Roadways

Access Management involves the design, operation and location of driveway and street connections onto a roadway. Control is achieved by public plans or policies aimed at preserving the functional integrity of the existing roadway system.

Access management is fundamental to preventing the mobility and safety problems caused by multiple curb cuts and traffic signals. According to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), the application of access management techniques can increase both travel speeds and crashes by as much as 50 percent.

By enabling roadways to perform more efficiently, access management increases roadway capacity that may reduce the need for expansion projects; and it could help preserve and maintain the existing infrastructure. 

Signalization is often an effective means of improving traffic flow in developed corridors. Since computerized traffic signal systems were introduced in the late 1970s, options have increased for reducing congestion by applying and coordinating progressive signal systems — as exemplified by closed loop systems.

On a corridor, area-wide or multi-jurisdictional basis, centralized networks may involve hundreds of signalized intersections. The benefits of improved signal systems are commonly measured by reductions in travel time, vehicle stops, delay, fuel consumption, emissions and increases in travel speed.

Roundabouts are smaller, modified versions of traffic circles or rotaries. They have been used in Europe for decades, and, to a lesser extent, in the New England states. Roundabouts require drivers to yield on entry to vehicles already in the roundabout. Modern roundabouts are specifically designed to induce speed reductions as vehicles approach and enter.

Roundabouts require clear signage and pavement markings. They are proving to be safe, effective and efficient alternatives to signalized or stop sign-controlled intersections. And their use is expanding rapidly. There are at least 37 in the OKI region, and several others are in the design phase. Local jurisdictions are considering them as a cost-effective alternative to signalized intersections.

Continuous Flow Intersections (CFIs) can drastically increase the vehicular stream of traffic through an at-grade intersection. This is done by shifting left-turning vehicles approaching the intersection to the left of the oncoming traffic lanes through the use of a signal-controlled cross-over lane placed several hundred feet in advance of the intersection.

By removing all potential conflict points with the oncoming through traffic, left-turning vehicles from both approaches can move on the same green signal as the associated through traffic. The reduction of signal phases from four to two drastically increases efficiency and speed. It also reduces air pollution and fuel consumption. In 2017, Anderson Township completed a CFI at the intersection of Beechmont Avenue and Five Mile Road.

Single-Point Urban Interchanges (SPUIs) are a variant of the conventional diamond highway interchange. SPUIs result in two signalized intersections at the points where the entrance and exit ramps meet with the cross street. Due to the relative close spacing of such intersections, efficient signal timing is often difficult to achieve. This problem is eliminated by SPUIs through the creation of one large intersection, either directly above or below the freeway.

This intersection design creates a situation where drivers are only faced with cross-street traffic, and either exiting roadway or entering left-turning vehicles. The exiting right-turning vehicles are accommodated on separate free-flowing ramp segments. Efficiencies are achieved because paired left-turn movements can be accommodated simultaneously, and the signal phasing can be reduced from four to three phases, allowing more green time for each phase.

The KY 18 and KY 237 interchange in Boone County is a local example of a SPUI.