(a) In general, access driveways shall be designed, placed, and constructed to facilitate efficient and safe traffic flow to and from sites. For all developments, unobstructed access to and from a street or access road shall be provided. Access to and from all developments shall be defined and in no event shall any part of any lot frontage be utilized as access except the defined access points. Any frontage which is not defined access shall be maintained in a manner which prevents vehicles from accessing the development from such points.
(b) For small developments or developments which do not create large volumes of traffic, the number of access driveways shall be limited in number. For large developments or developments which create large numbers of traffic, such as regional shopping centers, access should be provided from as many surrounding streets as feasible.
(c) Separate access drives shall be provided for both vehicular ingress to and egress from the development. Each access lane, at a minimum, shall be twelve (12) feet in width, and at a maximum, fifteen (15) feet in width.
(d) Where the ingress and egress access drives are located at one combined access point, the ingress and egress drives shall be separated by a raised median strip. Said strip shall be, at a minimum, one-half (½) foot in height and two feet in width. Said median strip may be increased in width to accommodate any proposed landscaping so long as such landscaping does not interfere with vehicular sight distances. Such a median strip shall continue for the length of the access drive. For very low traffic volume developments, the requirement for a raised median strip may be waived by City Council upon the recommendation of the City Engineer.
(e) No access drive, driveway, or other means of ingress or egress shall be located in a residential zone to provide access to uses other than those permitted in such a residential zone.
(f) Any exit driveway or driveway lane shall be so designed in profile and grading and located to provide the following minimum sight distance measured in each direction. The measurements shall be from the driver's seat of a vehicle standing on the portion of the exit driveway that is immediately outside the edge of the road fight-of-way.
(1) Where the speed limit is not posted or officially determined for a road or the driveway connects to a private access road which does not have a speed limit, the City Engineer shall make a determination as to what is the maximum speed for the road or access road and this speed limit shall be utilized to determine the required sight distance.
(2) Where the below listed required sight distances cannot be strictly adhered to because of existing site conditions which cannot be feasibly addressed by the developer, the City, upon recommendation of the City Engineer, may reduce the required sight distances; however, any entrance or exit driveways shall be placed in order to achieve as close as possible the required sight distances.
Permitted Road Speed Limit | Required Sight Distance (Ft.) |
25 MPH | 150 |
30 MPH | 200 |
35 MPH | 250 |
40 MPH | 300 |
45 MPH | 350 |
50 MPH | 400 |
55 MPH | 450 |
(g) Where a site occupies a corner of two (2) intersecting roads or a road and an access road, no driveway entrance or exit shall be located within fifty (50) feet of the point of tangency of the existing or proposed curb radius of that site.
(h) No part of any commercial driveway shall be located within ten (10) feet of a side property line. However, the Zoning Officer may permit a driveway serving two (2) or more adjacent sites to be located within ten (10) feet of a side property line between the adjacent sites.
(i) Where two or more driveways connect a single site to any one road, a minimum clear distance of two hundred (200) feet measured along the right-of-way line shall separate the closest edges of any two (2) such driveways.
(j) Driveways used for both ingress and egress shall intersect the road at an angle to as near as ninety degrees (90º) as the site conditions will permit and in no case shall be less than sixty degrees (60º). Driveways used by vehicles for ingress or egress (light turn only) shall not form an angle less than forty-five degrees (45º) with a road unless acceleration or deceleration lanes are provided.
(k) Sufficient reservoir space shall be provided at all ingress points to prevent queued entering vehicles from backing up onto any road. Sufficient reservoir space shall be provided at all egress points to prevent queued exiting vehicles from blocking entering vehicles or impeding interior lot vehicle circulation.