NCHRP and FHWA Funded Projects 

(Published, Awarded, or Pending)

The 1998 National Conference on Access Management, held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, from October 4 to October 7, 1998, was sponsored by the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Access Management and the Federal Highway Administration Office of Technology Applications. The Florida Department of Transportation hosted the Conference.

Fifth National Conference on Access Management
June 23-26, 2002
Austin, Texas

A single PDF document contains the proceedings for the Texas Conference. Some links to full page PDF presentations may not work.

Executive Summary

The purpose of this study was to determine whether acquiring additional limited access right-of-way (ROW) at the time an interchange is built and before the surrounding area is subdivided and developed, is in fact cost effective in light of potential costs and benefits. The study methodology included the following: (1) traffic operations analysis of the interchange with varying configurations of signalized access spacing, (2) safety analysis of interchanges with varied access spacing in Florida, and (3) a cost/benefit analysis of acquiring varying amounts of limited access ROW.

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is conducting a group of studies to determine how to improve 200 miles of Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Kansas City. Addressing access within the functional boundary of interchanges is a key element of the project. The paper first briefly reviews I-70 decision making studies and MoDOT's access management guidelines. Attention is then focused on access management and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The Missouri Department of Transportation has utilized several microsimulation software packages to analyze the impacts of proposed designs, such as interchange footprint and outer road spacing. Traditionally, one of the most difficult aspects of a project has been providing a clear understanding of the final product to the public. This paper discusses the use of visual simulation models to convey access management techniques to the general public.

Sixth National Conference on Access Management, August 29-September 1, 2004, Kansas City, Missouri

Managing Traffic on Urban Limited Access Facilities. Ingress Through Tolling and Egress to Large Scale Generators as Keys to Relieve Congestion. The Case of Attica Tollway in Athens, Greece

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.

David W. Gwynn, Jr., P.E.

TEI Engineers & Planners

Public Information Meetings for Access Management (Top Ten Complaints) 

There were several objectives of the project:

TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 650: Median Intersection Design for Rural High-Speed Divided Highways explores common safety issues at median intersections on rural divided highways, and examines innovative geometric and operational treatments for addressing those issues. The report includes ten case studies that illustrate how various treatments have been applied in the field.

This digest summarizes findings of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 3-52A, "Impacts of Access-Management Techniques." NCHRP Report 420, "Impacts of Access Management Techniques" (1999), presents relationships between access density and accident rates. This digest uses additional data from Minnesota to confirm these relationships. The digest is organized as follows: Introduction; Problem Statement; Objective and Approach; Background; Results; Comparisons; and Accident Rate Indices. 

Access Management Performance Measures for Virginia: A Practical Approach for Public Accountability

In order to develop performance measures to communicate the effect of Virginia’s access management program, five tasks were performed:

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) conducted a survey of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) to assess the implementation of access management at the regional level. The intent of the survey was to determine if access management was being implemented at the regional level; what had been implemented; and how implementation was achieved. Survey responses were divided into three categories: all respondents, respondents serving a population of one million or more (population subset), and respondents serving 25 or more member agencies (agency subset).

Ewing, R. Best Practices in Metropolitan Transportation and Land Use Planning, (2011) [Online] http://newtownline.pa-tec.org/documents/MetroLandUse_transitplanning.pdf

Washington, S., I. Van Schalkwyck, S. Mitra, M. Meyer, E. Dumbach, and M. Zoll. NCHRP Report 546: Incorporating Safety into Long-Range Transportation Planning, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, (2006)

Plazak, D., A. Garms, and J. Rees, Development of the Des Moines Access Management Plan, prepared for the Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa State University (2004);   [Plazak, D., A. Garms, and J. Rees, “Access Management Plan and Program for Des Moines, Iowa, Metropolitan Area,” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No 1981, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C. (2006); Plazak, D., A. Garms, and J.

Texas Transportation Institute. TCRP Report 19: Guidelines for the Location and Design of Bus Stops. Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., (1996)

Florida Department of Transportation. Access Transit: Design Guidelines for Florida Bus Passenger Facilities, Florida State University, (2004)

Seattle Transit Master Plan: Briefing Book, prepared by Nelson\Nygaard Assoc for the Seattle Department of Transportation, Washington (2011)

      This guide includes information relative to the location, design and spacing of transit stops for various forms of transit service. For example:

Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, Inc. (2011). Seattle Transit Master Plan Briefing Book. Seattle: Seattle Department of Transportation.

Levinson, H. , S. Zimmerman, J. Clinger, J. Gast, S. Rutherford, and E. Braun, TCRP Report 90 Bus Rapid Transit Volume 2: Implementation Guidelines. Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C. (2003)

Adirondack/Glen Falls Transportation Council, Access Management Guide, December 15, 2007

      The guide includes a section entitled “Access Management & Transit, Bicyclists and Pedestrians.” An extract is included below.

Ensdorff, R. and A. Iverson, “Development of a Statewide Access Management Program in Arizona,” ITE 2007 Technical Conference and Exhibit, Managing Congestion--Can We Do Better? (2007)