NCHRP Research Report 1032 presents a state-of-the-art guide on measuring and communicating the value of access management. The guide is accompanied by a complementary toolkit (the Access Management Communication Toolkit) with messaging strategies, spreadsheet tools, fact sheets, as well as a series of case studies and videos illustrating the toolkit application. The guide and associated tools and methods were developed based on an extensive literature review, survey, research, and interviews with state transportation agencies. These project deliverables are designed for immediate use by new and experienced practitioners in their efforts to implement access management plans, programs, or projects.
Effective ingress and egress management along highways and major arterial roads are essential for minimizing road-user conflicts. Closely spaced driveways, median openings across turn lanes, and driveways near major intersections are examples of poorly designed access features that contribute to unsafe, unsightly, and congested roadways. Access management techniques—used to minimize potential conflict points—help reduce crashes, preserve roadway capacity, improve corridor aesthetics, and reduce congestion. Well-managed transportation corridors also benefit from more stable property values, less delay to freight movers and the commuting public, and better market reach for retail businesses. Research on the benefits of access management has focused mainly on operational and safety effects and the economic impact of access changes on businesses. Little focus has been placed on the economic impacts to transportation agencies that may result from poor access management decisions or the lack of access management planning. Transportation agencies
that do not successfully implement access management often incur additional costs as roadways and interchanges are reconstructed or replaced. Research was needed to help these agencies—charged with making prudent access management decisions—demonstrate and articulate the benefits of access management at the program, corridor, and project levels.
Under NCHRP Project 25-47, the University of South Florida was asked to develop a guide for transportation agencies on measuring and communicating the value of access management at all levels. The guide involves research-based techniques to identify, measure, and assess the benefits and costs of access management using both quantitative and qualitative metrics.
In addition to the guide, published as NCHRP Research Report 1032, documentation of the overall research effort is available as NCHRP Web-Only Document 339: Developing a Toolkit to Measure and Communicate the Value of Access Management. The toolkit and associated components (spreadsheet tools, videos, fact sheets, editable brochures, editable infographics, presentation materials, and training materials on the use of the toolkit with guidance to potential instructors, as well as an implementation plan) are available on the National Academies Press website (nap.nationalacademies.org) by searching for NCHRP Research Report 1032: How to Measure and Communicate the Value of Access Management.
The authors of the published reports and deliverables are:
- Kristine Williams, Center for Urban Transportation Research
- Gary Sokolow, Center for Urban Transportation Research
- Chris Huffman, Center for Urban Transportation Research
- Karen Dixon, Texas A&M Transportation Institute
- Jerome Gluck, AECOM
- Frank Broen, Teach America Corporation
