Agenda - 11-23-1987 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Local Access Streets provide access to abutting property. They are not intended to carry heavy volumes of traffic and should be located such that only traffic with origins and destinations on the streets would be served. Local streets may be further classified as either residential, commercial, and/or industrial depending upon the type of land use which they serve. Minor Thoroughfares are more important streets in the city system. They collect traffic from local access streets and carry it to the major thoroughfare system. They may in some instances supplement the major thoroughfare system by facilitating minor through traffic movements, A third func- tion which may be performed is that of providing access to abutting property. They should be designed to serve limited areas so that their development as major thoroughfares will be prevented. Major Thoroughfares are the primary traffic arteries of the city. Their function is to move antra-city and inter- city traffic. The streets which comprise the major thor- oughfare system may also serve abutting property; however, TI IR MAJOR FUJNCTION IS TO CARRY TRAFFIC. They should not be bordered by uncontrolled strip development because such development significantly lowers the capacity of the thorough- fare to carry traffic and each driveway is a danger and an impediment to traffic flow. Major thoroughfares may range from a two-lane street carrying minor traffic volumes to major expressways with four or more traffic lanes. Parking normally should not be permitted on major thoroughfares. Idealized Major Thoroughfare System A coordinated system of major thoroughfares forms the basic framework of the urban street system. A major thor- oughfare system which is most adaptable to desire lines of travel within an urban area and which permits movement between various areas of the city with maximum directness is the radial-loop system. This system consists of several functional elements-radial streets, crosstown streets, loop system streets, and bypasses (Figure 2) . Radial streets provide for traffic movement between points located in the outskirts of the city and the central area. This is a major traffic movement in most cities, and the economic strength of the central business district de- pends upon the adequacy of this type of thoroughfare. If all radial streets crossed in the central area, an intolerable congestion problem would result. To avoid this problem, it is very important to have a system of crosstown streets which form a loop around the central business dis- trict. This system allows traffic moving from origins on