Chapter 6 - Cross Section Elements

6.8. Medians

Several factors will be considered when determining the applicable median treatments, such as classification of roadway, number of lanes, base year traffic, design year traffic, posted speed limit, design speed limit and accident/crash data. Below are the roadway classifications and the median guidelines for those classifications.

6.8.1. Interstate Medians

All interstates shall require a depressed median, as specified in the AASHTO Green Book (2004) , or positive barrier separation in areas of right-of-way restrictions. Positive barrier separation is required for all median widths ≤ 52-ft. or where mutually exclusive clear zone for each direction of traffic cannot be obtained. Positive barrier separation will not be required for median widths > 64-ft. Median barrier is optional for median widths between 52-ft. and 64-ft. Positive barrier separation should be considered for all existing medians where there is a history of cross median type accidents.