The application of access management in residential areas of Beijing

This paper investigates the impact of the existing design and layout of driveways located at residential areas on the traffic performances of urban roadways. Conflicts and facilities surrounding these areas are also analyzed. The main problems in the investigation are as follows: 1. Accesses located too close to nearby signalized intersections, 2. Control level of access is not enough, 3. Poor design of facilities around access, 4. The visibility is inadequate for drivers to safely make turning movement from driveways. The ultimate objective of this study is to use access management technologies to come up with the design principles and guidelines for residential areas to improve safety and operational efficiency of roadways, including removal of access from intersection, enhancing the control level, set facilities around access like non-traversable medians, provide adequate visibility for drivers by no-parking at the side of frontage roadway and the limitation of the plants height of the median. In addition, formula to standardize the access design for the residential areas is established based on the related criteria. The results from this study show that it is workable and feasible to exercise access management strategies for residential areas in Beijing to better off the traffic operation and improve living environment.