Section 80. Minimum sight distance for commercial entrances

A. No less than minimum intersection sight distance shall be obtained for a commercial entrance and no less than minimum stopping or intersection sight distance shall be obtained for a low volume commercial entrance. Sight distances shall be measured in accordance with VDOT practices, and sight distance requirements shall conform to VDOT standards as described in Appendix F of the Road Design Manual, 2011 (VDOT). The legal speed limit shall be used unless the design speed is available and approved for use by VDOT.

B. The operating speed may be used in lieu of the legal speed limit in cases where the permit applicant furnishes the district administrator's designee with a speed study prepared in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 2003, revised 2007 (FHWA), methodology that demonstrates the operating speed of the segment of highway is lower than the legal speed limit and, in the judgment of the district administrator's designee, use of the operating speed will not compromise safety for either a driver at an entrance or a driver on the abutting highway.

C. VDOT may require that the vertical or horizontal alignment of the existing highway be adjusted to accommodate certain design elements of a proposed commercial entrance including, but not limited to, median openings, crossovers, roundabouts, and traffic signals, where adjustment is deemed necessary. The cost of any work performed to adjust the horizontal or vertical alignment of the highway to achieve required intersection sight distance at a proposed entrance shall be borne by the permit applicant.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 26, Issue 01, eff. October 14, 2009; amended, Virginia Register Volume 28, Issue 08, eff. December 31, 2011;Volume 28, Issue 08, eff. January 18, 2012; Volume 30, Issue 04, eff. December 5, 2013.

Statutory Authority

§ 33.2-245 of the Code of Virginia.