BACKGROUND

Effective ingress and egress along highways and major arterial roads are essential for minimizing and separating 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 and separate 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, improved livability, less delay to freight movers and the commuting public, and better market reach for retail businesses. 

NCHRP Research Report 1032: How to Measure and Communicate the Value of Access Management contains a guide for practitioners on how to use the online Access Management Communication Toolkit (AMC Toolkit). The report is designed to help public agency staff and their consultants more easily understand, measure, and communicate the value of access management techniques when developing or implementing access management plans, programs, or projects. The AMC Toolkit Resources consist of spreadsheets for state departments of transportation (DOTs) and local practitioners to use to access management practice, and presentations, brochures, and factsheets for stakeholders to use.

Although the AMC Toolkit and its supporting materials are designed to be readily applied by practitioners, an initial implementation effort is required to provide a strong foundation for immediate and ongoing implementation and incorporation into standard practices.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to develop appropriate activities and resources to facilitate greater adoption of the research results of NCHRP Research Report 1032 by state DOTs and other roadway agencies. 

RESEARCH PLAN

To achieve the research objective, the research plan shall describe appropriate deliverables, including the following.

1. An implementation plan to achieve the research objective following the “NCHRP Active Implementation: Moving Research into Practice" requirements. This plan should identify barriers and drivers that influence the implementation of NCHRP Research Report 1032, including any gaps or limitations, and work with NCHRP to address them as the budget permits.

When developing the implementation plan, proposers should determine if the following strategies effectively address the needs of the project objective. Proposers are encouraged to recommend modified or alternative strategies as the budget permits.

• Review of the AMC Toolkit Resources previously developed through NCHRP Research Report 1032 and develop plans for how AMC Toolkit Resources could be deployed. At a minimum, consider:
  • A training plan for the spreadsheet tools to be used by state DOT and local practitioners; and
  • An education, communications, and dissemination plan to convey the AMC Toolkit to multiple stakeholders, such as state DOT employees and senior management, elected officials, and the private sector.
• Pilot the training plan and the education, communications, and dissemination plan with at least three or four state DOTs and evaluate the effectiveness of the plans. The state DOTs and their respective projects will be selected once the project is underway in consultation with NCHRP. 
• Based on the results of the pilots, refine the plans. 
• Document the success stories, lessons learned, and future plans of action, and disseminate this information to stakeholders. 

2. A conduct of research report that documents the results of the project and a dissemination plan for the materials developed during the project.

STATUS: Proposals have been received in response to the RFP. The project panel will meet to select a contractor to perform the work.