State of the Practice in Highway Access Management

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. The synthesis includes a comprehensive review of existing access management-related literature. This was supplemented by an online survey questionnaire distributed to key staff with access management responsibilities identified by state departments of transportation, as well as various participating metropolitan planning organizations, counties, and municipalities. Although 45 of 50 states initially responded to the survey, 5 additional states later provided survey responses, raising the response rate to 100%. In addition, profiles of contemporary access management practices, highlighting key aspects of how transportation agencies develop and administer their access management programs are presented.