§ 395-20. Roadway access.

A. 

Access management standards. Vehicular access to and from buildings, structures and lots in all commercial and industrial areas shall be governed by the following:

(1) 

Every building lot shall have access to a public street or an approved private street.

(2) 

Proposed access points shall be separated according to the provisions set forth in this chapter.

(3) 

Where a lot or multiple lots are created with frontage on more than one road, access shall only be permitted to the road with the lower functional classification according to this chapter.

(4) 

Unless clearly impractical, direct access to collector and arterial roads, as defined by this chapter, shall be prohibited.

(5) 

Unless clearly impractical, all residential lots shall have access only to local streets.

(6) 

Where a development proposal creates lots with frontage along existing collector or arterial roads, the proposed street pattern shall provide reverse frontage access to a local street within the development, rather than access to the collector or arterial road. All front yard setbacks shall be calculated from the local road.

(7) 

Where a building, structure, or lot is created having frontage along an existing collector or arterial road, and access to another street is not possible, access may be provided from an adjacent use.

(8) 

Where a building, structure or lot is created having frontage along an existing collector or arterial road, and no viable alternative for access is possible, access to the arterial or collector road may be permitted in conjunction with the following:

(a) 

The proposed use shall utilize existing accessways of adjacent properties through interconnection of interior drives, parking areas, or loading areas.

(b) 

The design of parking and interior circulation of the proposed use shall be planned in such a manner as to connect interior accessways, parking areas and loading areas with future adjacent uses, structures, buildings or lots.

(c) 

Access points along collector or arterial roads, as designated in this chapter, shall comply with all Borough and state regulations governing lot access, driveways and street intersections.

B. 

Access intersection distance. All proposed accessways shall be set back a minimum distance from any intersection, based on the highway classification as defined by this chapter. The minimum setback distance from intersections shall be calculated as the distance from the edge of or projected edge of the pavement of the intersecting roadway to the tangent of the radius of the proposed accessway according to the following:

(1) 

All proposed accessways shall be set back a minimum of 75 feet from the intersection of two local roads.

(2) 

From the intersection of a local road and collector road, proposed accessways shall be set back a minimum of 100 feet.

(3) 

From the intersection of a local road and an arterial road, proposed accessways shall be set back a minimum of 175 feet.

C. 

Shared access provisions.

(1) 

Purpose.

(a) 

The use of shared access points for adjacent facilities should be considered to better facilitate the flow of traffic by increasing access coordination along road frontages and minimizing confusion caused by an excessive number of access points.

(2) 

Objectives.

(a) 

Limit the number of access points along collector and arterial roads.

(b) 

Use parallel access roads as entrances to uses and lots that abut collector and arterial roads.

(c) 

Coordinate ingress and egress locations for adjacent uses, lots and structures along collector and arterial roads.

(d) 

Connect interior accessways, parking areas or loading areas of uses with frontage along collector and arterial roads.

(e) 

Coordinate similar traffic movements at access locations to increase safety and facilitate vehicle movement.

D. 

Access point separation.

(1) 

A minimum distance shall be provided between all new access points as determined by the highway classification identified in this chapter and in accordance with the following:

(a) 

The minimum separation distance between access points on a local road shall be 75 feet.

(b) 

The minimum separation distance between access points on a collector road shall be 100 feet.

(c) 

The minimum separation distance between access points on an arterial road shall be 300 feet.

(2) 

Where two or more adjacent buildings, structures, or lots are in such proximity that achieving the minimum separation is not possible for each individual use, access points shall be shared in compliance with the provisions of this chapter.

E. 

Responsibilities. The applicant shall be held responsible for the construction of any necessary traffic control devices, signs and roadway safety improvements, including acceleration and deceleration lane(s) where required by the Borough or PennDOT.