Agenda - Public Works Committee - 08/21/2018

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R206 Pedestrian Crossings (technical provisions at R305). This draft omits a provision in the June 2002 draft that would have required 2.4 m-wide (8 ft) markings at crosswalks. The MUTCD minimum of 1.8 m (6 ft) has been proposed at 305.2.1 of this draft. Measurements on which pedestrian signal phase timing are based have been modified in response to industry comment. Calculations now proposed in R305.3 in the current draft would require the distance to be the full street width and the pedestrian walking speed to be 1.1 m/s (3.5 fps). The June 2002 draft also proposed that the approaches to overpasses and underpasses be provided with elevators where the grade change was 1.5 m (5 ft) or greater. Both industry and persons with disabilities opposed this requirement with persons with disabilities expressing a preference for ramps, even if lengthy, to ensure the availability of a crossing. Elevators in single installations provide no access at all when out of service. Industry expressed concerns about cost and maintenance requirements. The current draft applies ramp provisions at R305.5 (but permits elevators, LULAs, and lifts). Newly available research and the comments of both industry and consumer representatives confirm the Access Board's concerns about the usability of pedestrian crossings at roundabouts and channelized turn lanes. However, access to additional data has indicated that well -designed roundabouts and channelized turn lanes with single -lane crossings can provide cues that make non -visual use possible. Accordingly, this draft (R305.6.2) provides that signals (including accessible pedestrian signal features) be required only at multi -lane pedestrian crossings of roundabouts. The Board does not prescribe the signal operation here and has proposed that FHWA conduct research to identify appropriate technologies. Two -head signals that flash amber, then flash red and go to steady red, are in use in Australia and the United Kingdom. US motorists are familiar with pre-emptive signals installed for emergency vehicles. Utah has at least one roundabout that uses standard railway gates across the roadway when light rail cars pass through the roundabout. The Board believes that the occasional use of a properly -designed pedestrian demand signal may actually reduce delay at pedestrian crossings. R207 Curb Ramps and Blended Transitions (technical provisions at R303). Additional text, advisory, and illustrations have been added to this draft to describe curb ramp types (perpendicular, parallel, and their combination) and to distinguish them from blended transitions, for which a definition has now been provided at R105. Blended transitions are connections between the PAR and the street that have a running slope of 1:20 or less. Level landings, gently sloped transitions, and raised crosswalks fall into this category. Parallel and perpendicular curb ramps have a running slope between 1:20 and 1:12 (steeper slopes are not permitted in new construction). Non -visual wayfinding cues can be provided by the orientation of curb ramps, particularly if they are in -line with the path of pedestrian travel along a sidewalk. Curb ramps installed at tangent points rather than on the corner radius provide more usable cues and locate the shortest crossing point. The Access Board is collaborating with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) on a project to standardize sidewalk/ramp/crossing schemes for optimal non -visual cuing based 9