TxDOT’s functional and context classification system describes the general characteristics of the land use, development patterns, and roadway connectivity along a highway. These elements serve as indicators for the type of users that will likely utilize the roadway so that designers can optimize the roadway design. The system provides additional contexts beyond urban, rural, and suburban and facilitates modes of travel other than the automobile (e.g. bicycles, pedestrians, transit, and freight).

Functional classification is a federally-mandated categorization of roadways based on the level of traffic service and degree of access they provide. Updates to functional classifications are evaluated collaboratively by the TPP Division, TxDOT Districts, MPOs, and FHWA staff and can occur on an as-needed basis as roadways are constructed and/or expanded.

Context classification provides the roadway designer with an understanding of the function of the roadway within its current and expected future context and the needs of the potential roadway users. The use of an expanded functional classification system (FCS) that incorporates additional contextual definitions provides a more dynamic range of design elements and guidance needed to balance competing project needs in addition to mobility and access.

The use of context classification in addition to functional classification, to determine criteria for roadway design elements is consistent with national best practices and direction, including the and . This guidance has been developed to provide a flexible framework, in addition to the existing functional classification of roadways, to facilitate optimal geometric design solutions that take into account the environmental context, road functions, and user needs. The principal objective of the expanded functional and context classification system is providing enhanced information to designers to better inform the design decision process beyond previous methods.

Proper contextual roadway designs require an understanding of the function of the roadway within its current and expected future context and the needs of the potential roadway users. The guidance included in this chapter provides an explanation and proposed methodology for use of the expanded functional classification system.

One of the first steps in project scoping is to prepare a “Purpose and Need Statement” for the project and to determine where the project falls in the design framework shown in .

This guidance incorporates the framework for geometric design based primarily on:

Note: The shaded cell, representing a freeway in a rural town context, is unlikely to occur.