• Introduction to Safe Routes to School: the Health, Safety and Transportation Nexus
• Steps to Creating a Safe Routes to School Program
• Engineering
  • Guiding Principles for Applying Safe Routes to School Engineering Solutions
  • What's Wrong With This Picture?
  • School Route Maps and the Tools to Create Them
  • Around the School
  • Along the School Route
  • Crossing the Street
  • Slowing Down Traffic
  • Resources
  • References
• Enforcement
• Encouragement
• Education
• Student Drop-off and Pick-up
• Evaluation
• Media and Visibility
• Case Studies

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Universal Design and Access

The purpose of universal design is to provide an environment that is equally accessible and comfortable for users of all abilities and ages, including children. To help ensure access for all, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Sidewalks and other pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way are subject to the requirements of the ADA. In 2004 the U.S. Access Board released the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities. These guidelines contain scoping and technical requirements for accessibility to sites, facilities and buildings by all users. Much of the information on walkway and street design contained in the ADA –ABA guidelines are contained in the 1999 Accessible Rights-of-Way: A Design Guide. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) documentDesigning Sidewalks and Trails for Access also provides detailed guidance on the design of pedestrian facilities that can be used as a supplement to the ADA-ABA guidelines.

Curb Ramps

Curb ramps should be perpendicular wherever possible, where each corner has two ramps installed perpendicular to the face of the curb (vs. a single ramp facing diagonally into the intersection). A big advantage of having two ramps at the corner and small curb radii is that the curb ramps can lead directly along the line of travel. ADA guidelines recommend two curb ramps at every intersection, one for each roadway to be crossed, rather than one curb ramp in the center. Two ramps guide pedestrians into the crosswalk rather than into the middle of the intersection. Two ramps which end at the crosswalk also provide directional guidance to pedestrians with vision impairments. When a corner is retrofit with new curb ramps, the crosswalk markings may have to be moved so that the curb ramp fully aligns within the crosswalk.

Warning Strips

Truncated domes are the standard design requirement for detectable warnings on curb ramps and at transitions from sidewalks to street crossings. These small, flattened domes provide a surface that is distinguishable underfoot and by cane. ADA guidelines require the use of a truncated dome warning strip at the bottom of every newly constructed curb ramp. These domes provide a tactile warning to pedestrians with a visual impairment who would otherwise be given warning by the presence of a curb. The truncated dome tactile strip should be two feet deep for the entire width of the ramp and should have a contrasting color with the adjacent sidewalk. There are different materials and construction methods that can be used to provide the truncated dome tactile warning strip at the base of the curb ramp.

Driveway Design

Properly designed driveways, as they cross sidewalks, can enhance pedestrian safety by providing a consistent surface and reminding drivers that they are crossing a sidewalk. The following principles should be applied to driveway design;

• The sidewalk continues across the driveway at the same elevation or ‘level’, and
• The driveway apron does not go through the sidewalk.

Ramps may be necessary at intersections when pedestrians cross the street, but the rest of the sidewalk network should be continuous and at one level. At driveways, there is no need to break the sidewalk network. Driveways should not look like intersections. Radius driveway designs, like the one pictured here, encourage higher turning speeds and makes it less likely that the motorists will yield to pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Providing a level, continuous sidewalk not only brings the sidewalk up to the standards of universal access for persons in wheelchairs but also changes driver behavior. The driver exiting or entering the driveway is more aware that they are crossing a sidewalk, will proceed more slowly and is more likely to stop. Wing type driveways, see illustration, also cause slower turning movements.

Alternative driveway designs for constrained spaces can be used. When there is not room for a full driveway apron, some alternative driveway designs can still comfortably maintain the level pedestrian pathway across the driveway. This will avoid cross-slope problems for wheelchair users.

Fewer driveways and narrower driveway crossings will provide for improved pedestrian safety for children, especially for busy commercial zones. School walking routes should keep busy driveway crossings to a minimum. If young students are required to cross a busy school driveway, an adult should be assigned to monitor or direct the students at the driveway.