---
title: "Frontage / Service Road"
url: "https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/local-streets/frontage-service-road/"
id: "LOC-FSR-04"
description: "A Local Typology running parallel to a faster Arterial or Freeway, keeping pedestrians and cyclists separated from that higher-speed traffic."
updated: "2026-09-26"
---

# Frontage / Service Road

`LOC-FSR-04`

Recommended Local

Frontage / Service Road

A Local street running alongside a higher-speed Arterial or Freeway, giving property access and slower-mode movement a lane physically separated from the through traffic next to it.

Typical at: Rural Suburban Compact Urban

Undeveloped and Core are edge cases.

## Speed and modal hierarchy

Design speed & speed limit

\[SPEED LIMIT 20\]

Follows the Local default: 20 mph hard maximum, no exceptions, even where this road runs alongside a higher-speed Arterial or Freeway.

See [Design Speed & Speed Limits](https://commonwaysystem.org/guide/design-speed.md).

Modal hierarchy

Pedestrian > Bicycle > Transit > Vehicle > Freight

Follows the Local base order. Flagged for confirmation rather than fully locked.

## Design notes

The safety rationale is separation, not speed: keeping people walking and biking off a roadway designed for faster through traffic.[1] This is the Local-scale companion to the Arterial safety rule that access needs are served by a separate road rather than mixed into through lanes.

## Related patterns

[Default (No Parking, No Direct Property Access)](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/arterials/default.md) (ART-DEF-01) (the Arterial-scale rule this pattern serves as the Local-scale companion to), [Stroad (Commercial Arterial)](https://commonwaysystem.org/patterns/arterials/stroad.md) (ART-STD-05) (the Avoid pattern that results when this separation isn't provided)

## References

1.  Legal / regulatory [AASHTO, _A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets_.](https://store.transportation.org/Item/PublicationDetail?ID=4127)