(a) The roadways located in the City of Bellefontaine are classified according to their Functional Classification. Functional Classification is the grouping of roads, streets, and highways in a hierarchy based on the type of highway service they provide. Streets and highways do not operate independently. They are part of an interconnected network, and each one performs a service in moving traffic throughout the system. Generally, streets and highways perform two types of service. They provide either traffic mobility or land access and can be ranked in terms of the proportion of service they perform.
(b) The functional classification of the roadways in Bellefontaine is based on the manual, Highway Functional Classification - Concepts, Criteria and Procedures, published by the Federal Highway Administration in 1974 and revised in 1989. The streets and roads in the City each have been assigned one of the following classifications:
(1) Principal arterial. Functions:
A. Serve major activity centers, highest volume corridors, and longest trip demands;
B. Carry high proportion of total urban travel on minimum of mileage;
C. Interconnect and provide continuity for major rural corridors to accommodate trips entering and leaving urban area and between the central business district and outlying residential areas.
(2) Minor arterial. Functions:
A. Interconnect with and augment the principal arterials;
B. Serve trips of moderate length at a somewhat lower level of travel mobility than principal arterials;
C. Distribute traffic to smaller geographic areas than those served by principal arterials;
D. Provide more land access than principal arterials without penetrating identifiable neighborhoods;
E. Provide urban connections for rural collectors.
(3) Collector. Functions:
A. Serve both land access and traffic circulation in residential, and commercial/industrial areas;
B. Penetrate residential neighborhoods;
C. Distribute and channel trips between local streets and arterials.
(4) Local. Functions:
A. Provide direct access to adjacent land;
B. Provide access to higher systems;
C. Carry no through traffic movement.
(Ord. 08-68. Passed 12-19-08.)