36 CFR Part 1190, Proposed Accessibility Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
Baseline
All state transportation departments and most local transportation departments maintain design manuals and standard drawings for improvements in the public right-of-way. The local transportation department design manuals and standard drawings are generally consistent with their state transportation department design manuals and standard drawings. State and local transportation departments use publications issued by the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in their design manuals and standard drawings, including the “Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets” (2004) (commonly referred to as the “AASHTO Green Book”) and the “Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Pedestrian Facilities” (2004) which incorporate accessibility in the design of sidewalks and other pedestrian facilities.49 The Federal Highway Administration as part of its stewardship and oversight responsibilities has also worked with state transportation departments to incorporate accessibility in their design manuals and standards drawings. The Federal Highway Administration has issued guidance that the accessibility standards in the Department of Justice regulations implementing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Department of Transportation regulations implementing Section 504 are to be used to the extent feasible for the design of pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way until new accessibility standards are adopted for these facilities.
In the absence of the proposed guidelines, the regulatory assessment assumes that state and local transportation departments will use the DOJ 2010 Standards in the Department of Justice regulations implementing Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act to the extent feasible when designing, constructing, or altering pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way, consistent with the guidance issued by the Federal Highway Administration, as well as other applicable standards and industry practices. An analysis of the proposed guidelines compared to the DOJ 2010 Standards, other applicable standards, and industry practices is included in the appendix to the regulatory assessment. The analysis identified four requirements in the proposed guidelines that will have more than minimal impacts on state and local transportation departments. The factors used to identify whether the requirements in the proposed guidelines will have more than minimal impacts are discussed in the regulatory assessment and in the preamble under Impacts on State and Local Governments. The four requirements in the proposed guidelines that will have more than minimal impacts on state and local transportation departments are summarized in the table below, along with a description of the governmental units affected by proposed requirements and questions in the preamble to the proposed guidelines that seek additional information on the governmental units affected.
| Requirements in Proposed Guidelines That Will Have More Than Minimal Impacts on State and Local Transportation Departments | |
| Requirement | Governmental Units Affected |
| Detectable warning surfaces required on newly constructed and altered curb ramps and blended transitions at pedestrian street crossings (R208.1 and R305) | Will affect state and local transportation departments that do not currently provide detectable warning surfaces on curb ramps
All state transportation departments currently specify detectable warning surfaces on curb ramps in their standard drawings; most local transportation departments maintain standard drawings that are consistent with standard drawings maintained by their state transportation departments Questions 4, 5, and 6 in preamble seek information on state and local transportation departments that do not currently provide detectable warning surfaces on curb ramps |
| Accessible pedestrian signals and pushbuttons required when pedestrian signals newly installed or replaced at signalized intersections (R209) | Will affect state and local transportation departments that do not currently provide accessible pedestrian signals and pedestrian pushbuttons when pedestrian signals are newly installed or replaced at signalized intersections
Some state and local transportation departments currently provide accessible pedestrian signals and pedestrian pushbuttons when pedestrian signals are newly installed or replaced at signalized intersections; TEA−21 (23 U.S.C. 217 (g)) directed that audible traffic signals be included in transportation plans and projects where appropriate Question 9 in preamble seeks information on state and local transportation departments that currently provide accessible pedestrian signals and pedestrian pushbuttons when pedestrian signals are newly installed or replaced at signalized intersections |
| Maximum cross slope of 2 percent required on pedestrian access routes, including within pedestrian street crossings with yield or stop control (R204.3 and R302.6) | Will affect state and local transportation departments that construct new tabled intersections in hilly urban areas which contain pedestrian street crossings with yield or stop control
Question 14 in preamble seeks information on the current design policies and practices of state and local transportation departments with respect to tabling newly constructed intersections in hilly urban areas, particularly with respect to extending the tabling to pedestrian street crossings with yield or stop control |
| Pedestrian activated signals required at roundabouts with multi-lane pedestrian crossings (R206 and R306.3.2) | Will affect state and local transportation departments that construct new roundabouts with multi-lane pedestrian street crossings |
The Access Board entered into an interagency agreement with the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) to gather data and prepare cost estimates for the regulatory assessment. The cost estimates prepared by the Volpe Center are summarized in the table below, along with questions in the preamble to the proposed guidelines that seek additional information to refine the cost estimates.
| Estimated Total Annual Costs for Requirements That Will Have More Than Minimal Impacts on State and Local Transportation Departments | |||
| Requirement | Additional Costs Per Element or Facility Due to Requirement | Number of Elements or Facilities Constructed or Altered on Annual Basis | Total Annual Costs for Requirement |
| Detectable warning surfaces required on newly constructed and altered curb ramps and blended transitions at pedestrian street crossings (R208.1 and R305) | $48 to $240 for detectable warning materials for typical curb ramp
Question 8 in preamble seeks additional information on costs for detectable warning materials and installation of the materials on typical curb ramp |
No information available
Question 7 in preamble seeks information on number of curb ramps that are constructed or altered on an annual basis in the public right-of-way |
No estimate provided
Total annual costs will depend on number of state and local transportation departments that do not currently provide detectable warning surfaces on curb ramps, and number of curb ramps that they construct or alter on an annual basis |
| Accessible pedestrian signals and pushbuttons required when pedestrian signals newly installed or replaced at signalized intersections (R209) | $3,600 per signalized intersection
Question 10 in preamble seeks additional information on costs for providing accessible pedestrian signals and pedestrian pushbuttons at signalized intersections |
Pedestrian signals newly installed or replaced at 13,095 signalized intersections on an annual basis | $47 million |
| Maximum cross slope of 2 percent required on pedestrian access routes, including within pedestrian street crossings with yield or stop control (R204.3 and R302.6) | $60,000 per tabled intersection
Question 15 in preamble seeks additional information on costs to extend tabling of newly constructed intersections in hilly urban areas to pedestrian street crossings with yield or stop control |
No information available
Question 16 in preamble seeks information on number of tabled intersections which contain pedestrian street crossings with yield or stop control that are newly constructed in hilly urban areas on an annual basis |
No estimate provided
Total annual costs will depend on number of tabled intersections which contain pedestrian street crossings with yield or stop control that are newly constructed in hilly urban areas on an annual basis |
| Pedestrian activated signals required at roundabouts with multi-lane pedestrian crossings (R206 and R306.3.2) | $90,000 to $230,000 per roundabout
Question 19 in preamble seeks additional information on costs to provide pedestrian activated signals at roundabouts with multi-lane pedestrian crossings |
27 new roundabouts with multi-lane pedestrian street crossings constructed on an annual basis | $2.4 million to $6.2 million |
49See footnote 20 for additional information on the AASHTO publications and accessibility.
User Comments/Questions
Add Comment/Question