APPENDIX D ACCESS MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES

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1 APPENDIX D ACCESS MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES Access management has become an important tool in transportation planning. Access management guidelines are intended to preserve the integrity of roadways by balancing mobility, safety, and convenient access to properties. Access management is defined as the spacing and location of driveways, placement of median openings, and the interconnectivity of road classifications in order to maintain the access and mobility function of collectors and arterials. By managing access to adjacent land uses on these roadways, capacity and function can be preserved and a reduction in conflict points can occur. In essence, the functional classification of roads is established to allow varying degrees of mobility and access. Typically, the most restrictive criteria are applied to arterial roadways. Greater mobility is expected on arterial roads and less access, and greater access and less mobility is expected on local roads. The following graphic visually represents this description. FHWA Conceptual Roadway Functional Hierarchy However, local roads within rural areas also provide some mobility and are sometimes subject to stricter access controls than there urbanizing area counterparts. As such, separate access policies for local roads are recommended for rural and urban road classifications. xii

2 WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR MANAGING ACCESS IN RURAL AREAS? The rationale for managing access in rural areas is somewhat different than in urbanized areas. Roads in rural areas usually serve low density land uses and have lower traffic volumes; thus, the disrupting impact of access to traffic is less significant. However, high travel speeds, safety, operational concerns, and maintenance issues also exist, which good access management can address. Managing rural access for safety includes considering sight distance, the number of conflict areas drivers must respond to, and the severity of crashes when vehicles run off the road. Managing rural access for improved operations/maintenance includes consideration of the detrimental effect of access points on winter driving due to drifting snow, the increased difficulty access points pose for effective snow removal, the added costs for resurfacing projects, and the impacts of access drives on drainage. Weld County s access management requirements should require, whenever feasibly possible, shared accesses. Shared accesses service two or more adjacent properties. The intent is to locate the shared access on the center of the common property line per a shared access agreement. For example, the two pictures represent the importance of enforcing shared accesses. The top picture represents an area of Weld County, which contains 21 individual access points on a local road. The bottom picture represents what you can do with the same area of land when you combine accesses. The lower picture has six shared access points versus 21. By limiting the number of access points you reduce potential traffic conflicts and increase safety and mobility. xiii

3 To the extent possible, the following guidelines should be applied to access requests for Arterial, Collector and Local roads. Arterial Roads: Direct access to abutting land is subordinate to providing service to through traffic movements. Access will normally not be granted to an individual property which has a reasonable alternative means of access to a lower roadway classification. Consideration of reasonable alternative access will take into consideration the function of the alternative roadway, its purpose, capacity, operation, safety, and means of improving the alternative roadway. Ideally, accesses should be limited on arterial and collector cross roads and no more than one access per parcel or lot shall be allowed to an individual to contiguous parcels under the same ownership, unless it can be shown that allowing only one access would be a considerable detriment or safety issue. Intersections should be spaced no less than one half mile apart on arterials, where feasible, subject to the roadway s grade and to the driver s entering sight distance. Allowed accesses or intersections spaced at intervals other than one half mile will be restricted to ¾ movements or right in/right out only unless an engineering study clearly demonstrates that there are benefits to allowing a left in movement and that the access location would not be a significant detriment to the integrity of the roadway. A full movement arterial access, with the potential for signalization, may be considered at a location which does not meet the preferred one half mile spacing provided an engineering study verifies that the half mile spacing is not practical and that good signal progression (at least 35 percent) can be achieved. The location of any access should maintain a minimum spacing of 700 feet with any other access or intersection subject to allowance for proper vehicular turn lane storage requirements. All necessary means shall be pursued to ensure that any access granted to an arterial roadway serves as many properties as possible; this may require the stipulation of cross access easements or shared accesses through the subject property to serve neighboring properties. Additional access will not be provided to parcels along the arterial which are subdivided or are under a common ownership. It is strongly encouraged to not allow single family homes to be allowed to front onto an arterial road. xiv

4 Collector Roads: Direct access onto a collector roadway is reasonably balanced with the roadway s mobility and function. One access will be allowed to serve each property provided it does not create a hazard or a detriment to the roadway s integrity and is at least 1,320 feet from another existing or future collector intersection. For lower volume accesses a spacing ranging from feet is recommended. Access will normally be full movement, unsignalized unless such access creates an operation or safety problem. In such a case, a restriction of movements may be required. A second access to individual properties may be granted if this access is not detrimental to existing or future access serving the adjacent property or to the operation of an existing or future access serving the adjacent property or to the operation of an existing or planned cross street intersection. It is also strongly encouraged to not all single family homes be allowed to front onto a collector. Any access or cross street intersection which has the potential for signalization will need to be located to ensure adequate (30 percent) progression, if appropriate. An engineering study will be required to show proper signal progression. Any access with the potential for signalization should be located so as to serve as many properties as possible with the potential stipulation of cross access to the adjacent properties. Local Roads (Urban): The intent of local roads within urbanizing areas is to provide direct access to abutting properties. Minimum spacing between intersections should range from feet; greater spacing may be required in unique circumstances subject to specific traffic conditions. Local Roads (Rural): Local roads are not intended to access arterials, but should funnel towards collector roads. Local roads within rural areas provide adequate access to abutting properties within an environment that experiences relatively high speeds. One access to adjacent properties will be allowed provided it neither creates a hazard nor a significant detriment to the roadway s mobility and function. It is recommended that shared access be a minimum of 30 feet wide, and contain a 20 foot wide all weather roadway surface. Source: Office of the State Transportation Planner Systems Planning Office xv

5 Roadway Access Goals: When considering the location of new access connections for any property the following methodologies should be taken into consideration: 1. Avoid construction of new access onto arterials orient access to secondary roads whenever possible. 2. Provide adequate sight distance at all entrances to improve safety and reduce potential conflicts. 3. Develop turn lanes or bypass lanes on higher speed roadways or higher volume access points to allow through traffic to keep moving while providing a storage area for turning traffic. 4. Align driveways on opposite sides of roadways. Avoid offset or dogleg intersections and entrances, as shown in the diagram below. 5. Provide adequate corner clearance of driveways from public road intersections on corner lots and keep driveway connections away from turn lanes if possible. 6. Limit the number of access/curb cuts to one per parcel. 7. Interconnect adjacent developments to reduce the need for local traffic to use major roadways, as shown in the diagram below. 8. It is important to recognize the importance of the functionality of the roadway by preserving the location of access points. Therefore, this document recommends that access points should be shared whenever functionally possible. xvi

6 Recommended Access Management Principals: The County s access management policies and criteria should be incorporated early in the land use decision process. Provide advocacy, educational and technical assistance to promote access management practices within the County and among local jurisdictions. Promote proactive corridor preservation through coordination with surrounding jurisdictions. Provide consistent county wide management of the road network system. Maintain and apply access criteria based upon best engineering practices to guide driveway location and design. Establish and maintain an access classification system that defines the planned level of access for different road classifications in the county. Ensure regulations identify developer responsibilities for paying for improvements addressing the safety and capacity impacts created by development. Enhance access permit criteria/regulatory powers to ensure safe and efficient accesses. Permit exceptions to the County s access criteria should be evaluated on a case by case basis, and should ensure that such deviation won t negatively impact the safety of the general public. Pursue creating a County Access Management Plan, which identifies the following key components of an effective access management program: Developing and applying an access classification system that assigns access management standards to roadways in accordance with their level of importance to mobility. This system generally parallels the roadway functional classification system. Planning, designing, and maintaining road systems based on this access classification system and related road geometry. Define the level of access permitted to each classification, which includes the following: Permitting or prohibiting direct property access; Allowing for full movement, limited turns (3/4 movement & RI/RO), medians; and Designating the type of traffic control required, such as a signal, raised median, or roundabout. xvii

7 Establishing criteria for the spacing of signalized and non signalized access, as well as access setback distances from intersections (corner clearance) and interchanges. Applying engineering standards that include appropriate geometric design criteria and traffic engineering measures to each allowable access point or system of access points. Establishing policies, regulations, and permitting procedures to implement these listed components. Coordinate with local jurisdictions to ensure consistent right of way preservation and access management guidelines along multi jurisdictional roads. WCR 13 turn lanes xviii