ACCESS MANAGEMENT:MAIN STREET OR THE HIGHWAY?

1. ACCESS MANAGEMENT:MAIN STREET OR THE HIGHWAY? Presented by: Dan Cohen/Tim Preece

2. ACCESS MANAGEMENT • What It Is • Why It Isn’t • What Business Says • The Evidence Says • What To Do

3. 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)

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

5. WHAT IT IS • More access = less mobility • Less access = more mobility Mobility Access

6. 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

7. 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

8. WHAT IT IS Controlled access (high level of access management)

9. WHAT IT IS • High level of access (low level of access management)

10. WHAT IT IS Levels of access control

11. 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.

12. WHY IT ISN’T Why access doesn’t get managed • Businesses and developers perceive access management as a threat to their success • It is difficult to coordinate

13. WHY IT ISN’T You might hear: • After the road is fixed, this location will no longer be viable for a restaurant • The current highway is congested, but that’s 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

17. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

18. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

19. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

20. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS Areas with mature Access Management programs: • Colorado • Michigan • Florida • Maine • Iowa • many others…

21. 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)

22. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS Three major benefits of access management: • Increased roadway capacity • Reduced crashes • Shortened travel time for motorists

23. 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.

24. 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 Finding—Property 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 Finding—Relatively minor changes in access (< 1 mile) were not sufficient to cause significant changes in land use and value.

25. 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."

26. 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)

27. So, Why Not?

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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.

32. 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

33. 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.

34. Should we have stronger state regulations?

35. WHAT TO DO • Tends to be greatest on arterial roads-demand for individual property access conflicts with demand for through traffic movement

36. 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 community’s 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.

37. 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.

38. 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

39. What are local governments doing?

40. Questions?

41. Contact Timothy Preece tim.preece@arcadis-us.com Dan Cohen cohend@pondco.com