(A) Access to proposed subdivisions and land developments. All proposed subdivisions and land developments shall have adequate and safe access to the public street system. Proposed streets shall be adjusted to the contour of the land to produce usable lots and reasonably sloped streets.
(B) Stub streets. A subdivision or land development shall include the extension of a proposed street with right-of-way to the boundary line of the tract to provide for an eventual extension into all adjacent tracts for efficient circulation of traffic throughout the area.
(C) Street improvements. Where a subdivision or land development abuts or contains an existing street of inadequate cartway or right-of-way width, additional right-of-way and/or cartway width shall be required conforming with the table in division (F) below.” See also § 801.A. of the zoning ordinance (as adopted by reference in Chapter 155 of this code of ordinances) entitled “Frontage Required Onto Improved Street.”
(D) Intersections.
(1) The centerlines of streets shall intersect at right angles.
(2) (a) No more than two streets shall intersect at one point. Where one street intersects a cross street, the intersecting street shall either be aligned with any street intersecting on the other side of the cross street or be offset by the following minimum distances:
1. One hundred fifty feet along a local street;
2. Four hundred feet along a collector street; and
3. One thousand feet along an arterial street.
(b) The minimum distances of this division (D)(2) shall be measured between the points where the centerlines of the rights-of-way of the intersecting streets intersect with the centerline of the cross street (see the following figures).
(3) At street intersections, the property line shall be rounded by arcs with the radii listed below. For arterial streets, the Borough Council may require a larger radius than stated below, if recommended by the Borough Engineer. (See chart below.)
Type of Street | Minimum Radius of Arc at Intersection of Cartway Edge or Curb Line (in feet) | Minimum Radius of Arc at Intersection of Right-of- Way (in feet) |
Arterial | 40 | 30 |
Collector | 35 | 25 |
Local | 25 | 15 |
(E) Arterial and collector street frontage. Where a subdivision or land development abuts or contains an existing or proposed arterial or collector street, the Borough Council shall require one or more of the following methods of layout and site design. The decision on which method to use shall be solely at the discretion of Borough Council:
(1) The use of a marginal access or “frontage” street or access only onto side or interior streets, to collect traffic from numerous driveways and direct it to a select few number of entrances to the arterial or collector street;
(2) The minimization of the number and length of driveway cuts or street intersections onto an arterial or collector street, which may include requiring the use of shared driveways between adjacent uses or lots;
(3) The restriction of ingress and egress involving left-hand turns onto or off of the arterial or collector street;
(4) The prohibition of driveways from individual dwellings entering directly onto an arterial or collector street. If there is no alternative to this, each driveway entering onto an arterial or collector street shall have adequate turn-around space for vehicles provided within the lot so that vehicles do not back onto the street; and/or
(5) See also the section of the borough zoning ordinance (as adopted by reference in Chapter 155 of this code of ordinances ) entitled “Access onto Arterial and Collector Streets”.
(F) Street design standards.
(1) The elements of street and road right-of-way construction shall consist of road grading to the full width of right-of-way, concrete curbing, paving and concrete sidewalk as required in this section.
Design Standards for Streets (All Dimensions in Feet Unless Specified) | |||
Type of Street | |||
Design Specifications | Arterial | Collector | Local and Marginal Access |
Design Standards for Streets (All Dimensions in Feet Unless Specified) | |||
Type of Street | |||
Design Specifications | Arterial | Collector | Local and Marginal Access |
Acceleration/deceleration lane width (where determined to be needed by the Borough Council or PennDOT) | 12 | NA | NA |
Cartway width | 44***** | 40***** | 36 |
Maximum grade**** | 6% | 8% | 10% |
Minimum sight distance* | 475 | 300 | 200 |
Minimum tangent between reverse curves** | 200 | 100 | 100 |
Minimum centerline radii for horizontal curves | 400*** | 300 | 150 |
Right-of-way width | 80 | 60 | 50 |
NA = Not applicable | |||
* Horizontal sight distances shall be measured from a point 3.5 feet above the road surface to a point 6 inches above the road surface, and shall be based upon standards of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) | |||
** All tangents shall be measured along the street centerline | |||
*** Larger radii may be required as determined by the Borough Engineer | |||
**** Minimum grades for all streets shall be 1.0%, unless the Borough Engineer determines that a lesser grade acceptable | |||
***** Or as required by PennDOT if a state street is involved, plus any turning lanes that may be required by PennDOT or Borough Council | |||
(2) Arterial roads shall have an 80-foot design right-of-way minimum with at least two 12-foot traffic lanes and two paved ten-foot pull off lanes/shoulders. Curbs and sidewalks are required.
(3) Collector roads shall have a 60-foot design right-of-way minimum, at least two 12-foot traffic lanes and two eight-foot paved pull off lanes/shoulders. Curbs and sidewalks are required.
(4) Local streets shall have a 50-foot design right-of-way minimum, with two ten-foot traffic lanes with two eight-foot paved pull off lanes/shoulders. Curbs and sidewalks are required.
(5) Horizontal curves shall connect street lines that are deflected in excess of two degrees.
(6) Vertical curves shall be used at changes of grade exceeding 1%. The length of the vertical curve shall be determined by multiplying the algebraic difference in change of percent in grade by the following factors:
(a) Arterial streets: 160 feet;
(b) Collector streets: 80 feet; and
(c) Local and marginal access streets: 30 feet.
(7) All approaches to an intersection of two or more streets shall have a leveling area not greater than 5% grade for a distance of 25 feet for a local street and 50 feet for an arterial or collector street, measured from the nearest right-of-way line of the intersecting street.
(8) The grade across the turnaround in a cul-de-sac shall not exceed 5%.
(9) The minimum grade of any street gutter shall be 1%.
(10) A minimum tangent of 100 feet shall be required between reverse curves on a street and between a curve and a street intersection where one of the intersecting streets is a collector or an arterial street.
(G) Easements. Easements shall be provided adjacent to street rights-of-way, tract boundaries and lot lines and other required areas according to the following standards.
(1) Drainage, sanitary or domestic water easements shall be provided as indicated and required by the plans, the borough or the utility owner. The minimum width of easement shall be 20 feet (which might include ten feet on each side of abutting lots within a subdivision) with an additional width of ten feet for each additional utility.
(2) A minimum separation distance of ten feet shall be provided between any sanitary sewer and any other utility or storm sewer. The centerline of any sanitary or storm sewer shall be a minimum of ten feet from the edge of any utility easement.
(H) Sightlines at intersections of streets. The requirements of the borough zoning ordinance (as adopted by reference in Chapter 155 of this code of ordinances) shall apply to all subdivisions and land developments.
(I) Cul-de-sac streets.
(1) Cul-de-sac streets shall be permitted with a maximum length of 800 feet and a minimum of 250 feet measured from the curb line of the intersecting street to the curb line at the farthest point in the cul-de-sac. Cul-de-sac streets shall include a turn-around with a minimum radius of 40 feet to the face of the curb and a minimum radius of 50 feet to the legal right-of-way (see the figure below).
(2) The circular right-of-way of the cul-de-sac shall maintain a minimum ten feet width between the edge of paving and the edge of right-of-way. The circular paving of the cul-de-sac shall be connected to the approach paving by an arc having a radius of not less than 150 feet (see figure below).
(3) The Borough Council, upon the recommendation of the Planning Commission, may permit acceptable alternative turn-around designs, including a turn-around of acceptable radii incorporated into a parking court or a landscaped island (with an acceptable system for maintenance) within a cul-de-sac.
(4) No street shall dead-end without an approved turn-around at the end of the street. Temporary stub streets shall be required to include at least a temporary cul-de-sac, if the stub would be longer than 150 feet or serve more than three dwellings or lots.
(5) A cul-de-sac street shall serve a maximum of 20 dwelling units.
(6) See also the design standards in the table in division (F) above.
(J) Maintenance. As a condition for final plan approval, the developer must enter into a legally binding agreement which shall state who is to be responsible for the improvement and maintenance of any street not offered for dedication. If an association of lot owners is to be made responsible, such association must be legally organized prior to plan approval by an agreement approved by the borough.
(K) Street design and construction standards.
(1) Generally. Streets shall be graded, improved and surfaced to the grades and dimensions shown on plans, profiles and cross-sections submitted by the developer that meet applicable borough standards.
(2) Right-of-way grading.
(a) The entire right-of-way shall be graded to the approved cross-section. All trees, stumps and other material deemed unsuitable by the Borough Engineer shall be removed. The excavation shall be backfilled and suitably compacted to the satisfaction of the Borough Engineer.
(b) The finished street surface shall be crowned in conformance with the borough street and improvement specifications.
(c) A proper super-elevation (banked curves) shall be provided on arterial and collector streets when required by the Borough Engineer.
(3) Grading beyond right-of-way.
(a) The subdivider or developer may be required to grade beyond the right-of-way line in order to provide continuous slope from the right-of-way line to the proposed elevation of the abutting property.
(b) Such grading beyond the right-of-way shall maintain the original conditions of slope and contours except where stormwater runoff designs dictate or warrant improvement or alteration of the original slope and contours.
(c) Approved plans, either preliminary or final, showing proposed grading, shall be a covenant running with the land, unless altered by written permission from the Borough Council.
(d) In areas of earth excavation or earth fill, such grading shall be done to a maximum slope of one foot vertical to three feet horizontal.
(e) In no case shall the required street grading extend onto an adjoining property with a different landowner, unless time other adjoining property owner gives a written agreement to the developer to accomplish such work.
(4) Trench excavation. All trenches excavated within the cartway of an existing or proposed public street or right-of-way shall be mechanically compacted with backfill acceptable to the Borough Engineer or be stone backfilled if the cartway is to be paved in the same construction season.
(6) Street construction standards. All streets shall meet the following construction standards, which may be revised by Borough Council by resolution, based upon the latest version of PennDOT’s Form 408 or its successor publication, unless a differing standard is required by PennDOT for a state street:
Street Construction Standards | ||
Local Streets and Collector Streets Not Abutting or Not Within an Industrial Zoning District | Local and Collector Streets Abutting or Within an Industrial Zoning District or Any Arterial Street | |
2A aggregate subbase | 4 inches | 4 inches |
Bituminous concrete base course* | 5 inches | 6 inches |
ID-2 Binder** | Not required | 3 inches |
ID-2 wearing course*** | 1.5 inches | 1.5 inches |
* Superpave 25 mm base course may be substituted ** Superpave 25 mm binder course may be substituted *** Superpave 9.5 mm wearing course may be substituted | ||
(7) Sub-grade. All streets shall be constructed upon a properly rolled and crowned sub-grade.
(L) Private streets. Any private street or accessway that will eventually serve traffic from three or more dwelling units or two or more industrial, commercial and/or institutional uses shall be designed and constructed to borough construction standards, including the provision of a street right-of-way. This requirement shall not apply to a parking court that is not serving through-traffic or to a driveway serving a single building.
(M) Required street improvements.
(1) If there is a reasonable relationship between the need for an “on-site improvement” of a street (including, but not limited to, a new or upgraded traffic signal, or land dedication to improve an abutting intersection, or the re-alignment of an abutting curve in a street or widening of the abutting cartway or right-of-way) and a proposed subdivision or land development, the subdivision or land development shall be required to fund its fair share of the cost of such improvement and to dedicate sufficient right-of-way.
(2) An applicant for any land development or major subdivision shall be required to widen the cartway and any shoulders of abutting streets to borough standards, from the centerline of the street right-of-way inward towards the project’s lot lines, unless PennDOT specifically refuses in writing to allow such improvement to a state street.
(3) The following shall be the definition of “on-site improvement”, unless this definition is amended by state law: “all street improvements constructed on the applicant’s property, or the improvements constructed on the property abutting the applicant’s property that are necessary for the ingress and egress to the applicant’s property.”
(4) (a) In place of funding the improvement at the time of final approval, the borough may enter into an agreement to:
1. Allow the developer to construct the improvement;
2. Allow the improvement to be funded in stages in relationship to the stages of the development; or
3. Require the funds to be placed in escrow until such time as sufficient funds are available for a more comprehensive improvement.
(b) Any such funds received under this section shall be accounted for separately and remain committed to traffic improvements.
(5) This section shall be carried out through determinations of the Borough Council, based upon recommendations of the Planning Commission, which shall make determinations based directly upon the recommendations of the Borough Engineer, any comments from PennDOT and any professional traffic studies that have been submitted.
(6) No final certificate of occupancy shall be issued until the structure is completed as approved with service by all required utilities and with approved access onto a street. Any new or improved street shall be completed to required standards, if applicable.
(N) Extensions of public streets.
(1) Borough Council shall require that an applicant extend a public street where deemed necessary to serve a proposed subdivision or land development.
(2) If only a minor residential or agricultural subdivision is involved, and if the applicant only owns or controls the land on only one side of the proposed street, then the applicant shall only be required to extend and improve such street and install any required curbing and sidewalks from the centerline of the planned street right-of-way to the applicant’s proposed lot lines, except that in no case shall the cartway be less than 16 feet in width. In such case, the completion of the other side of the right-of-way shall be the responsibility of the owner of the abutting property on that side, at the time that such land is proposed for a subdivision or land development.
(Ord. passed 2-3-1992; Res. 2002-03, passed 11-4-2002; Ord. 200, passed 2-3-2003)