Consent Calendar item - 11.d.4
Adoption of a Resolution Approving the Establishment of a Crosswalk on South College Drive
Good evening mayor and city council. I am Geoffrey Wheeler, a teacher, mechanical engineer and bicyclist and pedestrian advocate. Consent Calendar item – 11.d.4 asks you to approve a crosswalk. This is a good idea and the location is OK; the diagonal ADA curb ramps are not. I recommend that you send this back to staff to update our standard for ADA (that stands for Americans with Disabilities Act) curb ramps. The appropriate standard to use is commonly referred to as PROWAG (That is, Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines). Our city’s ADA ramp standard specifies single diagonal ramps that point to the center of an intersection.
Diagonal ramps are undesirable because:
Wheel chair users, walker frame users and mothers with baby strollers must step out further into the street before turning in the direction they want to go.
Landing requirements on the street surface require a larger corner radius.
Motorists cannot tell which direction a pedestrian will walk.
Directional cues are not provided for pedestrians with visual disabilities.
PROWAG specifies 2 ramps, one for each direction of travel. This gives directional cues to visually impaired pedestrians. And it clearly lets motorists know which direction a pedestrian is walking. They’re also more convenient for all pedestrians.
A two-ramp design allows for a reduced corner radius (that is a sharper corner). A reduced corner radius reduces the crossing distance and the time and space a pedestrian could be struck by a motorist. It also reduces the time a motorist must wait for a pedestrian to cross. It also reduces the area of pavement that the city must construct and maintain. It increases the area for parking cars. A reduced corner radius makes a motorist slow down which improves safety for everyone.
Please send this back to staff for improvement to our city ADA ramp standard. This will make our streets safer for everyone.
Thank you!
References:
• Types of Curb Ramps
• #NewtownPA's Problematic ADA Diagonal Curb Ramps
• The need for reduced radii curbs:
• Accessible Pedestrian Route Design 16:49
• The advantages of reduced curb return radii
• PedBikeInfo DPS: Intersection Geometry 9-9-2010
• Caltrans DESIGN INFORMATION BULLETIN (DIB) 82-06, Pedestrian Accessibility Guidelines for Highway Projects November 19, 2017