The urban/suburban surface street network provides mobility and access. Unfortunately, unregulated private access can severely impact the operations and safety of through traffic by reducing capacity and introducing conflict points and significant speed differentials in the traffic stream. Studies have shown that regulating or managing private access is a very good way of preserving the functional integrity of facilities while reducing the risk of crashes. Comprehensive access management addresses the need to look at the "big picture" when regulating access. This includes not only the location and design of driveways but also the spacing of driveways and intersections, designs of highway cross-sections and turn treatments, and the planning of land use. Although some comprehensive access management programs are in place in the United States, many jurisdictions are awaiting more insight as to the potential impacts of such programs. Consequently, there continues to be significant study of the impacts, particularly operational and safety benefits for roadway users versus economic impacts to adjacent businesses and communities. This paper focuses on predicted and observed impacts of comprehensive access management as demonstrated in research and case studies. A synthesis, which describes existing comprehensive access management programs in the United States, is provided along with analytical and observed assessments of many of the programs. The intent of this paper is to describe U.S. experience in access management research and program implementation. The goal is to open channels by which the U.S. and European experiences in managing access can be shared and, in turn, be used to promote more widespread implementation of a very promising concept.
Abstract