Access management techniques such as raised median installation and driveway consolidation improve safety conditions for motorists. Several locations where these access management techniques have been installed in the state of Utah were selected for analysis of the safety benefits. Although crash rates were not necessarily reduced as a result of the access management techniques, other safety improvements were observed.

Access management (AM) is the process that provides (or manages) access to land development while preserving safety, capacity, and speed on the surrounding road network. These benefits have been increasingly recognized at all levels of government, and a growing number of agencies are managing access by requiring driveway permit applications and establishing where new access should be allowed. They are also closing, consolidating, or improving driveways, median openings, and intersections as part of their AM implementation strategy. However, these decisions are often challenged for various reasons, and there have been few scientifically rigorous evaluations to quantify the safety effects of corridor AM. As such, there is a need to provide additional information to help rationalize decisions related to AM so that agencies can better explain the safety benefits of their policies and practices. This study seeks to fill some of the safety-related research gaps—namely, to quantify the safety impacts of corridor AM decisions. The objective of this research was to evaluate the safety effects of corridor AM policies and strategies on urban, suburban, and urbanizing arterials. Crash prediction models were developed using more than 600 mi of detailed corridor data from four different regions in the United States. The crash prediction models were estimated using generalized linear modeling. Agencies can use the crash prediction models to assess the safety impacts of their decisions related to corridor AM.

This synthesis reports how various agencies have acted on the various components of an access management program, what have been barriers to action, and how new efforts might improve implementation of access management strategies. Primary focus areas considered are legal and legislative bases, contents of policies and programs, implementation aspects, reported effectiveness of program implementation, and profiles of contemporary practice. This synthesis reports on the state of the practice with respect to planning, highway design, development review and permitting, and other focus areas where access management is typically incorporated. The emphasis is placed on states, but counties, municipalities, and metropolitan planning organizations are also considered.

This guidebook is for transportation agency managers, engineers, and planners who want their agencies to use the planning process to implement a systematic and consistent approach to access management. For employees who are dealing with the consequences of poor access management at the project and operational levels, the guidance provides a resource that outlines the specific steps their agencies can take to establish a policy and planning basis for implementing access management best practices. This guidance focuses on how to use the planning process to establish the implementing mechanisms that will result in the application of access management principles.