The Limited-Access Highway

Authors

Owen Clarke

Abstract

Even more impressive has been the sharp reduction in motor vehicle accidents where the principle of limited-access has been employed. On the Arroyo Seco, for example, accidents dropped 75 per cent. Accidents on Chicago's Outer Drive totaled only eight for every ten million vehicle miles traveled compared with 189 on ordinary roads in the area. After limiting access on a five-eighths-mile section in Milwaukee, there were only 5 per cent as many accidents as the average of four other comparable unlimited-access sections. Experience throughout the United States indicates that with limited-access highways we will have less than 15 per cent of the accidents that occur on an equal mileage of ordinary roads. With such spectacular success it is inevitable that there will be a far wider application of limited-access design in future road development. At least 22 states, including Washington, have sanctioned by legislation this new type of facility. As limited-access construction increases, a considerable amount of litigation and judicial confusion can be expected. Since these highways are so constructed that the owners of abutting land cannot directly enter the roadway from their property or enter their property from the roadway, there is an interference with the owner's ingress and egress. Thus it will be seen that certain rights of property are affected adversely.

First Page

109

Recommended Citation

Owen Clarke, The Limited-Access Highway, 27 Wash. L. Rev. & St. B.J. 109 (1952).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol27/iss2/2