§ 22-414. Driveways., Streets and Parking., Part 4. DESIGN STANDARDS, Chapter 22. Subdivision and Land Development, Municipal Code, Code of Ordinances, Phoenixville

Private driveways shall be provided for all residences and other land developments requiring vehicular access. The construction shall be in accordance with the regulations of this section in order to provide safe access to Borough streets and state highways, to minimize problems of stormwater runoff, and to assure sufficient area for access to off-street parking.

Driveway intersects with streets:

Shall provide adequate stopping sight distance in compliance with PennDOT standards according to AASHTO requirements.

Shall not cause or contribute to hazards to the free movement of normal street traffic or interference with the design, maintenance and/or drainage of the street.

Shall fully comply with PennDOT regulations when intersecting a state highway. PennDOT permits shall be obtained by the applicant prior to or as a condition of final plan approval.

Driveway intersections serving individual parcels of land may be prohibited by the Borough where such intersections would create congestion, interference and/or hazards to traffic flow and safety by reason of street grades, land forms, vegetation, frequency of driveway intersections, limited sight distance and/or high-speed traffic flow. In such cases, the Borough may require alternative forms of vehicular access by means of marginal access streets or driveways, shared driveways, reverse frontage lots or other means of access which are technically suitable to the Borough. When streets of different classes are involved, access shall be provided to the street of the lesser classification, unless the Borough determines that this requirement is not desirable for reasons of safety, grading, drainage, traffic or other reasons.

In order to facilitate safe and efficient access between streets and driveways, the number of driveways permitted to serve individual parcels of land shall be kept to the minimum needed to adequately serve the parcel in question.

Properties with frontages of 100 feet or less may be permitted not more than one driveway intersection with a street. Exceptions may be made when adjacent property owners share parking or when the need is determined in a traffic study prepared by a qualified traffic engineer.

Not more than two driveway intersections with the same street may be permitted for any parcel of land unless anticipated traffic volumes warrant more than two, and then only when supported by a traffic study prepared by a qualified engineer warrants more than two driveway intersections.

Distance From Street Intersections. Driveways shall be located as far from street intersections as is reasonably possible, as determined by the Borough Engineer.

Choice of Streets. When streets of different classes are involved, the driveway shall provide access to the street of lesser classification, unless this requirement is waived by the Borough Council for reasons of sight distance, incompatibility of traffic, grading, drainage, or other major reasons presented by a qualified traffic engineer and recommended by the Borough Engineer.

Stopping Areas. Regardless of the driveway classification, all driveways shall be provided with a stopping area within which the grade shall not exceed 4%. Any remaining portion of the driveway shall have a maximum grade of 10%. The stopping area shall be measured as follows:

The length of the stopping area shall be a minimum of 20 feet, or the length of the longest vehicles anticipated to use the driveway, whichever is greater.

Stopping areas shall be measured from the cartway line for all streets.

Maximum Grades for Driveways.

Residential driveways shall not exceed fifteen-percent grade.

All other driveways shall not exceed seven-percent grade.

All driveways shall be provided with a stopping area within which the grade shall not exceed 4% for 20 feet from the edge of the cartway.

Driveways with a sidewalk crossing within the right-of-way shall include an ADA compliant pedestrian access route with a maximum cross-slope of 2.0%.

Sight Distance Determinations. Determination of sight distances at intersections of new driveways and streets with existing Borough roads shall be in accordance with the following provisions:

Access driveways shall be located at a point within the property frontage limits which provides at least the minimum safe stopping sight distance (SSSD) as determined by the standards within Chapter 441 (Access to and Occupancy of Highways by Driveways and Local Roads), Title 67, of the Pennsylvania Code.

The calculated minimum SSSD shall be obtainable and measured from a point 10 feet back of the pavement edge and 3.5 feet above the road surface.

If the minimum required SSSDs cannot be achieved, the Borough may exercise one or more of the following options:

(1)

Prohibit left turns by exiting vehicles.

(2)

Restrict turning movements to right turns in and out of a driveway.

(3)

Require installation of a right-turn acceleration lane or deceleration lane.

(4)

Require installation of a separate left-turn standby lane.

(5)

Alter the horizontal or vertical geometry of the roadway.

(6)

Deny access to the road.

10.

Driveway Construction.

Driveway construction shall conform to the Borough Standard Construction Details.

Editor's Note: The Borough Standard Construction Details are included as an attachment to this chapter.

Driveways serving residential uses shall have a minimum paved width of nine feet. Driveways serving all other uses shall have a minimum paved width of 11 feet per lane for ingress and egress.

Driveways to single-family residences shall intersect streets at angles of no less than 60°. All other driveways shall intersect streets at right angles where practical, and in no case less than 75°. The angle of intersection is defined as the acute angle made by the intersection of the center line of the driveway with the curbline of the road.

Driveway entrances into all nonresidential, single-use properties shall be no less than 22 feet in width, shall not exceed 36 feet in width at the street line unless provided with a median divider, and shall be clearly defined by the use of curbing.

The edge of any driveway shall be at least 60 feet from the nearest end of the paving radius at a street intersection.

Driveways shall be graded so that, wherever possible, surface drainage will be discharged to the owner's property. Otherwise, adequately sized pipes, inlets, or headwalls shall be installed and gutter improvements shall be made to direct surface drainage to an approved on-site stormwater management facility prior to release to a municipal separate storm sewer system. Road drainage systems shall be upgraded to a condition satisfactory to the Borough Engineer by the developer to accommodate the additional runoff created by his or her development.

Where applicable, the gutter line shall be maintained as a paved swale matching existing gutters. A pipe may be placed under a driveway entrance only when approved by the Borough Engineer. The acceptability of such a pipe will be governed by the gutter depth on each side of the driveway.

Existing driveways to development and redevelopment properties shall be reconstructed as necessary to meet the requirements of this section and the Borough Standard Construction Details.

11.

Shared Driveways.

A single driveway may be shared by not more than two lots or units. A single property access shared by more than two lots or units shall be considered a private street and as such shall conform to the applicable requirements for residential private streets (§ 22-408, Subsection 3A).

Shared driveways with a cartway width of less than 16 feet and a total length of 200 feet or more shall have a turnout of such a width so as to provide an aggregate sixteen-foot-wide cartway for the driveway, and said turnout area shall be of sufficient length to accommodate a single motor vehicle located every 200 feet along the driveway.