The adequate spacing and design of access to crossroads in the vicinity of freeway ramps are critical to the safety and traffic operations of both the freeway and the crossroad. The research presented in this report develops a methodology to evaluate the safety impact of different access road spacing standards. The results clearly demonstrate the shortcomings of the AASHTO standards and the benefits of enhancing them. The models developed as part of this research were used to compute the crash rate associated with alternative section spacing. The study demonstrates that the models satisfied the statistical requirements and provide reasonable crash estimates. The results demonstrate an eight-fold decrease in the crash rate when the access road spacing increases from 0 to 300 m. An increase in the minimum spacing from 90 m (300 ft) to 180 m (600 ft) results in a 50 percent reduction in the crash rate. The models were used to develop lookup tables that quantify the impact of access road spacing on the expected number of crashes per unit distance. The tables demonstrate a decrease in the crash rate as the access road spacing increases. An attempt was made to quantify the safety cost of alternative access road spacing using a weighted average crash cost. The weighted average crash cost was computed considering that 0.6, 34.8, and 64.6 percent of the crashes were fatal, injury, and property damage crashes, respectively. These proportions were generated from the field observed data. The cost of each of these crashes was provided by VDOT as $3,760,000, $48,200, and $6,500 for fatal, injury, and property damage crashes, respectively. This provided an average weighted crash cost of $43,533. This average cost was multiplied by the number of crashes per mile to compute the cost associated with different access spacing scenarios. These costs can assist policy makers in quantifying the trade-offs of different access management regulations.

TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 332: Access Management on Crossroads in the Vicinity of Interchanges examines current practices relating to access location and design on crossroads in the vicinity of interchanges. It identifies standards and strategies used on new interchanges and on the retrofit of existing interchanges.

"Since the publication of the first edition of the Access Management Manual, the context for transportation planning and roadway design in the United States has been transformed. Transportation agencies and local governments are under growing pressure to integrate land use and transportation policy and achieve a more sustainable, energy-efficient transportation system. This second edition of the manual responds to these developments by addressing access management comprehensively, as a critical part of network and land use planning. The content is interdisciplinary, with guidance pertinent to various levels of government as well as to pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorized vehicles, including trucks and buses, and is strongly grounded in decades of research, engineering science, and professional experience. Greater emphasis is placed on appropriate location of access, and guidance is refined to provide appropriate consideration of context and community issues. Substantial updates aid state and local agencies in managing access to corridor development effectively. Specific guidance on network and circulation planning and modal considerations is included, as well as guidance on effective site access and circulation design. A chapter on corridor management reinforces these concepts with a framework for application of access management in different contexts, along with appropriate strategies for each context. There are also new chapters on network planning, regional access management policies and programs, interchange area access management, auxiliary lane warrants and design, and right-of-way and access control. The manual concludes with an extensive menu of access management techniques and information on their application"--Provided by publisher.

The full range medial and marginal control, in cases of both full and partial control of access was studied to enable the highway administrator to determine the appropriate degree of access control, and to provide him with the physical means of accomplishing such control. Access control is of principal importance in insuring that an arterial, once constructed and opened to traffic, will continue to have a high traffic movement capability in future years. The street and highway networks of local areas, urban regions, states, and the nation should adequately provide for the conflicting functions of land access and longer trips.