Safety and Economic Impacts of Converting Two-Way Frontage Roads to One-Way Operation

Abstract

In some states (e.g., Texas), frontage roads have been a design solution for providing access along rural freeways and access-controlled principal arterials. In rural and lesser-developed urban areas, the frontage roads are usually operated as two-way facilities because of relatively long distances between interchanges. As areas become more urban and the adjacent land is developed, traffic volumes increase, and as interchange spacing decreases, it becomes desirable to convert the frontage roads to one-way operation. There is a need to objectify safety impacts of frontage road conversion, and business and property owners are often concerned with economic impacts related to access, business activity, and property values. Recognizing these needs and concerns, the Texas Department of Transportation contracted with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute to investigate the safety and economic impacts of converting two-way frontage roads to one way. Researchers investigated eight sites throughout Texas: both conversion sites and comparison sites that remained two way. Researchers developed 12 crash modification factors by crash severity and crash type for frontage road conversion. A sample application is provided in this paper. To assess economic impacts, researchers obtained parcel-level appraisal data and found overall increases in appraised values. Researchers surveyed business owners and managers and customers. Researchers found that business owners and managers are typically concerned with access, gross sales, and ramp and interchange locations and spacing. Finally, researchers identified lessons learned with the crash data for those performing safety analyses.

Use of Access Travel Time to Estimate the Impact of Driveway Restrictions on Corner Lot Developments

“…The perception of these property owners is that limiting access is detrimental to business. Previous research has shown that access management projects generally do not have negative long-term effects on land values and business vitality along a corridor (2,4,5). Although these findings are valuable and insightful, especially for large-scale, corridorwide projects, they are difficult to apply to access decisions about a specific parcel of land.…”

“…In Iowa, a similar study using corridor data and business surveys also showed that access management did not have a negative long-term impact on business vitality, and in some cases actually improved the business environment (7). A more recent study by Eisele et al also used surveys and appraised land values to evaluate the long-term economic impacts of converting frontage roads from two-way to one-way operations (5). Again, the findings showed that the access management projects…”

Safety Performance of One-Way Arterials

“…In other words, the pedestrian crash frequency at intersections of two one-way streets was roughly half of that at other intersections. In the same study described above, Eisele et al also conducted a before-after evaluation of intersections that were located on freeway frontage roads that were converted from two-way operation to one-way operation (2). They proposed the CMFs listed in Table 3 for different subsets of intersection-related KABC crashes.…”

“…Eisele et al conducted a before–after evaluation of freeway frontage roads that were converted from two-way operation to one-way operation ( 2 ). They proposed a crash modification factor (CMF) of 0.43 for fatal, incapacitating injury, non-incapacitating injury, and possible injury crash (KABC, respectively) segment-related crashes for frontage road conversions, meaning that the average reduction in fatal and injuries (FI) crashes on frontage road segments following a conversion is 57% (or 1.00−0.43, expressed as percent).…”