic conflict areas.  Adequate spacing allows drivers to react to one intersection at a time and reduces the potential for conflicts.

Reduce the Interference of Through Traffic

Through traffic often needs to slow down for vehicles exiting, entering, or turning across the roadway.  Providing turning lanes, designing driveways with large turning radii, and restricting turning movements in and out of driveways allows turning traffic to get out of the way of the following traffic.

Provide Sufficient Spacing for At-Grade, Signalized Intersections

Good spacing of signalized intersections reduces conflict areas and increases the potential for smooth traffic progression.

Provide Adequate On-Site Circulation and Storage

The design of good internal vehicle circulation in parking areas and on local streets reduces the number of driveways that businesses need for access to the major roadway.

What Can Access Management Do for You?

Access Management is an obvious strategy in the fight to preserve the travel speeds and minimize accidents in our roadway systems.  The real beauty of access management is that it can provide many substantial benefits at relatively low costs.  A well designed and implemented program:

‚ Provides substantial reductions in accident costs.

‚ Maintains the efficient movement of people and goods.

‚ Preserves the public investment in the transportation infrastructure.

‚ Reduces the need to build more new roadways.

‚ Protects the value of private investments.

‚ Enhances the environmental and economic vitality of surrounding communities.

The list of those that will benefit is substantial.  Some of the big winners are:

The traveling public who will experience faster and safer travel.

Taxpayers who will see the transportation infrastructure used more efficiently.

Businesses and the private sector who will realize lower transportation costs for goods and services as well as expanded market areas.

Public agencies and the communities they support who will have more resources to expend on other needs such as education and crime prevention.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This course is designed for

FEDERAL,

STATE,

AND LOCAL

PLANNERS AND ENGINEERS

who are currently involved or expect to be involved in decisions on and/or design of access to existing sites or new developments.

ABOUT THE COURSE

The course provides comprehensive and detailed discussion of access management along streets and highways. It includes:

<Material from the NCHRP report entitled AAccess Management Guidelines for Activity Center@.

<Material from the 1993 National Conference on Access Management.

<Information on existing access management practices and policies from sample states and jurisdiction are presented.

<In-depth discussion of management techniques and their warrants, geometric standards, and guidelines for design and application.

<Strategies for developing and implementing retrofit programs to improve existing access control.

<Before and after case studies that demonstrate the impacts of retrofit programs on local business.

<Techniques and procedures for evaluating the impacts of access control on the safety and operation of the highway system.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Upon completion of the course the participant should be able to:

Recognize the various elements involved in planning, developing, implementing, and administering an effective access management system.

Assess safety and operational impacts of alternative access management techniques.

Demonstrate convincingly the merits of obtaining and maintaining good access control along streets and highways.