---
title: "All-Way Stop"
url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/intersections/all-way-stop/"
id: "INT-AWS-04"
description: "A stop-controlled intersection where every approach stops, tapering off past Compact and Urban density as volumes exceed safe stop-control capacity."
updated: "2026-09-10"
---

# All-Way Stop

`INT-AWS-04`

Situational / Discouraged Intersections & Crossings

All-Way Stop

An intersection where every approach carries a stop sign, with right-of-way determined by arrival order.

Typical at: Suburban Compact

Rural and Urban are edge cases. Undeveloped and Core are unlikely pairings.

## Design notes

All-Way Stop tapers off past Compact and Urban density, as intersection volumes exceed what stop control can handle safely. This is the same taper logic that applies to Stop/Yield control, just shifted one tier higher on the density range.[1]

## Related patterns

[Stop / Yield (Two-Way)](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/intersections/stop-yield.md) (INT-SYD-05) (explicitly named on this page as sharing the same density-taper logic, one tier lower), [Neighborhood Traffic Circle / Mini-Roundabout](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/elements/neighborhood-traffic-circle-mini-roundabout.md) (ELM-NTC-46) (a control type this pattern sometimes replaces at a Local intersection)

## References

1.  Legal / regulatory [Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 11th Edition with Revision 1 (FHWA, December 2025; effective March 5, 2026), Section 2B.13-2B.17.](https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/11th_Editionr1/mutcd11theditionr1hl.pdf)