The Master Thoroughfare Plan (MTP) is the long-range plan for major transportation facilities in the city of Fort Worth.
The MTP is not targeted to a specific point in the future, but is intended to accommodate the ultimate development of the city’s thoroughfare network. It is a right-of-way preservation document, allowing the orderly development of a network necessary to support the city’s growth plans. Future thoroughfare alignments are conceptual, long-term, and general in nature. The current MTP was adopted by the Fort Worth City Council on May 3, 2016 (M&C G-18729; Ordinance No. 22191-05-2016) and updated on November 10, 2020 (M&C-G-20-0819; Ordinance No. 24524-11-2020).
What is a Thoroughfare?
In general, for the purposes of the MTP, thoroughfares are major roads, known as arterials. These roadways are used for moderate-length to long trips and moderate to high traffic volumes, and typically connect with interstate and state highway systems. However, thoroughfares can also include shorter, moderate-volume roadways that provide important connectivity for the city (such as downtown streets), or that carry large amounts of trucks (such as industrial streets).
MTP Vision, Goals, Objectives
MTP Vision Statement: Provide a complete and connected, context-sensitive transportation system for all users that supports mobility, healthy living and economic benefit.
This vision is supported by the three goals, each with a set of objectives. Ultimately, the MTP attempts to balance these goals in the following ways:
- Mobility: The MTP includes a network of thoroughfares to provide citywide transportation connectivity and capacity.
- Safety: The MTP includes street cross-sections that encourage moderate automobile speeds and provide safe accommodations for non-motorized transportation modes.
- Opportunity: The MTP includes future transportation facilities serving planned growth areas.
The MTP is grounded in a Complete Streets and Context Sensitive philosophy that supports all transportation users, includes appropriately sized roads, and reflects the surrounding context of each transportation facility. This includes an increased emphasis on Active Transportation (walking and cycling) compared to previous plans. The MTP’s Complete Streets approach to Active Transportation is two-pronged:
- Providing basic connectivity and accessibility by including accessible Active Transportation elements in each street cross-section with an eye toward building a citywide network
- Focusing on safety and comfort by: narrowing street widths wherever possible (to facilitate pedestrian crossings), buffering people walking and biking from automobile traffic where appropriate, and providing space for streetscape elements (such as trees) to calm traffic and provide a more comfortable user experience.
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Access Management
Access management is the coordinated planning, regulation, and design of access to and from roadways, with the goal of improving the safety and operation of the City's street network. An effective access management program can reduce crashes, increase roadway capacity, and reduce travel time delay. The Access Management Policy includes requirements for driveway, intersection, street, and median-opening spacings, auxiliary turn lanes, and joint- and cross-access. The policy also provides guidance on application to legal non-conforming access, and provides an administrative review process and flexibility for constrained development sites. The Access Management Policy was adopted by the Fort Worth City Council on June 5, 2018 (M&C G-19287 Ordinance No. 23225-06-2018 with an effective date of August 1, 2018.
Collector Network Planning
As the City of Fort Worth continues to grow and land is subdivided for development, it is essential to provide a balanced network of local and collector streets to avoid traffic congestion on thoroughfares. Without a supporting street system, all local trips are forced onto a few major streets, resulting in significant traffic delays and driver frustration. Collectors are the tributaries of the local transportation network, collectors provide critical connections throughout the network and bridge the gap between local streets and the thoroughfares of a community.
Reasonable connectivity of the local street network is also important. Fragmented street systems impede emergency access and increase the number and length of individual trips. Residential street systems must be designed in a manner that discourages “through” traffic, without eliminating connectivity.
The Subdivision Ordinance amendment was adopted by the Fort Worth City Council on June 5, 2018 (M&C G-19287 Ordinance No. 23225-06-2018 with an effective date of August 1, 2018.