Arkansas Administrative Code

27 CAR § 94-404. Intersections. At any intersection of a state highway with another highway, road, or street, access driveways shall be prohibited for a sufficient distance from the intersection to preserve the normal and safe movement of traffic through it, and the distance shal…

27 CAR § 94-405. Geometrics. (a) Radii for all access driveways in urban areas shall be not less than five feet (5’) and in rural areas the radii shall be not less than ten feet (10’), except as provided in 27 CAR § 94-409. (b)(1) The width of access driveways shall not exceed fo…

27 CAR § 94-406. Drainage. (a) Drainage in highway side ditches shall not be altered or impeded. (b) When drainage structures are required, the size of the opening, the length, and the other design features shall be approved by the engineer, and in all cases the structure shall b…

27 CAR § 94-407. Profile grade. (a) The grade on the driveway shall be constructed to conform to the slope of the roadway shoulder from the edge of the traveled lane to the edge of the shoulder. (b) Preferably, the profile grade of the driveway shall be constructed so the water w…

27 CAR § 94-408. Safety zones. (a) All parts of the highway right-of-way between the curb or shoulder line and the right-of-way line along the permittee’s property frontage, except the areas contained in the access driveway, shall be a safety zone. (b) Generally, the safety zone …

27 CAR § 94-409. Exceptions. (a) The engineer may authorize or require changes in the design when necessary to preserve the normal and safe movement of traffic and to permit reasonable access. (b) In consideration of type, speed, volume of highway traffic and driveway traffic, la…

27 CAR § 94-410. Construction. (a) The permittee shall furnish and install all materials, including: (1) Fill material; (2) Surfacing; and (3) Drainage structures. (b) All materials used must comply with the requirements contained in this part and/or specified by the engineer. (c…

27 CAR § 94-411. Maintenance. (a) Noncommercial driveways will be maintained to the right-of-way line by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. (b) Any dimensional change or relocation of the driveway will require an approved permit from the department. (c) This includes any …

27 CAR § 94-501. General. (a) A temporary driveway is defined as a driveway adjoining a state highway to provide access for a duration of one hundred twenty (120) days or less. (b)(1) A permit shall be obtained from the Arkansas Department of Transportation for all temporary acce…

27 CAR § 94-502. Design. (a)(1) All parts of temporary access driveways on highway right-of-way shall be confined within the permittee’s property frontage. (2) Frontage is that portion of the permittee’s property lying between the two (2) most distant possible lines drawn perpend…

27 CAR § 94-503. Location. (a)(1) Temporary access driveways shall be located to provide adequate sight distances and safety for highway users. (2) If adequate sight distance cannot be provided, some movements at the driveway may be prohibited or access denied. (b)(1) Frontages o…

27 CAR § 94-504. Intersections. At any intersection of a state highway with another highway, road, or street, access driveways shall be prohibited for a sufficient distance from the intersection to preserve the normal and safe movement of traffic through it, and the distance shal…

27 CAR § 94-505. Geometrics. (a) Radii for all commercial access driveways in urban areas shall be not less than five feet (5’) and in rural areas the radii shall be not less than ten feet (10’), except as provided in 27 CAR § 94-509. (b)(1) The width of access driveways shall no…

27 CAR § 94-506. Drainage. (a) Drainage in highway side ditches shall not be altered or impeded. (b) During dry summer months when drainage is not a problem, temporary roadway ditch crossings may be made by using boards or poles for the original one-hundred-twenty-day permit only…

27 CAR § 94-507. Profile grade. The profile grade on the driveway should be maintained so that water will not drain onto the traveled surface or cause damage to the right-of-way.

27 CAR § 94-508. Safety zones. (a) All parts of the highway right-of-way between the curb or shoulder line and the right-of-way line along the permittee’s property frontage, except the areas contained in the temporary access driveway, shall be a safety zone. (b) Vehicle parking o…

27 CAR § 94-509. Exceptions. (a) The engineer may authorize or require changes in the design when necessary to preserve the normal and safe movement of traffic and to permit reasonable access. (b) The engineer must approve exceptions to these rules.

27 CAR § 94-510. Construction. (a) The permittee shall furnish and install all materials, including fill material and drainage structure, if required. (b) All materials used must comply with the requirements contained in this part and/or specified by the engineer. (c) The permitt…

27 CAR § 94-511. Maintenance. (a) Any maintenance of the driveway will be the responsibility of the permittee. (b) The permittee shall make provisions for removal from the highway any debris caused by the permittee’s operations. (c) Provisions shall be made to remove such debris …

27 CAR § 95-101. Definitions. As used in this part: (1)(A) “Interchange Justification Report (IJR)” means the document that is transmitted to the Federal Highway Administration along with the request for new or revised freeway access. (B) The IJR supports the request and is the d…

27 CAR § 95-102. Arkansas Department of Transportation notice of nondiscrimination. (a) The Arkansas Department of Transportation complies with all civil rights provisions of federal statutes and related authorities that prohibit discrimination in programs and activities receivin…

27 CAR § 95-103. Basis of policy and general requirements. (a)(1) The Arkansas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration have a substantial investment in the fully access-controlled freeways in Arkansas. (2) The freeway system in Arkansas makes up less t…

27 CAR § 95-104. Interchange spacing. (a) The spacing of adjacent interchanges has a pronounced effect on the operation of freeways. (b) As a rule of thumb, the minimum interchange spacing is one (1) mile in urban areas as measured from the intersecting crossroads. (c) More space…

27 CAR § 95-105. Reevaluations. (a)(1) If the design or operation of a project that was previously accepted is significantly changed, e.g., land use, traffic volumes, roadway design, environmental impacts, etc., then a reevaluation is required. (2) The scope of the changes and th…

27 CAR § 95-106. Federal Highway Administration policy requirements. (a) This part states that new or revised access points to the existing Interstate Highway System should meet eight (8) specific requirements. (b) The Arkansas Department of Transportation and the Arkansas Divisi…

27 CAR § 95-201. Generally. (a)(1) An access point is defined as an entrance or exit point on the freeway mainline, including locked gate access. (2) For example, a diamond interchange configuration has four (4) access points. (3) A proposal to revise or modify the existing acces…

27 CAR § 95-202. Actions requiring Federal Highway Administration approval. The following actions require Federal Highway Administration approval: (1) New freeway-to-freeway interchange; (2) New service interchanges providing access between a nonfreeway local roadway network (art…

27 CAR § 95-203. Actions not requiring Federal Highway Administration access approval. (a)(1) Although access approval may not be needed, coordination with the Arkansas Division of the Federal Highway Administration is recommended to determine if any analysis is required based on…

27 CAR § 95-301. Generally. (a) A request for new or revised freeway access is a two-step process that consists of: (1) A finding of engineering and operational acceptability; and (2) Final approval. (b) The purpose of a two-step process is to help the entity requesting the acces…

27 CAR § 95-302. Procedure summary. (a)(1) The typical process begins within the statewide or metropolitan planning process. (2) Ideally, the change in access has been through a transportation planning process that has involved the stakeholders to ensure the project is in the app…

27 CAR § 95-303. Early coordination. (a)(1) Coordination with the Arkansas Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration should happen as early as possible in order to avoid unnecessary effort on the part of the proposing entity. (2) If a consulting firm wil…

27 CAR § 95-304. Engineering and operational acceptability review. (a)(1) Once early coordination has occurred, the proposing entity can begin development of an Interchange Justification Report (IJR). (2) A scope of work for the IJR should be developed by the proposing entity and…

27 CAR § 95-305. Final approval. (a) A request for final approval for a proposed new or revised freeway access can be submitted to the Arkansas Department of Transportation once the appropriate planning, air quality conformity, and environmental processes under the National Envir…

27 CAR § 95-401. Generally. (a) The operational analysis should demonstrate the proposed new or revised freeway access will not have a significant or adverse impact on the safe operation of the freeway system. (b) The operational analysis is integral to understanding the benefits…

27 CAR § 95-402. Relation to purpose and need. (a) Before embarking on any major analytical effort, the purpose and need (or problem, goal, or objective) must be identified. (b) If the purpose and need, for example, is to reduce the back-of-queue of an adjacent exit ramp from ext…

27 CAR § 95-403. Scope of analysis. (a) Once the purpose and need has been identified, the next step is to define the scope of the operational analysis, both geographic and temporal. (b) This should be accomplished during early coordination before the IJR is developed. (c) When d…

27 CAR § 95-404. Define the design year and analysis period. (a)(1) Traditionally, the design year reflects a twenty-year horizon from the anticipated opening date of the project. (2) A minimum design year based on twenty (20) years following the approval of the plans, specificat…

27 CAR § 95-405. Define performance measures. (a) The performance measures for the operational analysis should be discussed and defined during early coordination. (b) The performance measures can influence the scope of the analysis and the choice of analysis tools, and should rel…

27 CAR § 95-406. Select an operational analysis tool. (a)(1) There are many traffic operational analysis tools available for different situations. (2) These can include deterministic tools such as the Highway Capacity Software based on the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), or stocha…

27 CAR § 95-407. Data collection and preparation. (a) A data collection plan should be established once the performance measures and analysis tools are selected. (b) The data collection plan should be discussed during early coordination. (c) Data collection may include geometric …

27 CAR § 95-408. Assessment of existing conditions. (a)(1) Other than to support the purpose and need by analyzing the no-build alternative, assessing the existing conditions is essential to calibrate the chosen analysis tool or tools. (2) Any chosen analysis tool must be calibra…

27 CAR § 95-409. Alternatives analysis. (a) Defining the alternatives to be analyzed is an essential part of specifying the scope of the operational analysis. (b) For any request for new or revised freeway access, the following alternatives should be analyzed: (1)(A) No-build alt…

27 CAR § 95-410. Sensitivity analysis. (a)(1) Because all traffic forecasts are subject to uncertainty, there is inherent risk in any decisions based on the operational analysis (and other analyses as well) of alternatives. (2) Traffic forecasts for a new interchange may be reali…

27 CAR § 95-501. Generally. (a)(1) The safety analysis should demonstrate the proposed new or revised freeway access will not have significant or adverse impact on the safe operation of the freeway system. (2) If part of the purpose and need for the proposed project is to address…

27 CAR § 95-502. Establish safety area of influence. (a) The IJR should include an area of influence that addresses the safety concerns for the proposal and includes at least the adjacent interchanges along the freeway including the roads in the area of influence. (b)(1) For most…

27 CAR § 95-503. Collect traffic, geometric, and crash data. (a)(1) Crash data for an appropriate safety analysis as part of the IJR should include at least the three (3) most recent years data is available. (2) The proposing entity should request this data from the Arkansas Depa…

27 CAR § 95-504. Analyze crash data. (a)(1) Once at least three (3) years of crash data is obtained from the Arkansas Department of Transportation, a cursory analysis of the data should follow. (2) Crash rates may be calculated and then compared to statewide average rates for sim…