36 CFR Part 1190, Proposed Accessibility Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)

Durability and Maintenance of Detectable Warning Surfaces (Section-by-Section Analysis)

Transportation officials who commented on the 2002 draft guidelines expressed concern about the durability and maintenance of detectable warning surfaces. The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) has conducted two studies on the durability and maintenance of detectable warning surfaces. The first study was completed in 2005 and reviewed performance information submitted by state and local transportation departments.³³  The performance information was limited in terms of the products reviewed and time period of review (about 2 years). The study noted that there were new promising detectable warning products on the market, and recommended that test methods be developed for evaluating the long-term performance and durability of the products. The second study was completed in 2010 and recommended procedures for testing and evaluating detectable warning products.³⁴  The test methods can be used by state and local transportation departments to select detectable warning products that will provide long-term performance and durability under different environmental conditions. Many state and local transportation departments have evaluated and approved detectable warning products that are suited to their environments.

³³“Synthesis of Maintenance and Durability Information for Detectable Warnings on Sidewalks” March 2005 at: http://maintenance.transportation.org/Documents/DetectableWarning20‒7%28177%29.pdf.

³⁴“Procedures for Testing and Evaluating Detectable Warning Systems” March 2010 at: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_rpt_670.pdf.