PIMA COUNTY REGIONAL ACCESS - Pima … · Other Pima County Documents with Access...

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Transcript of PIMA COUNTY REGIONAL ACCESS - Pima … · Other Pima County Documents with Access...

PIMA COUNTY REGIONAL ACCESS MANAGEMENT PLAN (RAMP)

LOCAL AND NON-LOCAL ACCESS MANAGEMENT

PROGRAMS DELIVERABLE 1B

April 2008

Prepared by: Curtis Lueck & Associates 5460 West Four Barrel Court

Tucson, AZ 85743 520-743-8748

CLA Project No. 2007.36

Curtis Lueck, P.E., Ph.D., Principal James Barry, Ph.D.

Marcos Esparza, P.E., PTOE Kenneth Shackman, P.E., PTOE

This document has been prepared using the project contract scope of work, supplemented with other readily available information. It is intended for use in guiding the project to a successful conclusion. It is not intended for use as a design document, nor does it represent a standard or specification. The document is copyrighted by the Pima Association of Governments, Pima County (Arizona), and Curtis Lueck & Associates (CLA), 5460 West Four Barrel Court, Tucson, AZ 85743, telephone 520-743-8748. All rights are reserved pursuant to United States copyright law. The document may not be reproduced digitally or mechanically, in whole or in part, without the prior written approval of CLA, except as noted in the following. (1) Limited quotations may be made, for technical purposes only, as long as proper citation to the authors is provided. (2) Governmental agencies to which this report is submitted for review may make limited copies for internal use and to fulfill public requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction................................................................................................................................ 1

Access Management within the RAMP Jurisdictions............................................................... 2 Pima County ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Other Pima County Documents with Access Management-Related Information and Guidelines ......................................................................................................................................... 5 City of Tucson................................................................................................................................... 6 Town of Sahuarita ............................................................................................................................ 9 Town of Oro Valley.........................................................................................................................11 Town of Marana..............................................................................................................................12 City of South Tucson ......................................................................................................................14 Arizona Department of Transportation...........................................................................................14 Pima Association of Governments.................................................................................................16

Access Management Outside of RAMP Jurisdictions............................................................ 17

Existing National Documents Related to Access Management ............................................ 18

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Introduction The concept of access management in local jurisdictions is not new, although its practice has not yet become established as policy in every Pima County jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions in Pima County apply commonly accepted roadway design practices when designing new or improving existing roadways. These design standards are typically based on technical analyses with goals to optimize safe roadway conditions. However, these design standards may not emphasize the need to provide adequate access to land uses that directly, or indirectly, access the roadways. As defined in the Federal Highway Administration’s Access Management Manual1, access management is “the proactive management of vehicular access points to land parcels adjacent to all manner of roadways. Good access management promotes safe and efficient use of the transportation network. Access management encompasses a set of techniques that state and local governments can use to control access to highways, major arterials, and other roadways.” The following access management techniques are described in the Access Management Manual document:

• Access Spacing: increasing the distance between traffic signals improves the flow of traffic on major arterials, reduces congestion, and improves air quality for heavily traveled corridors.

• Driveway Spacing: Fewer driveways spaced further apart allow for more orderly merging of traffic and presents fewer challenges to drivers.

• Safe Turning Lanes: dedicated left- and right-turn, indirect left-turns and U-turns, and roundabouts keep through-traffic flowing. Roundabouts represent an opportunity to reduce an intersection with many conflict points or a severe crash history (T-bone crashes) to one that operates with fewer conflict points and less severe crashes (sideswipes) if they occur.

• Median Treatments: two-way left-turn lanes (TWLTL) and non-traversable, raised medians are examples of some of the most effective means to regulate access and reduce crashes.

• Right-of-Way Management: as it pertains to R/W reservation for future widening, good sight distance, access location, and other access-related issues.

The Access Management Manual also indicates that, “Access Management provides an important means of maintaining mobility. It calls for effective ingress 1 Access Management Manual, FHWA, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington DC, 2003.

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and egress to a facility, efficient spacing and design to preserve the functional integrity, and overall operational viability of street and road systems.”

This document summarizes the existing transportation access management policies, regulations and guidelines for the RAMP stakeholder jurisdictions within Pima County, as well as for other Arizona jurisdictions. We have also included a review of a sample of national publications related to transportation access management.

Access Management within the RAMP Jurisdictions The City of Tucson and the Town of Sahuarita are the only RAMP jurisdictions that have designated “access management” policies. Most of the other RAMP jurisdictions utilize policies for transportation access management that are based on nationally accepted roadway design and access management standards. The Arizona Department of Transportation is currently developing the Statewide Access Management Plan. Based on the current progress of the development of the statewide plan, it should be ready for review by the State Transportation Board sometime in 2008. It should be noted that although there are many similarities in access guidelines and policies among the local jurisdictions, there are substantial differences in some cases. For instance, in warranting auxiliary lanes at driveways and intersections, the City of Tucson, Pima County and the Town of Marana all use somewhat different criteria. Because one of the purposes of the RAMP is to establish consistent guidelines for each participating RAMP jurisdiction to apply in managing access, these differences will be discussed further in the RAMP Work Task 4 deliverable, the Issues and Opportunities working paper. The following are brief summaries of a sample of current documents that are applied in each of the RAMP jurisdictions to manage access along the roadways.

Pima County

Subdivision and Development Street Standards General Summary: This document was adopted by the Board of Supervisors on April 5, 2005 and is a set of guidelines for land use planners and design engineers to use in designing access to and from subdivisions and other developments within unincorporated Pima County. The standards include access provisions for land use types that are generally divided into residential and commercial/industrial land uses. The residential land use standards are subdivided into two subdivision types; rural and urban residential. Guidelines for subdivision access design for commercial/industrial

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land uses consider whether the land use is within a single parcel or is a subdivision. The standards include access management guidelines for:

• Driveway and corner clearance spacing

• Driveway design

• Shared driveways

• Turn lane warrants The standards also include criteria for determining if and what level of traffic impact study may be required for a proposed development. The link to the website where the document resides is provided here: http://www.pimaxpress.com/Dev_Review/PDFs/SubDevStreetStandards.pdf Legal Authority: This document is referenced in several documents including the Pima County Code, Chapter 18.69 “Subdivision Standards”. The General Regulations section of this chapter includes the following subsections: A. Approval of Subdivision Required. Until a tentative plat and a final plat of a subdivision shall have been approved in accordance with this chapter and the Subdivision Development and Street Standards Manual, no person proposing a subdivision within Pima County, outside the corporate limits of any city or town shall: 1. Subdivide or file a record of survey, map or plat for record; or 2. Sell any part of said subdivision; or 3. Proceed with any grading, construction or other work on the same, except as

specified in Section 18.69.060G. B. Lots. All lots shall be consistent with the zoning requirements. C. Except as otherwise provided herein, a subdivider shall construct or install all required subdivision improvements or provide assurances for their installation as defined in Section 18.69.070 prior to the issuance of a building permit for any lot. (Ord. 2005-35 § 3 (part), 2005; Ord. 1997-68 § 1, 1997; Ord. 1985-82 (part), 1985) Current Status: Pima County has no plans to update this document prior to the completion of the RAMP.

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Valencia Road at Vahalla Road

Pima County Roadway Design Manual General Summary: The second edition of the Pima County Roadway Design Manual (RDM) was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in December 2003. This document is a comprehensive set of guidelines for the design of roadways within unincorporated Pima County. The guidelines include the required steps for establishing a project such as the preparation of preliminary design documents (Transportation Action Plan, Location Report, Environmental Assessment and Mitigation Report, Traffic Engineering Report) as well as construction documents; a set of design elements based on roadway type; and requirements for designing roadways in environmentally sensitive areas. The RDM also includes requirements for public participation activities associated with roadway improvement projects. The RDM includes design guidelines associated with access management techniques, generally supported by nationally accepted (AASHTO, FHWA) design guidelines. The link to the website where the document resides is provided here: http://www.dot.pima.gov/transeng/roaddesign/RoadwayDesignManual.pdf#page=1 Legal Authority: This document is referenced in several documents including the Pima County Code, Chapter 18.69 “Subdivision Standards”.

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Development Plan Transportation Review Checklist General Summary: This checklist is a resource tool for developers, engineers and architects to ensure that they have included the required information when submitting a development plan to the Pima County Development Services Department. This document references several Pima County documents including the Pima County Major Streets & Scenic Routes Plan, the PCDOT Roadway Design Manual and the Pima County Subdivision and Development Street Standards. The link to the website where the document resides is provided here: http://www.pimaxpress.com/Dev_Review/PDFs/DPTrans.pdf Legal Authority: This checklist is referenced in the Pima County Zoning Code, Chapter 18.71 (18.71.030.A “All development plans shall contain sufficient information to evidence compliance with all applicable county ordinances, regulations and policies. See checklist requirements in development services.”)

Major Streets and Scenic Routes Plan General Summary: This plan defines the planned right-of-way widths for major streets and scenic routes in Pima County. The link to the website where the document resides is provided here: http://www.dot.co.pima.az.us/gis/maps/majscenic/MSSRc02_01.pdf Legal Authority: The plan was adopted by ordinance by the Pima County Board of Supervisors in 1995 and has been updated seven times since then, most recently in May 2004. This plan is referenced in the Pima County Zoning Code, Chapter 18.77 (18.77.030 “Setback Lines for Streets” and 18.77.040 “Scenic Routes”)

Other Pima County Documents with Access Management-Related Information and Guidelines

• Pima County and City of Tucson. Bicycle Parking Development Standards (draft), Tucson, September 2003.

• Pima County and City of Tucson. Standard Details for Public Improvements, Tucson, 2003. http://www.dot.pima.gov/transeng/stdspecsdet/standarddetails2003_vector.pdf

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• Pima County and City of Tucson. Standard Specifications for Public Improvements, Tucson, 2003. http://www.dot.pima.gov/transeng/stdspecsdet/standardspecs2003.pdf

• Pima County Department of Transportation and Flood Control District and City of Tucson Department of Transportation Pavement Marking Design Manual, Tucson, First Revision 2002. http://www.dot.pima.gov/trafeng/DesignManual/PavementManual.pdf

• Pima County Department of Transportation and Flood Control District, Traffic Signing Design Manual, Tucson, 2002.

• Pima County Code, Tucson, 2003.

City of Tucson

Transportation Access Management Guidelines for the City of Tucson, Arizona General Summary: This document was adopted by the City of Tucson Mayor and Council on March 17, 2003. It is a set of guidelines that define the recommended access features on City of Tucson roadways. The roadways are segmented into functional classifications of “local, “collector” or “arterial”. The document also includes the guidelines to be used in conducting a traffic impact study for a proposed development within the City. Access design guidelines in this document include driveway design and spacing, signal timing and spacing, location of median openings and warrants and storage length calculations for auxiliary lanes. The link to the website where the document resides is provided here http://dot.ci.tucson.az.us/traffic/pdfs/Transportation%20Access%20Management%20Guidelines.pdf Legal Authority: This document is referenced in the Private Improvement Agreements (PIA) guidelines for the City of Tucson. The first page of the document indicates that “these guidelines will be adopted as ordinance and will become applicable to all new public and private developments.” Current Status (January 2008): The City of Tucson Department of Transportation would like to update this document, but is waiting for the final version of the RAMP document.

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Golf Links Road east of Pantano Road

Major Streets and Routes Plan General Summary: As defined in the plan, “The major purposes of the Major Streets and Routes Plan are to identify street classifications, the width of public rights-of-way, to designate special routes, and to guide land use decisions. General Plan policies stipulate that planning and developing new transportation facilities be accomplished by identifying rights-of-way in the Major Streets and Routes Plan. The policies also aim to encourage bicycle and pedestrian travel, "minimize disruption of the environment," and "coordinate land use patterns with transportation plans….The Major Streets and Routes Plan has two components: the map and a set of related policies…” The link to the website where the document resides is provided here http://www.tucsonaz.gov/planning/plans/all/msr.pdf Legal Authority: The plan was adopted by ordinance by the Tucson City Council in 1982 and has been updated seventeen times since then, most recently in July 2007.

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City of Tucson Development Standards General Summary: The Development Standards contain information on City Development Review Committee submittals, Historic Preservation, Transportation and Solid Waste standards. As defined in the Development Standards, the purpose of the establishment of the Development Standards is “…to provide procedures for the establishment of, and amendment to, standards for the development of land within the City of Tucson. This document also provides a procedure for the consideration of requests to modify requirements within a Development Standard and a procedure to hear appeals of decisions on those requests”. Legal Authority: The standard (Development Standard 1-01.0) for establishing the City of Tucson Development Standards is also established as Administrative Directive 1.02-9 under the City of Tucson Administrative Directives.

City of Tucson Land Use Code General Summary: The Land Use Code is Chapter 23 of the Tucson Code. It lists several purposes in its introductory section including, “To encourage the most efficient use of land through site sensitive design…. To reduce potential hazards to individuals and neighborhoods (public) that result from incompatible land uses….” The link to the website where the document resides is provided here: http://www.tucsonaz.gov/planning/codes/luc/lucweb/index.html#TopOfPage Legal Authority: The Land Use Code was adopted by ordinance by the Tucson City Council in 1995.

Private Improvements Agreement (PIA) General Summary: The City of Tucson requires a Private Improvements Agreement (PIA) to address some right-of-way improvements resulting from private developments. A PIA is typically required for:

• Rezoning conditions: Some rezoning conditions may require a PIA for offsite improvements.

• Curbing: If the extent of curbing will result in impacts to existing drainage patterns.

• Drainage Structures: Box culverts, pipe culverts, connections to existing drainage facilities.

• Drainage Improvements: Drainage grading.

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• Paving: This includes acceleration lanes, deceleration lanes, and turn lanes.

• Median modifications: all median modifications. • Traffic Control Devices: This includes signalization, new traffic signs, etc. • Sidewalks along Major Streets and Routes Plan roadways.

Legal Authority: PIA Plans are to be designed in accordance with COT Development Standards Sections 3 & 11, Chapter 25, Land Use Code, Pima County/City of Tucson Standard Details & Standard Specification for Public Improvements 2003 Edition, Transportation Access Management Guidelines for COT, Standards Manual for Drainage Design and Floodplain Management, Major Streets & Routes, Moratorium, ADOT Standard Details and ADA Standards.

Other City of Tucson Documents with Access Management Guidelines

• Pima County and City of Tucson. Bicycle Parking Development Standards (draft), Tucson, September 2003.

• Pima County and City of Tucson. Standard Details for Public Improvements, Tucson, 2003. http://www.dot.pima.gov/transeng/stdspecsdet/standarddetails2003_vector.pdf

• Pima County and City of Tucson. Standard Specifications for Public Improvements, Tucson, 2003. http://www.dot.pima.gov/transeng/stdspecsdet/standardspecs2003.pdf

• Pima County Department of Transportation and Flood Control District and City of Tucson Department of Transportation Pavement Marking Design Manual, Tucson, First Revision 2002. http://www.dot.pima.gov/trafeng/DesignManual/PavementManual.pdf

Town of Sahuarita

Access Management Guidelines General Summary: This document was approved by the Town Engineer and Public Works Director on May 11, 2004. It is a set of guidelines that define the recommended access features, such as intersection spacing and turn lane warrants for the Town of Sahuarita’s Principal and Minor Arterials.

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Legal Authority: In the Executive Summary of the Access Guidelines, it is stated that “It is the responsibility of the Town Engineer to administer, coordinate and enforce the provisions and standards in this document.” However, as of January 2008, the Town Planning and Zoning Commission have not yet adopted the Access Management Guidelines.

Quail Crossing Boulevard at Quail Creek Development

Sahuarita Town Code General Summary: This document is the codified set of rules, laws and procedures for the Town of Marana. Title 18 – Zoning – of the Sahuarita Town Code includes the subsection 18.69 – Subdivision Standards. This subsection includes the guidance for approving proposed subdivisions within the Town. It also defines design standards for streets developed within subdivisions. The link to the website where the document resides is provided here: http://www.codepublishing.com/AZ/sahuarita.html Legal Authority: This document is the codified set of rules, laws and procedures for the Town of Sahuarita.

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Town of Oro Valley

Subdivision Street Standards and Policy Manual General Summary: This document was authorized for use by the Town Engineer/Public Works Director in May, 2004. As indicated in the document, “The Standards are to be used by development consultants in the preparation of subdivision plats, master planning documents (Planned Area Developments, Specific Plans, etc.), development plans and improvement plans….” The standards apply to all subdivision and land development related roadway construction or reconstruction located within the Town of Oro Valley which is subject to zoning and/or subdivision regulations. These standards apply equally to both public and private roadways. The link to the website where the document resides is provided here: http://www.ci.oro-valley.az.us/DPW/pdf/Final%20Version2.5-8.04%20Complete.pdf Legal Authority: The document has been adopted by The Town of Oro Valley as a Standard and is indicated as such in the Town Code, Article 7-1, Standard Specifications.

Town of Oro Valley Guidelines for Golf Cart At-Grade Crossings and Crossing Grade Separations General Summary: This document is a set of guidelines to guide the locations and operations of golf cart/roadway intersections within the Town of Oro Valley. Legal Authority: The document itself has no legal authority. However, the Oro Valley Town Code Article 7-6, Golf Cart Paths Crossing Public Rights-of-Way, requires that “Golf cart paths on certain public or private streets may be allowed provided approval has been obtained from the town engineer”. The location of these paths are contigent on a traffic study identifyng the location, operation and design of traffic control devices associated with the path and intersection. It is assumed that path designers apply the guidelines in this document.

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La Canada Drive, looking north toward Oro Valley

Town of Marana

Traffic Impact Studies Manual General Summary: In 2006, the Town of Marana began requiring developers to conduct a Traffic Study for any new development greater than a single residential home on a lot. When a development is projected to generate 100 or more peak hour trips, a formal traffic impact study must be conducted. Prior to this manual, the town had adopted the ADOT methodology for conducting traffic analyses for developments. The Traffic Impacts Studies Manual includes guidance for determining the scope of the traffic study, including the study area requirements and the horizon years for which the analysis should be conducted based on the projected impact of the development on the surrounding network. http://www.marana.com/DocumentView.asp?DID=92 Legal Authority: The town has adopted the requirements for traffic impact studies in accordance with the Traffic Impact Studies Manual.

Major Routes Right of Way Plan General Summary: This map identifies the future right of way for the major routes in Marana. http://www.marana.com/DocumentView.asp?DID=957

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Subdivision Street Standards Manual General Summary: This document was adopted from the Pima County Department of Transportation and Flood Control District subdivision standards and modified to meet Town of Marana requirements. The guidelines in this manual are for use in developing design documents for plats, development plans, improvement plans and master planning documents. The guidelines in this manual are limited to the design characteristics of local streets, local collectors and commercial and industrial subdivision streets, with particular attention to residential land development. The standards apply equally to both public and private roadways. http://www.marana.com/DocumentView.asp?DID=90 Legal Authority: The Marana Town Council adopted the manual in May 2004. Developers could deviate from these standards but would have to apply for an exception, site justification and alternative standards, and have their plan reviewed by town staff and the Planning Commission for approval. Most exceptions would have to be approved by the Planning Commission before a design plan is submitted.

Land Development Code of the Town of Marana General Summary: This code includes regulations on development design, access and parking within the Town of Marana. Included in this code is the Silverbell Road Overlay District Regulations that guides development on Silverbell Road within the Town of Marana. http://www.marana.com/DocumentView.asp?DID=264 Legal Authority: It is a municipal code adopted by the Marana Town Council in 1984 (Ordinance Number 84.04), and amended several times since.

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Ina Road, west of Thornydale Road (looking west)

City of South Tucson The City of South Tucson does not have policy documents related to roadway access management. The City will generally apply City of Tucson standards when improving roadways within its limits.

Arizona Department of Transportation There are several Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) that define the state of Arizona’s regulatory powers in limiting access to state highways. These are provided in Title 28 (“Transportation”) of the ARS. However, the ARS do not currently codify specific access management guidelines or authority associated with access from adjacent land uses to state highways. http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ArizonaRevisedStatutes.asp?Title=28

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Southbound SR 77 (Oracle Road) near Prince Road

Statewide Access Management Plan General Summary: This Statewide Access Management Plan has been in development since summer 2005, and is expected to be reviewed by the State Transportation Board sometime in 2008. The plan is being developed in accordance with State Transportation Board Policy 12 which directs ADOT to develop “an access management classification system for the State Highways with appropriate access management standards for each access management classification”. It also directs ADOT “to develop a comprehensive access management manual to guide the uniform application of access management throughout the state.” The Statewide Access Management Plan will be a policy document and has the following objectives:

1) Develop a comprehensive access management program structure within ADOT departments.

2) Develop access spacing and design standards. 3) Update interchange design and spacing criteria and establish minimum

spacing standards. 4) Update ADOT roadway design guidelines and traffic engineering policies. 5) Establish a statewide access classification system that assigns access

classifications to each state highway. 6) Strengthen and standardize the access permit process: 7) Provide for a strategic approach to the acquisition of access rights. 8) Establish clear procedures and guidance for adoption and implementation

of corridor access management plans. 9) Provide outreach, technical assistance, and incentives to encourage local

government participation.

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10) Develop materials that clearly communicate the importance of access management to stakeholder group.

11) Develop an access management program organizational structure that builds on the existing staffing and structure.

12) Identify start-up and on-going funding needs for a statewide access management program.

ADOT ROW Permitting Practices General Summary: Currently, permits for driveways onto a state highway are granted by ADOT’s Engineering Districts through Arizona Administrative Code, Title 17, Rule R17-3-506. http://www.azsos.gov/public_services/Table_of_Contents.htm

Traffic Impact Analysis for Proposed Development General Summary: This document is a compilation of two documents defining the requirements for preparing traffic impact analyses (TIA) for ADOT review. The first document is subsection 240 from the ADOT Traffic Manual, (now called the “ADOT Traffic Engineering Policies, Guidelines and Procedures”, or ADOT PGP). Subsection 240 of the ADOT PGP, “Traffic Impact Analysis” is a summary of the requirements for preparing a TIA. This summary includes the criteria for determining the level of traffic study required, the analysis approach and methodology and a study and report format. The second document in the Traffic Impact Analysis for Proposed Development is “Traffic Impact Analysis Study and Report Format Procedural Guidelines” and is a more detailed version of the first document. This second document provides step-by-step guidance in conducting a TIA and includes a sample TIA. Legal Authority: As indicated in subsection 240 of the ADOT PGP, TIAs must be prepared under the supervision of a registered Professional Engineer (Civil). For analyses prepared by persons external to ADOT, the report must be sealed and signed. TIAs must also be reviewed and approved by the Regional Traffic Engineer before the development is allowed to be implemented.

Pima Association of Governments

Access and Mobility Study Report General Summary: This document was prepared by URS for the Pima Association of Governments (PAG) in December 2005. It is a general summary of existing (then) access management programs in the PAG region. The overall purpose of this study was to investigate existing development design/ practices

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and jurisdictional development policies, practices, standards and ordinances to develop recommendations for regional guidelines and policies for access and mobility. The study was conducted so that PAG could assess the programs that are in place that currently tie land use development to roadway design. The report contains several recommendations for implementing access management policies within the PAG region. These recommendations include:

1. Adopting well-defined access management standards by all governmental agencies.

2. Adopting cooperatively a uniform set of access management standards along corridors by local governments and Arizona Department of Transportation

3. Promoting the benefits of access management 4. Addressing multi-modal forms of transportation within access

management standards 5. Including the term “Access Management Plan” within corridor studies title 6. Linking the use of regional funding to compliance with an adopted access

management plan 7. Developing a method of ensuring the commitment of member

organizations to the regional access management program Legal Authority: As of January 2008, PAG has not instituted any of the recommendations from the report. Perhaps the most difficult recommendation to implement would be to require access management techniques to be included in projects that would request regional funding. This recommendation would require member organizations of PAG to adopt a resolution stating that no project would be included within the Regional Transportation Plan or the Transportation Improvement Program that did not comply with adopted access management policies.

Access Management Outside of RAMP Jurisdictions The following efforts are a small sample of ongoing access management activities elsewhere within Arizona. Many Arizona jurisdictions have authority for access control and management along their roadways, and a complete list of their guidelines and regulations would be beyond the scope of this report.

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Pinal County Regionally Significant Routes Plan for Safety and Mobility, Draft Report, Lima and Associates, November 2007 This draft document provides recommendations for safety and mobility along regionally significant routes in Pinal County, Arizona. In addition to specific recommendations for Pinal County roads, the document includes an overview of general access management techniques, governmental authority for access management and a “toolkit” for land use and technical access management strategies. The web site for the first technical memorandum associated with this report is provided below. http://www.co.pinal.az.us/PubWorks/Downloads/TACTechnicalMemo1_1.PDF

“Building a Quality Arizona”, and ADOT Framework Studies Statewide transportation needs are the focus of a series of proposed mobility studies in Arizona. The framework studies will be developed to anticipate infrastructure needs by identifying land use, socioeconomic and development patterns. They will also identify key transportation corridors and develop mobility strategies. The studies are from a Statewide Intrastate Mobility Reconnaissance Study implemented by a broad partnership known as “Building a Quality Arizona.” The partnership includes officials from the regional planning agencies of the state, the State legislature, the Governor’s office, ADOT and the business community. The broad plan breaks the state up into six framework areas. Pima County is one of the framework areas. More information about this ongoing statewide project is found at: http:/www.mag.maricopa.gov/project.cms?item=7667

Existing National Documents Related to Access Management The following sample documents include design, planning and policy guidelines with regard to access management. Some of these design-related documents are typically used by jurisdictions either directly, or by reference, in their design standards and access management guidelines. This is by no means a complete list of national standards associated with access management, and each of these documents includes references to other standard design and access management documents.

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American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets, Washington D.C., 2004. This American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) document, typically referred to as the AASHTO “Green Book”, includes roadway design standards for typical roadways in the United States of America. Although these standards are typically adopted for use by state agencies (such as ADOT), many non-state agencies apply the AASHTO standards in their roadway design guidelines and policies. Access management related design standards within the AASHTO document include the design of raised medians and islands, frontage road types and design, and grade-separated roadways.

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Roadside Design Guide, Washington D.C., 2002. The AASHTO Roadside Design Guide provides guidance in the design of roadside features such as slope design and guardrail. The RDG also includes tables for clear zone widths. The clear zone tables are important with regard to access control because the type of curb, roadside barriers, sidewalks and slope design all contribute to the type of access management along a roadway.

Federal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Washington D.C., 2003. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is the national standard for the design and application of all traffic control devices installed on any street, highway or bicycle trail open to public travel. The manual includes directives associated with the use of traffic control devices and provides “levels” of application of the directives. These directives are identified as “Standards”, “Guidance”, “Options” or “Support”. As indicated in the MUTCD, “The Standard, Guidance, Option, and Support material described in this edition of the MUTCD provide the transportation professional with the information needed to make appropriate decisions regarding the use of traffic control devices on streets and highways. The material in this edition is organized to better differentiate between Standards that must be satisfied for the particular circumstances of a situation, Guidances that should be followed for the particular circumstances of a situation, and Options that may be applicable for the particular circumstances of a situation.” http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/

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Transportation Research Board, Access Management Manual, Washington D.C., 2003. TRB's Access Management Manual provides technical information on access management techniques, together with information on how access management programs can be effectively developed and administered. It presents access management – the systematic control of the location, spacing, design, and operation of driveways, median openings, interchanges, and street connections to a roadway -- comprehensively, in an effort to integrate planning and engineering practices with the transportation and land use decisions that contribute to access outcomes. There is additional information on what this document includes in the first two pages of this working paper.

NCHRP Report 548 - A Guidebook for Including Access Management in Transportation Planning, Transportation Research Board This 2005 document provides guidance for including access management strategies in the planning of roadways systems at the state, regional and local levels. The guidelines included are designated by “guidance areas”, related to the type of planning process. The guidance areas are organized by the type of planning activity to which they are most applicable. Each guidance area is written to provide a stand-alone starting point or template from which an implementation plan can be tailored by the implementing agency. Guidance areas specific to metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and local governments are grouped together. These guidance areas are

• Overall Planning Process • Policy and System Planning – Long Range Plans • Programming • Corridor and Subarea Planning • Establishing MPOs as advocates for Access Management • Implementing for Local Governments

The document is available online at http://www.accessmanagement.info/pdf/nchrp_rpt_548.pdf

Planning Urban Arterials and Freeway Systems - A Recommended Practice, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington DC, 1997 This document provides guidance and criteria for planning urban arterials and freeway systems. It provides an overview of the highway planning process and its relationship to land use and alternative travel modes.