Secondary Street Acceptance Requirements

Chapter 382

The regulation establishes requirements that newly constructed secondary streets will need to meet to be accepted into the state system for perpetual public maintenance.

In the past, streets have been accepted into the state system without consideration to the overall public benefit provided by such streets.

Recently the number of streets being accepted into the system and the levels of congestion have increased while state and federal transportation funding have decreased, resulting in a situation where existing policy must be revisited.

The Secondary Street Acceptance Requirements (SSAR) are the rules that govern the development of streets for acceptance by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for perpetual public maintenance.

The regulations are a result of legislation introduced at the request of Gov. Tim Kaine and unanimously adopted by the General Assembly during the 2007 session.

The most significant aspect of the revised regulation is that it introduces a change in public policy regarding the design and function a street must meet in order to be added to the state system.

In essence, the regulation revises the public-private partnership between the commonwealth and the development community. The commonwealth agrees to maintain streets built by developers and accepted by counties to the benefit and marketability of their developments.

In exchange, the developer must build streets that connect with the surrounding transportation network in a manner that enhances the capacity of the overall transportation network and accommodates pedestrians, while also minimizing the environmental impacts of stormwater runoff by reducing the street widths and allowing the use of low impact development techniques.

This is a significant departure from the previous policy of accepting any street that served three or more homes and was built in conformance with state design and construction standards without regards to the impact on the overall transportation network.

In addition to this policy change, the new regulation also updates the inspection and surety processes and fees in an effort to streamline the process and better align costs.

Introduction

Chapter 382 of the 2007 Acts of Assembly (SB1181) added § 33.1-70.3 to the Code of Virginia. The legislation requires the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) to develop Secondary Street Acceptance Requirements (SSAR), promulgated by regulation, to determine the conditions and standards that must be met before secondary streets constructed by developers, localities and entities other than VDOT, will be accepted into the state secondary system for maintenance by VDOT. 
 
The SSAR supersedes the January 2005 edition of the Subdivision Street Requirements. Based on §33.1-70.3 the SSAR was developed to specifically includes three legislative goals. These include:

• Ensuring the connectivity of road and pedestrian networks with the existing and future transportation network
  
 
• Minimizing stormwater runoff and impervious surface area



• Addressing performance bonding needs of new secondary streets and associated cost recovery fees

These provisions will help ensure that streets built by developers will enhance the overall capacity of the transportation network by providing additional transportation connections to adjacent developments.

In the past, many developments had been built with only one ingress and egress point. Developments with this type of street network place an unsustainable burden on the regional transportation network by requiring that all trips – both local and long-distance – use the regional transportation network.

Additional transportation connections between adjacent developments will allow local trips and the local portion of long-distance trips to remain on local streets.

Approval of the Regulation

The CTB gave final approval to the SSAR at its meeting on Feb. 19, 2009. The regulation became effective upon its submittal to the Registrar of Virginia, which took place on March 9, 2009.

The SSAR contains a transition period, during which the development community, stakeholders, and VDOT staff can become more familiar with the contents and implementation of the new regulations.

This transition period is from March 9 to July 1, 2009.

Plans and plats initially submitted to the local government and VDOT after June 30, 2009, must comply with the requirements of the SSAR.

Training and Outreach

VDOT recognizes that all parties involved with the development process will need to become familiar with the contents of the SSAR.
 
In order to facilitate this process, VDOT held regional outreach sessions in April 2009.

During these sessions, VDOT staff provided participants an overview of the requirements, standards, and calculations related to the SSAR.

Additionally, VDOT sought input from participants as to their ongoing need for additional SSAR training.  This input will be utilized to plan VDOT’s upcoming SSAR training efforts.

Regulation and Guidance Documents

In preparation of the SSAR’s implementation, VDOT staff has prepared a number of documents to assist interested parties in the interpretation and application of this new regulation:

• SSAR regulation in PDF format
• SSAR executive summary
• SSAR April information sessions presentation
• Draft SSAR guidance document in PDF format
• Road Design Manual, Appendix B(1) 
• VDOT Secondary Street Inspection Manual (coming soon)

Additional Information on Subdivision Street Design

Links to additional information on subdivision street design and low-impact development techniques:

• Smart Transportation Guidebook by NJDOT and PennDOT:  http://www.smart-transportation.com/assets/download/Smart%20Transportation%20Guidebook.pdf



• Charlotte’s Urban Street Design Guidelines: http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Transportation/Urban+Street+Design+Guidelines.htm 

If you would like additional information regarding the SSAR, contact your VDOT district office.

Development of the Secondary Street Acceptance Requirements

Implementation Advisory Committee

Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer empanelled an Implementation Advisory Committee to assist the CTB in the development of this regulation. Click here (PDF, 300 KB) to view his letter to committee members.

This committee held its first meeting Sept. 4, 2007. Click here (PDF, 6.3 MB) to view the agenda and handouts that were provided to the committee. The committee met six times since its initial meeting.

Public Participation

The CTB was briefed eight times during the preparation of the SSAR. 

In addition, public comments were accepted from April 14 through June 30, 2008.  VDOT also held four public hearings to solicit public comments in April and May.

The CTB encouraged citizens and other stakeholders to submit comments throughout the development of this regulation. In particular, comments were solicited regarding the current Subdivision Street Design Guide (Appendix B, Road Design Manual) (PDF, 572 KB) as well as methods to reduce stormwater runoff are encouraged.

The CTB previously solicited public comment, with particular and specific emphasis on (i) how to accomplish the specific mandatory provisions as established by § 33.1-70.3 B (as discussed above), (ii) other concepts or requirements that should be addressed in the new regulation, (iii) issues or concepts in the current Subdivision Street Requirements (24 VAC 30-91 available below) that should be modified or eliminated in the new requirements, (iv) comment on approaches to the mandatory provisions and other issues in the other regulatory documents listed above, and (v) comment on other best practices and approaches from other jurisdictions (available below).

The CTB encouraged those submitting comments to be as specific as possible, including – when applicable – the submission of suggested text for the regulation.

Revisions Based on Public Comments

The regulation was revised based on public comments received by the CTB.

The major revisions include:

• Revised methodology for calculating connectivity index
  
• Revisions to ensure that connectivity of the street network is provided between adjoining developments and phases of developments not internal to a development
  
  
• Streamlined exception processes for connectivity exceptions
  
• Pedestrian accommodation standards are generally based on density of development not the area type where a development is located


• Provisions to ensure planned connectivity of the street network was planned in the past that is provided as development occurs

A summary of all changes can be found here.   (PDF, 376 KB).

Notice of Intent of Regulatory Action

Details (PDF, 57 KB)

Previous Standards

24 VAC 30-91 - Subdivision Street Requirements (PDF, 521 KB)

Appendix B, Road Design Manual (PDF, 521 KB)