This document was superseded on 08/31/2010 by Interstate System Access Informational Guide
 U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration |
MEMORANDUM |
| Subject: | Operational Analysis of Access Points to the Interstate System | Date: | August 21, 2001 |
| From: | /s/ original signed by Dwight A. Horne Director, Office of Program Administration |
Refer To: | HIPA-20 |
| To: | Resource Center Directors Division Administrators Federal Lands Highway Division Engineers |
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The FHWA policy regarding requests for access points to the Interstate System was published in the Federal Register on February 11, 1998. One requirement of the policy is an analysis of current and future traffic to determine the effect of proposed access points.
The FHWA will continue to use the current edition of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), published by the Transportation Research Board, in its review of proposed access points. Other traffic analysis methods including simulation programs may also be used in the access request report to aid in the decision-making process. However, if the access request report does not contain an HCM analysis, the data submitted with the report must be sufficiently detailed and compatible with the HCM procedures to allow the FHWA reviewing office to independently perform an HCM evaluation of the traffic impacts.
A new edition of the HCM, referred to as HCM 2000, was recently published and distributed to field offices with our memorandum dated May 1. Also distributed were Highway Capacity Software (HCS 2000) and Highway Capacity Analysis Package (HiCAP 2000), two software products that replicate the procedures in the HCM 2000. As stated in the May 1 memorandum, all new studies beginning after October 1, 2001, should use the HCM 2000 analysis procedures. A previous edition of the HCM is currently included in the list of guides in the Federal-aid Policy Guide, Non Regulatory Supplement 23 CFR 625, paragraph 16. This will be updated to show the HCM 2000 as the current edition.