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36 Draft 11-19-2013 Access Management Strategies Access management is the systematic control of the location, spacing, design and operation of driveways, median openings, interchanges and street connections to a roadway. The chief goal of access management planning is to reduce the number and severity of conflicts between through moving traffic and traffic attempting to turn. Successfully managing these conflicts can result in fewer automobile and pedestrian accidents, reduced congestion and preservation of public investment in the road network. Access management strategies attempt to reduce and combine access points along major roadways while still encouraging complete circulation systems. The result is a street system that functions safer and more efficiently. As development grows along a roadway, there must be an effective plan to manage street access to increase public safety, extend the life of the roadway, reduce congestion, and support alternative modes of transportation, and improve the overall appearance of the roadway. Better mobility expands the market reach of businesses and enhances the efficient movement of people and goods. With the absence of access management, arterial roadways can deteriorate functionally and aesthetically as well as affect economic, physical, social and environmental characteristics in the following ways: • Increased vehicular accidents • Collisions involving pedestrians and cyclists • Reduction in roadway efficiency • Unattractive strip non-residential development • Decay of scenic views • Dispersion of higher traffic volumes on adjacent lower class (local) streets • Increase in commute times, fuel consumption, emissions, area of paved surfaces Some of the specific ways that the functionality of roadways can be improved in the Study Area is through the application of planning, regulatory, and design strategies relating to access management. The following strategies are excerpted from the Access Management Program adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on November 15, 2011: • Policies, guidelines and regulations issued by state and local agencies having permit authority on development and roadway infrastructure improvements; • State and county regulations, codes, plans and guidelines that are enforceable; • Land development regulations by state and local jurisdictions that address property access and related issues; • Understanding of access implications by property owners, developers, and businesses; • The spacing and location of driveways; • Driveway consolidation; • Driveway width; • Guidelines for adequate sight distance; • Protection of the functional area of intersections and interchanges; • The redesign of poorly functioning intersections and interchanges; 24I Page