Goal

Provide safe, comfortable, convenient, and connected pedestrian facilities for people of all ages and abilities within the project footprint.

Sustainability Linkage

Planning and designing for increased pedestrian activity supports all of the triple bottom line sustainability principles by improving the safety for all users, enhancing livability and quality of life in communities, improving access to economic and educational opportunities and essential services, supporting local businesses and economic development, promoting physical activity and public health, and reducing vehicle emissions.

Background & Scoring Requirements

Background

To receive credit for this criterion, the project must enhance existing pedestrian facilities or provide new pedestrian facilities that are context-sensitive and appropriate. Reconstruction of pedestrian facilities in kind when widening roadways and/or bridges does not meet the requirements of this criterion, although this is still encouraged.

Applicable Pedestrian Guidelines

Per the FHWA Memorandum: Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Design Flexibility¹ and the Questions & Answers about Design Flexibility for Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities², FHWA recommends a flexible approach to pedestrian facility design. FHWA’s Small Town and Rural Multimodal Networks³ and Achieving Multimodal Networks: Applying Design Flexibility and Reducing Conflicts⁴ address designing multimodal networks.  The AASHTO Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities⁵ is the primary national resource for planning, designing, and operating pedestrian facilities. The National Association of City Transportation Officials’ (NACTO) Urban Street Design Guide⁶, and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Designing Urban Walkable Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach⁷ guide builds upon the flexibilities provided in the AASHTO guide and can be used when designing safe and convenient pedestrian facilities. The NACTO guide does not supersede compliance with 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design⁸, the Public Rights‐Of‐Way Accessibility Guidelines⁹ (PROWAG), and The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways¹⁰ (MUTCD).

Qualifying Features

For pedestrian facilities to meet scoring requirements, improvements must be context sensitive and appropriate, go beyond minimum requirements, meet the needs of users of all ages and abilities, and include features that are safe, comfortable, convenient, and connected, such as those listed below.

• Examples of Safe and Comfortable  features include:
  • Increased sidewalk width – an increased width allows for pedestrian amenities without impeding on the walkway width and increases pedestrian comfort.
  • Improved intersection and midblock crossing design for pedestrians – such as countdown signal heads, leading pedestrian intervals, narrower lanes, pedestrian medians, pedestrian hybrid beacons, raised crosswalks, and curb extensions.
  • Trees – provide a physical buffer between pedestrians and moving vehicles, while also providing shade and potentially reducing traffic speeds.
  • Sufficient lighting on all sidewalks and crosswalks within the project footprint.
  • Landscaping, art, furniture, and social amenities (such as parklets, sidewalk cafes, and other gathering spaces) as appropriate to promote the use of the facilities and create a comfortable, pleasing facility.
• Examples of Convenient and Connected features include:
  • New facilities that connect to existing facilities in the vicinity as part of the project.
  • Infrastructure that connects homes to places of employment, schools, shopping, services, transit, and recreation areas.

Scoring Requirements

Prerequisite PD‐10.1P

0 Points. Meet ADA Requirements

Facilities must meet ADA requirements to receive credit. No credit is given for improvements and it is assumed that retrofits to existing facilities will bring them up to required ADA standards because it is required by law.

Requirement PD-10.1

1 point. Install Missing Pedestrian Connections

Review pedestrian master plans and other relevant local, regional, and state documents to determine if the project presents an opportunity to incorporate missing pedestrian connections AND fill gaps in the pedestrian network as part of the project.

Requirement PD-10.2

1-2 points. Install Safe, Comfortable, Convenient, and Connected Pedestrian Features

One of the following requirements may apply:

• Requirement PD-10.2a

1 point. Enhance Existing Pedestrian Facilities

Implement new or improve existing pedestrian facilities to include both safe and comfortable features and convenient and connected features. Current facilities do not qualify for this criterion without additional effort, such as upgrades, improvements, or construction of new features. The attempt to enhance pedestrian transportation should be deliberate and a direct result of the project. No points are earned for improvements and retrofits to bring existing facilities into ADA compliance. Examples of enhancements include curb extensions, pedestrian crossing islands, adding a landscaped buffer to an existing sidewalk, and making intersections safer and more comfortable to navigate on foot.

OR

• Requirement PD-10.2b

2 points. Develop New Pedestrian Facilities

Design and construct new pedestrian facilities that include both safe and comfortable features and convenient and connected features. New facilities include physical or constructed changes to the roadway structure, dimensions, or form that provide pedestrian access within the right-of-way (ROW) or roadway corridor. Examples include adding a pedestrian hybrid beacon to improve crossings, implementing a road diet that narrows crossing distances, or adding traffic calming elements to improve pedestrian safety. Reconstruction of facilities with the same features does not meet this requirement (e.g. widening road and replacing sidewalk, or constructing a new bridge with the same sidewalk as a prior bridge, etc.)

Resources

Above-Referenced Resources

The following resources are referenced in this criterion and consolidated here:

1. FHWA, Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Design Flexibility (2013), https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/guidance/design_flexibility.cfm
2. FHWA, Questions & Answers about Design Flexibility for Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities (2014), https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/guidance/design_flexibility_qa.cfm
3. FHWA, Small Town and Rural Multimodal Networks, December 2016, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/publications/small_towns/fhwahep17024_lg.pdf
4. FHWA, Achieving Multimodal Networks: Applying Design Flexibility and Reducing Conflicts, August 2016, https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/publications/multimoal_networks/fhwahep16055.pdf
5. AASHTO, Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities, First Edition (2004), https://bookstore.transportation.org/item_details.aspx?id=119
6. NACTO, Urban Street Design Guide (2013), https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/streets/   
7. ITE, Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach (2010), http://library.ite.org/pub/e1cff43c-2354-d714-51d9-d82b39d4dbad
8. United States Department of Justice, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design (2010), https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/2010ADAStandards/2010ADAStandards_prt.pdf
9. United States Access Board, Public Rights‐of‐Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) (2011), https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/streets-sidewalks/public-rights-of-way/proposed-rights-of-way-guidelines
10. FHWA, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (2009 with Revisions 1 and 2, May 2012), https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov

Additional Resources

The following resources provide information on this criterion topic in addition to the sources directly referenced:

11. FHWA, Bicycle & Pedestrian Design Guidance website (2015), https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/guidance/index.cfm
12. United States Access Board, Shared Use Paths Guidelines and Standards (2011)  at https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/streets-sidewalks/shared-use-paths
13. FHWA, PEDSAFE website, http://www.pedbikesafe.org/PEDSAFE/index.cfm

Case Studies & Criterion Examples

Scoring Sources

The project is considered to have met this criterion if the requirements above can be reasonably substantiated through the existence of one or more of the following documentation sources (or equal where not available):

1. Purpose and need or other planning documents addressing pedestrian access on the roadway project, including how it fits with existing land uses and/or existing General and Transportation Plans.
2. Results of public input on proposed pedestrian facilities, if any.
3. Contract documents showing enhanced pedestrian facilities incorporated.