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

Surfaces (R302.7) (Section-by-Section Analysis)

The proposed technical requirements for surfaces apply to pedestrian access routes, including curb ramps and blended transitions, and accessible elements and spaces that connect to pedestrian access routes. An advisory section lists the accessible elements and spaces that connect to pedestrian access routes and are required to comply with the technical requirements for surfaces.

The surfaces of pedestrian access routes and the surfaces at accessible elements and spaces that connect to pedestrian access routes must be firm, stable, and slip resistant. Vertical alignment of surfaces within pedestrian access routes (including curb ramp runs, blended transitions, turning spaces, and gutter areas within pedestrian access routes) and within the surfaces at accessible elements and spaces that connect to pedestrian access routes must be generally planar. Grade breaks (i.e., the line where two surface planes with different grades meet, see R105.5) must be flush. Where pedestrian access routes cross rails at grade, the pedestrian access route must be level and flush with the top of the rail at the outer edges of the rails, and the surfaces between the rails must be aligned with the top of the rail.

Vertical surface discontinuities (i.e., vertical difference in level between two adjacent surfaces, see R105.5) must be 13 millimeters (0.5 inch) maximum. Vertical surface discontinuities between 6.4 millimeters (0.25 inch) and 13 millimeters (0.5 inch) must be beveled with a slope not steeper than 50 percent, and the bevel must be applied across the entire vertical surface discontinuity. Horizontal openings in gratings and joints must not permit the passage of a sphere more than 13 millimeters (0.5 inch) in diameter. Elongated openings in gratings must be placed so that the long dimension is perpendicular to the dominant direction of travel.

Flangeway gaps at pedestrian at-grade rail crossings must be 64 millimeters (2.5 inches) maximum on non-freight rail track, and 75 millimeters (3 inches) maximum on freight rail track. These are the typical gaps required to allow passage of train wheel flanges. The flangeway gaps are wider than the maximum gap allowed for horizontal openings in other surfaces. These wider flangeway gaps pose a potential safety hazard to pedestrians who use wheelchairs because the gap can entrap the wheelchair casters.³⁹  The Federal Railroad Administration is sponsoring research to develop materials or devices that will fill the flangeway gap under light loads of a wheelchair but will compress or retract when a train wheel flange passes over it.⁴⁰  The materials or devices will be tested under heavy and light train loads for safety, effectiveness, durability, and cost.

Question 17. The Access Board seeks information on materials and devices that fill the flangeway gap, and any related research and sources of expertise.

³⁹For additional information on the potential safety hazard of flangeway gaps, see “Wheelchair Safety at Rail Level Crossings, International Review Working Paper” (2003) athttp://www.transport.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/$UNIDS+for+Web+Display/43D9BDF138FFE9F9CA256D630011A607/$FILE/Rail_Crossing_Disability_Access-International_Review.pdf; and “Rail Crossing Disability Access Kit” (2003) available at: http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/DOI/DOIElect.nsf/UNIDS+for+Web+Display/E995EA3FEB44F07CCA256D630011AD71/$FILE/Rail_Crossing_Disability_Access-Toolkit.pdf.

⁴⁰For announcement of award of research contact in 2010, see http://www.volpe.dot.gov/sbir/ph1rec10.html and http://www.integran.com/news/IT%20USA%20DOT%20Flangeway%20Gap%20SBIR%20-%20100323.pdf. The Transportation Research Board has also developed research need statements for reducing flangeway gaps at railroad crossings. See “Wheelchairs Crossing Flangeway Gaps at Railroad Crossings” (2007); and “Reducing Flangeway Gaps at Railroad Crossings to Better Accommodate Pedestrians” (2008). The research need statements are available at: http://rns.trb.org/dproject.asp?n=13462 and http://rns.trb.org/dproject.asp?n=17644.