Design & Engineering

Guidance

• Guidelines should address both the planning process and design considerations NCHRP Report 642: Quantifying the Benefits of Context Sensitive Solutions provides 15 guiding principles for context-sensitive solutions, including:iStamatiadis, Nikiforos; Kirk, Adam; Harman, Don; Hopwood, Theodore; Pigman, Jerry. NCHRP Report 642: Quantifying the Benefits of Context-Sensitive Solutions. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. June 30, 2009.

• Use interdisciplinary teams
• Involve stakeholders
• Seek broad-based public involvement
• Achieve consensus on purpose and need
• Address alternatives and all travel modes
• Consider a safe facility for users and community
• Maintain environmental harmony
• Address community and social issues
• Address aesthetic treatments and enhancements
• Consider designing roads to meet a target, or desired travel speed, rather than a ‘design speed,’ or essentially the maximum speed that can be maintained by the design features of the roadway.iFederal Highway Administration. Speed Concepts: Informational Guide. September 2009. Consider retrofitting roads to achieve those target speeds

Guidance

• Create a community advisory committee to meet regularly with guidelines staff during the creation of pedestrian-environment design guidelines
• Reach out to the general public for input through community meetings, surveys, and an interactive website
• Collaborate with technical agency staff to ensure feasibility of proposed guidelines
• Guidelines should:
  • Incorporate proposed Public Rights-of-Way- Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) to ensure universal access
  • Minimize pedestrian risk from vehicles
  • Address pedestrian concerns, like safety, lighting, shade, seating, and sidewalk clearances and crossings
  • Create safe public space and seating
  • Address ecological concerns, including on-site stormwater management and the creation of local habitats where feasible
  • Create safe access to transit

• Guidelines should address aesthetic and accessibility concerns simultaneously where feasible, as exemplified in these San Francisco Better Streets suggestions1San Francisco Planning Department. The Better Streets Plan. December 2010. 5-4. :
  • Add street trees, landscaping, stormwater facilities, and furnishings to:
  • Projects that dig up sidewalks
  • Traffic-calming projects
• Include curb extensions in curb-ramp construction projects
• Add pedestrian-oriented lighting when upgrading roadway lighting
• Consolidate utilities, parking meters, signs, and poles to widen sidewalk clearances on any streetscape-improvement project
• Include public art on projects that create new structures in the right-of-way

Guidance

• Travel-lane widths should not be based on the widest width allowable, but on the narrowest safe width
• Evaluate transit routes, the number and design of intersections along the corridor, the number of driveways, and operational characteristics before implementing a road diet
• Consider designing local streets that are too narrow for two full lanes to accommodate alternating two-way traffic
• Analyze and understand the effects of the proposed change, and obtain input from the community stakeholders
• Include contextual safety improvements in the project, such as intersection turn lanes, signing, pavement markings, signals or stop signs, transit stops, medians, sidewalk improvements, and bike lanes

Guidance

• Survey existing conditions
• Track and store existing sidewalk conditions, possibly using a geographic information system (GIS)
• Perform in-field assessments of existing conditions and existing ADA/PROWAG compliance
• Address need for safe and accessible street crossings between sidewalks
• Analyze sidewalk conditions in relation to census and land use data
• Determine appropriate sidewalk widths based on existing volumes of people and adjacent land uses. Zupan and Pushkarev posit sidewalk minimums in Urban Space for Pedestrians
• Prioritization criteria can include:
  • Potential demand (proximity to pedestrian attractors and corridor function)
  • Potential pedestrian risk (presence of physical buffers between moving traffic and pedestrians, traffic volumes, traffic speeds)
  • Existing sidewalk need (level of maintenance and ADA compliance)
  • Existing population need (health and socioeconomic levels of adjacent population)
• Solicit public input and discussion when creating a matrix to prioritize projects
• Consider alternative, cheaper sidewalk and street designs to achieve infrastructure- and stormwater-management goals
• Create a separate program for community requested safety and sidewalk improvements
• Install ADA and PROWAGiU.S. Access Board. Proposed Accessibility Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities in the Right of Way. July 2011. -compliant infrastructure

Guidance

• Conduct traffic analysis in terms of person delay rather than vehicle delay to better account for all the people on the road. The Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), which outlines the computational procedures for determining the capacity and quality of service of roadways and intersections, focuses primarily on vehicle delay. HCM does not account for the passenger-efficiency of buses. Any delay should be recalculated from the number of vehicles to the number of passengers traveling through the corridor
• Determine the appropriate design speed of transportation redesigns with the safety and convenience of pedestrians in mind
• Integrate transit priority elements into street redesigns. Complete streets often slow traffic, which improves overall street safety, but can negatively affect bus services on that street. Including bus lanes, signal priority, and other bus-focused elements can ensure that these projects also promote transit use.
• Design safe, convenient infrastructure for the entire door-to-door transit-trip passenger experience, including the routes between the transit stop, stops for travel in both directions (including street crossings), the location of the transit stop, the method of payment, and the transit vehicle itself
• Incorporate Public Rights-of-Way-Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) to ensure universal access throughout the infrastructure improvements
• Expand the concept of Complete Streets to the network; consider modes by network and routes rather than requiring every mode to be located on the same street

Guidance

• Begin by building support among a diverse set of stakeholders
• Consult with all relevant stakeholders, including emergency services, police, local residents, transportation and public-health professionals, and driver organizations throughout all project stages
• Create a public-involvement process to incorporate residents’ input on the type and location of proposed traffic-calming measures
• Establish a 20 mph speed limit across a district and not just an individual road iDepartment for Transport. Local Transport Note 01/07. Traffic Calming. March 2007. 34.
• Each zone entrance should have signs showing clearly that drivers are entering a reduced speed zone
• Install appropriately designed traffic measures at regular intervals about 200’ apart iDepartment for Transport. Local Transport Note 01/07. Traffic Calming. March 2007. 36.
• Coordinate signal timing to move vehicles in a slow, steady pace
• Install traffic-calming measures systematically, such as:iO‘Fallon, Carolyn; Sullivan, Charles. Slow zones: their impact on mode choices and travel behavior. NZ Transport Agency research report 438. March 2011.
  • Vertical measures: raised intersections, speed tables, speed humps
  • Horizontal measures: curb extensions, chicanes, and realigned intersections
  • Road narrowing: gateways, curb extensions, reduced pavement or lane width, and intersection narrowing
• Accompany traffic-calming measures with plantings or street furniture to distinguish the roadway treatments, create a more walkable area, and encourage lower speedsiO‘Fallon, Carolyn; Sullivan, Charles. Slow zones: their impact on mode choices and travel behavior. NZ Transport Agency research report 438. March 2011.
• Incorporate Public Rights-of-Way-Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) to ensure universal access in traffic-calming treatments
• Create a public-service education campaign to reduce vehicle speeds
• Measure crash data and vehicle speeds before and after implementation to demonstrate the benefits of speed zonesiDepartment for Transport. Local Transport Note 01/07. Traffic Calming. March 2007. 35.

Guidance

• Analyze existing and proposed traffic conditions
• Communicate and coordinate with local stakeholders for their support and design input throughout the design and planning process
• Implement traffic changes using temporary materials to test the performance of plaza space so that redesign changes can be made or removed before investing resources to construct a capital project
• Be sure the design of plazas or public space considers the needs of people with disabilities, including defining the space in a manner that is identifiable and detectable by pedestrians who are blind
• Partner with a local organization or city department to provide ongoing maintenance and programming for the new public space
• Provide movable street furniture and additional greenery where possible
• Continually monitor before and after conditions for traffic and safety impacts, economic impacts, and real estate values in and around the project

Guidance

Exhaust at-grade solutions first, as those are often more walkable and less expensive

Locate bridges so that they are on the normal path of pedestrian travel with the least amount of vertical difference possible

Connect bridges to current or future pedestrian/bicyclist destinations, like transit hubs, parks, schools, job centers, arenas, and neighborhoods

Design logical, direct, clearly marked access points to and from the bridge

Provide access options for different modes and mobility levels, such as ADA ramps and stairs with a bike gutter

Retrofit nearby routes and intersections to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists

Design bridges wide enough for expected numbers of pedestrians and cyclists

Incorporate PROWAG into design elements

Provide adequate lighting for safety and security of bridge users

Consider screens to prevent falling debris

Provide at least an 8’ clearance for emergency or maintenance vehicles

Budget for ongoing maintenance

Guidance

• Interest communities and cities in redesign possibilities with a public visioning meeting, design charette, or design competition
• Work with business improvement districts; since pedestrian-friendly environments see higher retail profits, use funds for street restructuring
• Create mid-block neckdowns and crosswalks
• Create safe crossings with signals or medians
• Narrow roadways wherever traffic volumes and safety allow
• Build pedestrian crossing islands
• Widen medians into transit stops and/or landscape the median
• Widen sidewalks where needed or desired
• Plant street trees to act as a buffer between pedestrians and traffic
• Construct a buffered bicycle path or shareduse greenway
• Consolidate and minimize the number of driveways to reduce turning conflicts
• Program temporary uses in parking lots at offpeak hours
• Create pocket parks in open or vacant space between retail buildings
• Connect pocket parks on one side of the street to the other through crosswalks, midblock chokes, and medians
• Rezone adjacent land uses for denser development

Guidance

• Create pocket parks in open or vacant
• Clearly state data-collection goals both internally and to the general public
• Establish a tailored data-collection methodology that reflects local needs and counts both systematic and peak uses of walking infrastructure
• Consider incorporating cost-reducing strategies such as
  • Installing automated pedestrian-counting technology like infrared and video counts (e.g., Eco-Counter and Miovision),
  • Using volunteers
  • Integrating nonmotorized modes into existing vehicular data collectioniSchneider, Robert; Patton, Robert; Toole, Jennifer; Raborn, Craig. Pedestrian and Bicycle Data Collection in United States Communities: Quantifying Use, Surveying Users, and Documenting Facility Extent. Federal Highway Administration. January 2005. 4.

• Assign dedicated staff or a project manager to set up data-collection equipment, staff locations, tabulate results, and share findings
• Supplement automatic count data with
  • Manual counts
  • 24-hour counts at select locations and dates to show infrastructure use
  • Origin/destination surveys
  • GIS census analysis to identify factors that influence bicycling and walkingiNational Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project.
  • Models to extrapolate pedestrian volumes across a larger geographical distribution
  • Collect and analyze data on a regular basis
• Publicly publish the results

Guidance

• Create a public-outreach process to solicit and incorporate the perspectives of residents, business owners, advocacy groups, and other stakeholders
• Create walking audits with numbered evaluations of criteria that can supplement or be added to pedestrian LOS evaluations
• Include standard categories of pedestrian LOS evaluation, such as:
  • Directness
  • Continuity
  • Street crossings
  • Visual interest and amenities in walking areas and adjacent land uses
  • Security
  • Physical conditions of paths or sidewalks
• Vary evaluation techniques by:
  • Analysis scope (citywide, neighborhood, district)
  • Evaluation category
  • Whether a proposed development is project-or site-specific
• Consider adjusting thresholds for criteria based on the specific pedestrian needs of defined areas or area types (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.)
• Require that traffic-impact studies for significant developments include a pedestrian-impact assessment using this pedestrian LOS criteria

Guidance

• Calculate person delay by multiplying the highway capacity software-derived volumes for each vehicle type by vehicle occupancy (e.g., bus passengers), and then by the intersection-based average vehicle delay in each lane group
• In the absence of bus-lane delay calculation in Highway Capacity Software, measure delay from the right-turn lane, since right turns originate from the bus lane in a typical configuration
• Multiply person delay for people traveling in cars using the average vehicle occupancy of cars in that corridor; work trips are about 1.1 or 1.2 people per vehicle while other trip types are closer to 2.0

Guidance

Install no-parking signs to mark the existence and length of no-parking zones

Daylight at least 20′ (about one parking space) from the crosswalk at the near and far side of the intersection on urban streets with 20–30 mph speed limitsiAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. 2004. 52

Daylight at least 50′ (about two parking spaces) in advance of crosswalks at each intersection approach on streets with 35–45 mph speed limitsiAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. 2004. 52

Daylight at least 30′ in advance of each signal, stop sign, or yield signiAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. 2004. 52

Prohibit drivers from standing or parking vehicles at the curb within 20′ of a crosswalk at an intersection or within 30′ of any signal, stop or yield sign, or traffic-control signaliFederal Highway Administration. 56. Remove/Restrict Parking. Other Measures. n.d.

Evaluate impacts of daylighting by collecting crash data

Guidance

Construct a 10–15’ plateau 2–3” shorter than sidewalk level with straight 6’ ramps on either side

Consider drainage: relocate catch basins, install trench drains or drainage pipes where necessary

Install ADA ramps and detectable warnings (truncated domes) at the street edge for people with vision impairments

Incorporate proposed PROWAG accessibility guidelines into design

Highlight crosswalks with smooth, colored roadway surface materials rather than textured materials to ensure universal access

Evaluate impacts of daylighting by collecting crash data

Guidance

• Provide pedestrian crossing islands through the crosswalk where medians are present or space exists
• Build islands at least 4’ in width (preferably 8’) and of adequate length and width for the anticipated number of pedestriansiFederal Highway Administration Office of Safety. Proven Safety Countermeasures. Medians and Pedestrian Crossing Islands in Urban and Suburban Areas.
• Design islands with level cut-through foot paths for ADA accessibility
• Provide detectable warnings (truncated domes) at each edge of the island cutthrough area for ADA accessibility
• Highlight islands with signs, striping, and reflector

Guidance

• The crosswalk offset can be a right angle or skewed depending on site conditions
• Design islands with level cut-through foot paths for better ADA accessibility
• Provide detectable warnings (truncated domes) at the each edge of the island cutthrough area for better ADA accessibility
• Include a section of parallel curbing that is aligned with the direction of the crosswalk to redirect a blind or visually impaired pedestrian

Guidance

• For continental, or ladder markings, stripe the longitudinal lines within between 12” to 24” in width and separated by gaps of 12” to 60”iNational Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Markings No. 1. January 2011.
• For bar pair markings, stripe two 8” stripes separated by 8” to form a 24” wide bar pair. Separate pairs by gaps of 24” to 60”iNational Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Markings No. 1. January 2011.
• Some pedestrians with low vision prefer ladder markings, which help them follow the crosswalk better, particularly where bar pairs are widely separated
• Place markings to avoid the wheel paths of cars
• Extend crosswalks to the edges of the roadway or intersecting crosswalk
• Stripe crosswalks to encompass curb ramps
• Use inlay tape and thermoplastic tape rather than paint: Inlay tape works for new and resurfaced pavement; thermoplastic works for rougher surfacesiPedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Crosswalks. n.d.
• Avoid using contrasting materials like brick to create higher visibility. These materials cost much more to maintain, but are not highly visible—particularly at night, in the rain, and over time as they lose contrast with the surrounding street

Guidance

• Use Livewire or Bluetooth technology to set up and adjust the detection area without having to physically create or adjust zone boundariesiTraffic Technology International. August/September 2011. 94.
• Integrate ADA/PROWAG requirements into design elements, including ramp grades
• Provide adequate passing space around the waiting detection area on the sidewalk
• Clearly indicate the waiting and crossing detection zones for pedestrians
• Install accessible pedestrian signals to provide the signal information to pedestrians who are blind or visually impaired
• Provide nighttime lighting to increase pedestrian visibility and detector accuracy
• Encourage pedestrian compliance through signals that respond within a matter of seconds to a pressed button or detected pedestrian, especially in school zonesiFederal Highway Administration Office of Safety. Safer Journey: Interactive Pedestrian Safety Awareness Library. 1998.

Guidance

• Install RRFBs in conjunction with regulatory/ warning signs and markers except for Stop, Do Not Enter, Wrong Way, and Speed Limit signsiFederal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. December 2009. 523.
• Keep RRFBs unlit when there are no pedestrians present
• Install an accompanying regulatory sign that says “when flashing”
• Activate RRFBs by manual push buttons or automated passive-pedestrian detection
• Use solar panel units to power RRFBs
• Install devices with push button locator tones and an audible message that states “yellow lights are flashing” to meet ADA / PROWAG guidelines
• Install RRFBs at medians as well as roadside locations for increased driver visibility and yielding

Guidance

• Conduct public-outreach campaigns to teach pedestrians and drivers how to use and react to the signal
• Install accessible pedestrian signals so the crossing is accessible to pedestrians who are blind or visually impaired

Guidance

• Stop lines should not be used where drivers are supposed to yield
• Lines should be solid white lines extending across approach lanes
• Stop lines should be 12″–24” wideiFederal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Section 3B.16. December 2009. 381.
• Stop lines should be placed a minimum of 4’ before the crosswalk at controlled intersections—ideally 10’ before the crosswalkiFederal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Section 3B.16. December 2009. 381.
• In the absence of a marked crosswalk, the stop line should be placed at the desired stopping point, 4′–30’ from the nearest edge of the intersecting roaiFederal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Section 3B.16. December 2009. 381.
• On multilane approaches, stop lines may be staggered longitudinally on a lane-bylane basis to improve the driver’s view of pedestrians, provide better sight distance for turning vehicles, and increase the turning radius for left-turning vehicles

Guidance

• Install in a location where it does not conflict with traffic patterns or encroach into a travel lane: at the crosswalk on the centerline, on a lane line, or on a median island, but not postmounted on the left-hand or right-hand side of the roadway
• Install in a location where it does block pedestrian traffic in the crosswalk
• Install in areas with low volumes of turningtruck traffic or in medians
• Install in narrower roadways to maximize visibility of the signs
• Design the sign support to bend over and then bounce back to its normal vertical position when struck by a vehicle
• Be consistent with state regulations, whether drivers must yield or stop to pedestrians in unsignalized crossings
• Make the sign reflective if it’s left in place 24 hours a day

Guidance

• The LPI should be at least 3 seconds long (NYC standard is 6 seconds) and timed to allow pedestrians to cross at least one lane of traffic before turning traffic is given the green signaliFederal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Section 4E.06. December 2009. 499
• Prohibit turns across the crosswalk during the leading pedestrian interval
• Install accessible pedestrian signalsiFederal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Section 4E.06. December 2009. 499

Guidance

• Integrate the addition or upgrades of accessible pedestrian signals into routine signal maintenance and streetscape projects
• At locations with lots of foot traffic, time pedestrian phases to come up automatically and keep signal cycles short (ideally 90 seconds maximum)
• Follow the location, design, and maintenance requirements of accessible pedestrian signals as detailed in the proposed PROWAG guidelines and APS Guide to Best Practices, which include some of the following:
  • Accessible pedestrian signal shall provide both audible and vibrotactile indications of the walk interval
  • Preferred locations are on two separated poles located within 5’ of the crosswalk line farthest from the center of the intersection
  • Preferred audible walk indication is a rapid ticking sound
  • If two accessible pedestrian push buttons are placed less than 10’ apart or on the same pole, accessible pedestrian push button shall be provided with the following
    • A push button locator tone
    • A tactile arrow
    • A speech walk message for the walk indication
    • A speech push button information message
  • The accessible walk indication shall have the same duration as the pedestrian walk signal except if the pedestrian signal rests in walk
  • In areas with large numbers of senior citizens, post a high-contrast raised-print or largeprint sign of the street name that the push button controls
  • Push buttons should confirm that a pressed button/request for crossing has been received with a “wait” message and a light

Guidance

• Reach out to community stakeholders to discuss pedestrian-safety concerns and potential ways to address them, including NRTOR
• With the community’s support, clearly sign the entrance and exits to NRTOR zones to clarify expected behaviors of drivers and pedestrians

Guidance

• Use a five-section signal head with a combination of circular and arrow indicationsiFederal Highway Administration. Signalized Intersections. 2004. 67.
• For permissive-only right-turn modes (where pedestrians continue to cross while car are permitted to turn), program the turn arrow to flash yellow to indicate to drivers that they must yield to pedestrians in the crosswalkiFederal Highway Administration. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices on Streets and Highways. Section 4D.04. December 2009.
• For protected-only right-turn modes (where pedestrians and turning cars have separate signal phases), program the turn arrow to a steady green arrow

Guidance

• Install accessible pedestrian signals