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The new "must have" book for every transportation engineer and planner.

Transportation Research Board'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 comprehensively, in an effort to integrate planning and engineering practices with the transportation and land use decisions that contribute to access outcomes.

Practical information on a range of issues and applications was incorporated throughout the various chapters, drawing upon the knowledge of the many experienced practitioners that participated in development of the manual. Among the topics addressed by the Manual are:

Principles and effects of access management;
Steps in developing an access management program;
Access management techniques;
The role of states, metropolitan planning organizations, and local governments;
Location and design procedures for access features;
Case examples of agency policies, plans, practices and programs;
State statute and regulatory prototypes;
Techniques for working with th public on access managment issues; and
Legal considerations

Order your Access Management Manual today! Click here for TRB Website Link. (http://gulliver.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=1427)

Comments and Updates

With completion of the manual, the TRB Committee on Access Management has established Subcommittee A1D07(5), the Access Management Manual Subcommittee, for the purpose of continuing to refine and update the manual, as well as to receive comments and provide recommendations for future editions.

The TRB Access Management Manual is just one step in the Committee's efforts to provide a definitive and comprehensive source of the latest information on access management. Plans are underway to promote research to identify best practices and to further advance the state-of-the-art in access management. There are, also, efforts to mainstream access management into traditional transportation processes and programs. Case studies and field studies will be encouraged as well.

If you have a documented case study, new policy, access management plan, or any other material you feel will be helpful to the Committee in this update effort, please submit your information to us via the e-mail address below and we will consider it in the next update.

Send your question, comment, or suggestion pertaining to the Access Management Manual to ammanual@accessmanagement.gov.

Presentations

A workshop on the access management manual will be held at the next national Access Management Conference. Click here for further information on the conference program.

Errata

February 2004

Table 2-5 of the Access Management Manual contains a typographical error. The attached table indicates the accurate data, with revisions highlighted in red. (pdf version - 80K)

TABLE 2-5 Summary of Research on the Effects of Access Management Techniques (13) Treatment Effects
1. Add continuous TWLTL	• 35% reduction in total crashes • 30% decrease in delay • 30% increase in capacity
2. Add nontraversable median	• ~~35%~~ >55% reduction in total crashes • >30% decrease in delay • >30% increase in capacity
3. Replace TWLTL with a nontraversable Median	• 15%-57% reduction in crashes on 4-lane roads • 25%-50% reduction in crashes on 6-lane roads
4. Add a left-turn bay	• 25% to 50% reduction in crashes on 4-lane roads • up to 75% reduction in total crashes at unsignalized access • 25% increase in capacity
5. Type of left-turn improvement a) painted b) separator or raised divider	• 32% reduction in total crashes • 67% reduction in total crashes
6. Add right-turn bay	• 20% reduction in total crashes •Limit right-turn interference with platooned flow, increased capacity
7. Increase driveway speed from 5 mph to 10 mph	• 50% reduction in delay per maneuver; less exposure time to following vehicles
8. Visual cue at driveways, driveway illumination	• 42% reduction in crashes
9. Prohibition of on-street parking	• 30% increase in traffic flow • 20%-40% reduction in crashes
10. Long signal spacing with limited access	• 42% reduction in total vehicle-hours of travel • 59% reduction in delay • 57,500 gallons fuel saved per mile per year

Project Background and Audience

Access management is much more than driveway regulation. It is the systematic control of the location, spacing, design and operation of driveways, median openings, interchanges, and street connections. It also encompasses roadway design treatments such as medians and auxiliary lanes, and the appropriate spacing of traffic signals.

In the past few decades, a substantial amount of research has been conducted on access management. In addition, a growing number of agencies have initiated access management policies, plans and programs. These activities have provided insights into the impacts of access management techniques, identified best practices, and have generated recommended guidelines for access management applications. Yet this information is dispersed across a variety of sources, making it difficult for practitioners to locate, evaluate and apply.

The TRB Access Management Committee (A1D07) initiated a project in the 1996 to compile the best of this information into a single comprehensive resource that documents the state of the art in access management. The Access Management Manual is the culmination of this multiyear effort.

The manual was prepared by the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida, with the oversight and assistance of the TRB Committee on Access Management and its Subcommittees. The Federal Highway Administration provided funding for the project, and the Florida Department of Transportation assisted with contract management.

A goal of the project was to provide information of use to practitioners, as well as other stakeholders that are involved in or affected by access management actions. As with most transportation and land use issues, access management has many dimensions. It crosses jurisdictions, organizational lines, and professions.

The primary professions that guide development planners, engineers, and architects have important roles in determining access outcomes. Other key players include developers, elected and appointed officials, citizens and attorneys who interact with each other and agency staff to shape public policy and access decisions.

A variety of jurisdictions may also be involved including state transportation agencies, local governments that share a transportation corridor, and environmental agencies that address land use and development issues. Therefore, access management also requires partnerships within organizations and greater awareness of how decisions of one division affect the next. Government agencies must collaborate – both internally and with other agencies if they are to manage access effectively.

Because access management is multidimensional, the manual is multidisciplinary and comprehensive. State transportation agencies, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations and their consultants will find information of relevance to program development, implementation, and access design. The manual can also serve as a reference tool for policy makers, developers, and other interested parties that are weighing access management issues or actions.