Jump to Content
Town of Normal, Illinois. Committed to Service Excellence.

Chapter 8 - Public Ways
Division 3 - Curb Cuts and Access Ways

[ Previous ] [ Code ] [ Up ] [ Next ]

SEC. 8.3-1 PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.

  1. Breaking Curb or Gutter. No person, firm, or corporation shall hereafter break or cut away any portion of any curb or gutter now or hereafter laid or established on any street, alley, or public way without first securing a "Curb Cut Permit" authorizing such construction, and all such construction shall be done in a manner so as to meet the standards specified in this Division.
     
  2. Establishing New Access Ways. No person, firm, or corporation shall establish or create a new access way from the surface portion of a street, alley, or public way to adjoining property without first securing a "Curb Cut Permit" authorizing the establishment of such an access way, and all such ways shall be constructed in a manner so as to meet the standards specified in this Division.
     
  3. Duplicate Permits Not Required. A single curb cut permit may authorize the building of the curb and the creation of a new access way.
     
  4. Curb cuts for sump pump discharge are prohibited.

SEC. 8.3-2 PERMIT.

  1. Procedure. Any person, firm, or corporation desiring to break any curb or gutter or establish a new access way shall first complete a Curb Cut Application on forms available from the Director of Public Works and shall file such completed Curb Cut Application in the Director of Public Works' office.

    Before a permit will be issued for any curb cut or access way onto a State right-of-way, a copy of an approved permit from the State of Illinois Department of Transportation shall be submitted to the Director of Public Works. (Added 12/18/78)
     
  2. Fee.
    1. Applications for curb cut permits serving property zoned agricultural, single family residential, two-family residential, or multiple family shall be accompanied by a filing fee and inspection fee of ten dollars ($10.00). (Amended 12/17/78)
       
    2. Applications for curb cut permits serving property otherwise zoned shall be accompanied by a filing an inspection fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00). (Amended 12/18/78)

SEC. 8.3-3 STANDARDS.

  1. General Location. Based on the street classification included in the transportation element of the Comprehensive Plan of the Town of Normal, curb cuts or access ways shall be permitted in the following locations:
     
    1. On major or collector streets, no curb cut, access way, or portion thereof shall be permitted within sixty-four (64) feet of the right-of-way line of any intersecting major or collector street;
       
    2. On major, collector, or minor streets, no curb cut, access way, or portion thereof shall be permitted within twenty-four (24) feet of the right-of-way line of any intersecting minor street;
       
    3. On minor streets, no curb cut, access way, or portion thereof shall be permitted within twenty-four (24) feet of the right-of-way of any intersecting major or collector street. (Amended 12/17/78)
       
    4. Waivers. The Director of the Department of Public Works may grant a waiver to the requirements imposed in subsections A(1), A(2), and A(3) of this Section where adequate protection to the public safety can be provided and where the resulting curb cut is at least seventy-four (74) feet from the back of the curb on major and collector streets, and thirty (30) feet from the back of the curb on minor streets, and where one (1) or more of the following conditions exist:
      1. Where road right-of-way has been dedicated to the Town exceeding that required by the Town Subdivision Code;
         
      2. Where a lot platted prior to December 20, 1978, has no access to a public road, except a curb cut be granted within the setback ordinance established by this Section. (Sub-paragraph 4 added by Ord. No. 3373, 2/18/85)
         
  2. Width, Number, and Separation.
    1. Residential - Major and Collector Streets. Curb cuts or access ways for driveways serving agricultural, single-family, duplex, or multiple family uses or where no use is proposed in areas zoned agricultural, single-family, two-family, or multiple family shall conform with the following widths and shall conform to the details in Figures 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8:
      1. Minimum - twenty (20) feet.
         
      2. Maximum - thirty (30) feet.
         
    2. Residential - Minor Streets. Curb cuts or access ways for driveways serving agricultural, single-family, duplex, or multiple family uses or where no use is proposed in areas zoned agricultural, single-family, two-family, or multiple family shall conform to the following widths and shall conform to the details in Figures 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8:
      1. Minimum - sixteen (16) feet.
         
      2. Maximum - thirty (30) feet.
         
    3. Other. Curb cuts and access ways to commercial, office, insti-tutional, business, manufacturing, and any other uses or where the use is unknown in areas zoned commercial, business, institutional, office, or manufacturing, shall conform to the requirements for the above uses, as specified in Figures 6 and 7 of the IDOT policy on Permits for Access Driveways to State Highways, the latest edition of which is incorporated herein by reference and on file in the office of the Town Clerk. (Amended 6/1/81)
       
    4. Waivers. Where conformance with the width requirements of the Section would, in the determination of the Director of Public Works, work an unreasonable hardship on the property owner involved and which adequate protection to the public safety can otherwise be provided, the Director may increase the maximum width or decrease the minimum width requirements by an amount not to exceed fifty percent (50%) of the width specified.
       
    5. Common Drives Prohibited. Common curb cuts and access ways are prohibited. In order to promote public safety, the Public Works Director may grant a waiver to this section for all zoning districts except the residential districts.
       
    6. Minimum Distance from Side Property Line. No part of a curb cut or access way shall be located within three (3) feet of a side property line, except:
      1. Where there existed prior to May 1, 1980, an accessway which is not hard surfaced, said accessway may be hard surfaced over the same area as presently exists provided all of the other requirements of this Division are met; or
         
      2. Where there existed prior to May 1, 1980, a lot with a structure on it without a driveway, then the three (3) foot minimum distance from a side property line may be reduced to one (1) foot if in the opinion of the Director of Public Works or his designee, there is no place for the curb cut to be installed. (Amended 4/21/80)
         
      3. Driveways located within three (3) feet of property line may have a curb cut or accessway within one (1) foot of the property line.
         
    7. Residential Exception. Curb cuts for residential uses shall be limited to one per use except:
      1. For circle driveways (See Figure 3);
         
      2. Where one way traffic is to be utilized. (Added by Ord. 1944 - 4/21/80
         
  3. Supplemental Standards.
    1. The Director of Public Works shall not issue any permit under this Division for any private access way or for the breaking or removing of any curb where the proposed opening would create an unnecessary hazard to pedestrians or create a traffic hazard.
       
    2. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Town of Normal hereby adopts the standards of the Bureau of Traffic, Department of Transportation of the State of Illinois, as now or hereafter amended, which said standards are available for public inspection in the Office of the Municipal Clerk.
       
    3. Where a Town project involves constructing a new curb and a request is made for a curb cut permit and no hard surfaced driveway is in existence adjacent to the location of the curb cut, before the curb cut permit is issued, the applicant shall post an escrow in cash or certified check to insure that sixty (60) days from the date the curb cut is made that the new hard-surfaced driveway shall be installed.

      Said escrow, equal to the amount of the cost to recurb the area requested in the permit, shall be forfeited to the Town if the hard surfaced driveway is not installed within the sixty (60) day time period. (Added by Ord. 1944 - 4/21/80)
       
    4. Where an owner of property has the option of selecting one of several streets on which to request a curb cut, the owner of such property must take the permitted curb cut off a street that is classified minor. If none of the streets are classified minor, the curb cut must be taken off a street that is classified Collector. If none of the streets are classified minor or Collector, the curb cut may be taken off of a street that is classified Major. In order to promote the public safety and general welfare, the Public Works Director may grant waivers to this subsection. (Added by Ord. 3213 - 6/6/83)

SEC. 8.3-4 ACCESS WAY PAVEMENT, TURNING RADIUSES, AND CURB REPLACEMENT.

  1. Construction Standards.
     
    1. Materials. All access ways and curb cuts shall be constructed of Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) in accordance with Section 408-Portland Cement Concrete Pavement and Section 623-Portland Cement Concrete Driveway Pavement of the Standard-Specifica-tions for Road and Bridge Construction, latest edition, except the Public Works Director may waive this requirement where construction in the public way is reasonably foreseeable, or if the access way is from a non-concrete street. All concrete shall have six (6) bags of Portland Cement per cubic yard of concrete with a minimum of 3,500 pounds per square inch when tested at 14 days. In addition, all access ways and curb cuts shall meet the following standards:
       
      1. Single and Two-Family Uses. The Portland Cement Concrete access way to single or two-family uses or where no use is known or proposed in single and two-family zoning districts shall have a minimum thickness of six (6) inches. The existing sidewalk crossing the access way need not be removed; however, if it is removed, it must be removed to the nearest contraction joint outside the access way and replaced with concrete of the same thickness as the access way.
         
      2. To All Other Uses. Portland Cement Concrete access ways to all other uses and in all other zoning districts shall have a minimum thickness of six (6) inches. The existing sidewalk crossing the access way shall be removed to the nearest contraction joint outside the access way and replaced with concrete of the same thickness as the access way.
         
    2. Procedures. For agricultural and residential uses, the existing curb may be saw cut as shown in Figure 6 and removed. The new depressed curb must be placed in a workman-like manner as shown in Figure 6. If only the riser portion of the curb is removed, an expansion joint shall only be constructed between the sidewalk and the access way. For all uses except agricultural and residential, the entire curb and gutter shall be removed and replaced. The depressed curb and gutter replacement shall be a separate placement of concrete from the access way placement of concrete and there shall be an expansion joint separating the two placements. A second expansion joint shall be constructed between the sidewalk and the access way. The saw cut method as shown in Figure 6 can be used in lieu of complete removal and replacement at the discretion of the Public Works Director. (Amended 7/20/92 by Ord. 4072)
       
  2. Gutters and Culverts. Where no curb break is necessary and access ways are proposed, either a concrete gutter or culvert pipe shall be constructed in the manner shown in Figures 7 and 8. The maximum length of said culvert or gutter pipe shall be the same as the authorized curb cut, and the minimum size shall be fifteen (15) inches. (Amended 12/18/78)

SEC. 8.3-5 INSPECTIONS. Any person, firm, or corporation installing an access way through a curb break shall notify the Director of Public Works not less than twenty-four (24) hours prior to the placing of concrete on improved streets, so that the form inspection can be performed prior to the pouring of the concrete. An additional inspection shall be made after pouring of the concrete to insure conformance with the provisions of this Division.

SEC. 8.3-6 ILLUSTRATIVE FIGURES. See following figures.
(Entire Division 3 of Chapter 8 Amended 3/2/76)(Figure 6 Amended 7/20/92 by Ord. 4072)