DEVELOPMENT OF THE DES MOINES ACCESS MANAGEMENT PLAN

According to Iowa crash records, almost 10% of all crashes in Iowa occur at commercial driveways. Most of these crashes occur on arterials within municipalities. In recent years, nearly a quarter of these crashes have occurred in the Des Moines metropolitan area. This makes the Des Moines metropolitan area a prime candidate for improved access management. Case study research in Iowa has shown that access management is an extremely effective highway safety tool--well-managed routes are, on average, 40% safer than poorly managed routes. The Des Moines metropolitan area has many miles of four-lane, undivided arterials constructed when less was known about the importance of managing access to adjacent land development. This project involved a cooperative effort of the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (Des Moines Area MPO) and the Center for Transportation Research and Education (CTRE) at Iowa State University to develop a comprehensive access management study and program for the Des Moines metropolitan area. The goal of the study is to use the knowledge developed to make improvements that will reduce access-related crashes. It is also anticipated that this project will help local officials make better decisions about access management so that future safety and operational problems can be avoided.

• Record URL:
  http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/reports/desmoines_access.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Iowa State University, Ames

  Center for Transportation Research and Education
  2711 South Loop Drive, Suite 4700
  Ames, IA  United States  50010-8664

  Iowa Department of Transportation

  800 Lincoln Way
  Ames, IA  United States  50010
• Authors:
  • Plazak, D
  • Garms, A
  • Rees, J
• Publication Date: 2004-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 53 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access control (Transportation); Arterial highways; Decision making; Driveways; Four lane highways; Highway safety; Metropolitan areas; Traffic crashes
• Geographic Terms: Des Moines (Iowa)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00980102
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: CTRE Project 03-137,, Final Report
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Oct 29 2004 12:00AM