ACCESS MANAGEMENT - KEY TO MOBILITY

Major freeway interchanges and arterial road junctions are focal points for new shopping centers, industrial parks and office complexes. Urban and suburban arterial roadways are now lined with strips of roadside developments. The examples are many, and the scale is national. The roadsides along the Beltways around Baltimore, Houston, washington, and many other cities; along radial freeways such as the Long Island Expressway and Santa Anna Freeway; and along arterial highways such as Sunrise Highway in New York, Skokie Highway north of Chicago and Routes 1 and 9 in New Jersey, illustrate the scale, character and impacts of the surrounding developments. At first, the new developments were seen as a means of strengthening suburban growth and expanding the local tax base. Some projects were well planned with respect to roadway access, internal circulation and building arrangements. But for the most part--from the Boston Post Road in Connecticut to Colfax Avenue in colorado and Ventura Boulevard in California, the new developments have adversely affected traffic flow. Their many points of entry and exit have increased volumes and conflicts, reduced safety, and decreased speeds. Traffic congestion has spread from city centers to urban and suburban settings.