Investigation of the Impact of Frontage Roads as an Element of Controlled Access Facilities

This research investigated frontage roads as an element of limited-access highway design with an objective of providing a comprehensive evaluation of frontage-road design policies and the legal, financial, land-development, and operational issues associated with such policies. This paper summarizes the research effort by reviewing legal statutes affecting public access to roadways, summarizing access policies and practices across states, comparing land development and operations of corridors with and without frontage roads, summarizing studies on access-rights valuation, and evaluating construction cost distinctions. In the first year of this 2-year project, an extensive literature review was conducted in order to ascertain the current legal attitudes and operational strategies involving frontage roads. This information is presented here to place this work in its proper context. Subsequent sections detail results of investigations into design policies, corridor land development, frontage-road safety, corridor operations, and comprehensive construction costs. The report concludes with an overall assessment of the competing factors and recommendations for future design policies.