(A) Limiting access to a public road right-of-way is a desirable design feature. The intent is to reduce the total area of vehicular conflict by controlling and defining driveway openings. The frequency of conflicts is reduced because the number of possible conflict points is limited to legal, defined driveway openings. This enhances both the safety and capacity of the highway as preference is given to the through traffic. Points of congestion, such as major intersections or interchanges, can be kept clear and free of additional traffic introduced by driveways close to the intersection or interchange. Driveways for major development sites, which may eventually become signalized, can be better situated with respect to traffic signal coordination. The extent and effectiveness of access control will be reflective of whether the county road section in question is in a rural, suburban or urban environment.
(B) In consideration for the county granting a driveway permit(s), the applicant may be required to sign an agreement to execute an access control document conveying the access rights for the balance property frontage owned by the applicant. This document will be recorded.
(C) Commercial developments located on the corner of a county arterial and a county collector should be restricted to access on the collector only. Access will be limited to a single drive per property unless frontage exceeds 400 feet. In addition, no access point shall be within 200 feet of any intersection. When more than one driveway per frontage is necessary to facilitate operations, site conditions, current traffic patterns and engineering judgment should be used to make a decision. A property that has more than one frontage on a county road may be allowed one driveway per frontage.
(D) Location of driveways and spacing of driveways and sight distance requirements shall be as stipulated in the INDOT Driveway Permit Manual, latest edition.
(E) Driveways within platted subdivisions shall also be as approved in conformance with the subdivision control regulations of Chapter 155.
(F) Driveways into subdivisions are classified as commercial drives.
(G) Where there are several adjacent roadside establishments, each with limited frontage or where there is a probability of this type of development, consideration shall be given to constructing a frontage road for several driveways so as to reduce the number of separate connections to the county road. The decision on whether frontage roads will be required will be made by the County Engineer, based on the data contained in the traffic impact study prepared by the developer. Frontage roads that parallel the county road shall be allowed access points at minimum intervals of 500 feet. Frontage roads should be set back from the county road in a manner to allow adequate storage for entering and exiting traffic.
(Ord. 1999-6E, passed 6-28-99; Am. Ord. 2003-7C, passed 7-28-03; Am. Ord. 2004-6C, passed 6-14-04; Am. Ord. 2005-9A, passed 9-6-05)