§ 6-3. Roads.

(a)

General requirements.

(1)

Frontage on improved roads. No subdivision shall be approved unless the area to be subdivided shall have frontage on and access from an existing street or on a street shown upon a plat approved by the planning commission. Whenever the area to be subdivided is to utilize existing road frontage, such road shall be suitably improved as provided herein.

(2)

Grading and improvements. Roads shall be graded and improved to conform to the requirements of the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation [Department of Transportation] and in particular that agency's regulations outlined as "Subdivision Street Requirements." Additionally, all streets shall be required to meet the standards as set forth in section 33.1-43 of the Code of Virginia (1950) as amended.

(3)

Topography and arrangement.

(i)

Roads shall be related appropriately to the topography. All streets shall be arranged so as to obtain as many as possible of the building sites at, or above, the grades of the streets. Grades of streets shall conform as closely as possible to the original topography. A combination of steep grades and curves shall be avoided.

(ii)

All streets shall be properly integrated with the existing and proposed system of thoroughfares and dedicated right-of-ways.

(iii)

Minor local streets shall be laid out to conform as much as possible to the topography, to discourage use by through traffic, to permit efficient drainage and utility systems, and to require the minimum number of streets necessary to provide convenience and safe access to property.

(iv)

Proposed streets shall be extended to the boundary lines of the tract to be subdivided, unless prevented by topography or other physical conditions, or unless in the opinion of the planning commission such extension is not necessary or desirable for the coordination of the layout of the subdivision with the existing layout of the most advantageous future development or adjacent tracts. All such extensions shall contain an appropriate turn around.

(4)

Blocks.

(i)

Blocks shall have sufficient width to provide for two (2) tiers of lots of appropriate depth. Exceptions to this prescribed block width shall be permitted in blocks adjacent to major streets, railroads, or waterways.

(ii)

Block lengths generally shall not exceed one thousand five hundred (1,500) feet nor be less than four hundred (400) feet in length. Wherever practicable, blocks along major arterials and collector streets shall be not less than one thousand (1,000) feet in length.

(iii)

Pedestrian ways or crosswalks, not less than ten (10) feet wide, may be required by the planning commission through the center of blocks more than eight hundred (800) feet long where deemed essential to provide circulation or access to schools, playgrounds, shopping centers, transportation, or other community facilities.

(5)

Access to primary arterials. When a subdivision borders on or contains an existing or proposed primary arterial, the planning commission may require that access to such streets be limited by one (1) of the following means:

(i)

The subdivision of lots so as to back onto the primary arterial and front onto a parallel local street; no access shall be provided from the primary arterial, and screening shall be provided in a strip of land along the rear property line of such lots.

(ii)

A series of cul-de-sacs, U-shaped streets, or short loops entered from and designed generally at right angles to such a parallel street, with the rear lines of their terminal lots backing onto the major arterial.

(iii)

A marginal access or service road (separated from the primary arterial by a planting or grass strip and having access thereto at suitable points).

(6)

Road names. The preliminary plat as submitted shall indicate any names for proposed streets. Names shall be sufficiently different in sound and spelling from other road names in the city so as not to cause confusion. A road which is or is planned as a continuation of an existing road shall bear the same name.

(7)

Road regulatory signs. Street name signs are to be placed at all intersections within or abutting the subdivision, the type and location of which to be approved by the city manager.

(8)

Street lights. Installation of street lights shall be required in accordance with design and specification standards approved by the city manager.

(9)

Guard rails. Installation of guard rails, by the developer, shall be required when safety conditions dictate and in accordance with design and specification standards approved by the city manager.

(10)

Reserve strips. The creation of reserve strips shall not be permitted adjacent to a proposed street in such a manner as to deny access from adjacent property to such street.

(11)

Construction of roads and dead-end roads.

(i)

Construction of roads. The arrangement of streets shall provide for the continuation of principal streets between adjacent properties when such continuation is necessary for convenient movement of traffic, effective fire protection, for efficient provision of utilities, and where such continuation is in accordance with the comprehensive plan. If the adjacent property is underdeveloped and the street must be a dead-end street temporarily, the right-of-way shall be extended to the property line, and a turnaround of not less than eighty (80) feet provided.

(ii)

Dead end streets (permanent). All deadend streets or cul-de-sacs shall not be longer than eight hundred (800) feet and shall have a turnaround area with an outside roadway diameter of at least eighty (80) feet.

(b)

Design standards.

(1)

Specifications. All roads and streets shall be provided with concrete curb and gutter and shall be improved with a six-inch compacted base course, and two (2) inches of bituminous concrete, type S-5 coating, or equivalent. Exceptions to the curb and gutter requirements shall be approved by the planning commission before construction.

(2)

Paving width, right of way and maximum grade. Paving widths shall be in accordance with the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation standards for maintenance pavements. These standards will also include right of way width and suggested maximum grade.

(3)

Sidewalks. Concrete sidewalks having a minimum width of not less than five (5) feet may be required along both sides of all major arterial thoroughfares, of not less than four (4) feet along both sides of all secondary thoroughfares.

(4)

Excess right-of-way. Right-of-way widths in excess of the standards designated in these regulations shall be required whenever, due to topography, additional width is necessary to provide adequate earth slopes. Such slopes shall not be in excess of three (3) to one (1).

(5)

Railroads and limited access highways. Railroad right-of-way and limited access highways where so located as to affect the subdivision of adjoining lands shall be treated as follows:

(i)

A buffer strip at least twenty-five (25) feet in depth in addition to the normal depth of the lot required in the district shall be provided adjacent to the railroad right-of-way or limited access highway.

(ii)

Streets parallel to the railroad when intersecting a street which crosses the railroad grade shall, to the extent practicable, be at a distance of at least one hundred fifty (150) feet from the railroad right-of-way. Such distance shall be determined with due consideration of the minimum distance required for future separation of grades by means of appropriate approach gradients.

(6)

Intersections:

(i)

Streets shall be laid out so as to intersect as nearly as possible at right angles. Angles of less than sixty (60) degrees shall not be acceptable. An oblique street should be curved approaching an intersection and should be approximately at right angles for at least one hundred (100) feet therefrom. Not more than two (2) streets shall intersect at any one (1) point.

(ii)

Proposed new intersections along one (1) side of an existing street shall, wherever practicable, coincide with any existing intersections on the opposite side of such street. Street jogs with center-line offsets of less than one hundred fifty (150) feet shall not be permitted, except where the intersected street has separate dual drives without median breaks at either intersection. Where streets intersect major streets, their alignment shall be continuous. Intersection of major streets shall be at least eight hundred (800) feet apart.

(iii)

Minimum curb radius at the intersection of two (2) local streets shall be at least twenty (20) feet; and minimum curb radius at an intersection involving a collector street shall be at least twenty-five (25) feet. Alley intersections and abrupt changes in alignment within a block shall have the corner cut off in accordance with standard engineering practice to permit safe vehicular movement.

(iv)

Intersections shall be designed with a flat grade wherever practical. In hilly or rolling areas, at the approach to an intersection, a leveling area shall be provided having not greater than a two (2) percent rate at a distance of sixty (60) feet, measured from the nearest right-of-way line of the intersecting street.

(v)

Where any street intersection will involve earth banks or existing vegetation inside any lot corner that would create a traffic hazard by limiting visibility, the developer shall cut such ground and/or vegetation (including trees) in connection with the grading of the public right-of-way to the extent deemed necessary to provide an adequate sight distance.

(7)

Bridges. Bridges of primary benefit to the applicant, as determined by the planning commission, shall be constructed at the full expense of the applicant. The sharing expense for the construction of bridges not of primary benefit to the applicant, as determined by the planning commission, will be fixed by special agreement between the governing body and the applicant.