TAC Project Looks to Synthesize Access Management Practices for a Full Range of Roadway Classifications

Monday, June 20, 2022

A new Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) project to synthesize current access management practices, as the first step in a future update to “Chapter 8 – Access” of the Geometric Design Guide for Canadian Roads (GDG), has launched. The project was proposed by TAC’s Geometric Design Committee, which reports to the Safety, Design & Operations Council.

“Chapter 8 – Access” of the GDG provides a framework for reviewing and approving access proposals, with the goal of ensuring safe and effective access from a full range of road classifications to adjacent lands. This chapter was not updated with other GDG chapters in 2017 and needs to be rewritten.

The project will synthesize current access management practices for roadway classifications, in rural, suburban, and urban areas, and will provide the technical basis for a subsequent project to update GDG Chapter 8. It will consider technical issues including:

  • Geometric design requirements
  • Safety considerations (e.g., conflict reduction, proximity to adjacent intersections/driveways, interaction with various road user facilities, sight distance, building setbacks, etc.; includes vulnerable road users)
  • Operational requirements (e.g., turning movement restrictions, circulation/flow, etc.)
  • Locational attributes such as land use type and roadway classification
  • Utility and street furniture impacts
  • Application of guidelines

The project will feature a robust review of literature and existing standards, involving outreach to provincial and territorial governments, municipalities of all sizes, post-secondary institutions, international road authorities, associations, and industry.

Funding partners include Ministère des Transports du Québec, ICBC, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Halifax Regional Municipality, Yukon Highways and Public Works, Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, PEI Transportation and Infrastructure, Nova Scotia Public Works, Government of the Northwest Territories, City of Vancouver, and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

There are still opportunities for interested organizations to help fund the project and participate on the Project Steering Committee.

A request for proposals to conduct the work will be issued soon, and the publication of TAC’s Access Management: Synthesis of Practice is expected by fall 2023. At that time, TAC’s Geometric Design Committee will explore a full update to GDG, Chapter 8.

Contact us for more information.

 

 


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