36 CFR Part 1190, Proposed Accessibility Guidelines for Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way; Shared Use Paths: Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM)

Detectable Warning Surfaces at Shared Use Path Intersections

Detectable warning surfaces consist of small truncated domes that are integral to a walking surface and that are detectable underfoot. The proposed accessibility guidelines for pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way would require the use of detectable warning surfaces to indicate the boundary between a pedestrian route and a vehicular route where there is a curb ramp or blended transition; and the boundary of passenger boarding platforms at transit stops for buses and rail vehicles and at passenger boarding and alighting areas at sidewalk or street level transit stops for rail vehicles. See R208 and R305.

Because pedestrians who are blind would not be aware of bicyclists approaching from the left or right hand side at intersections, we are considering including a requirement in the final accessibility guidelines to provide detectable warning surfaces where a shared use path intersects another shared use path or a sidewalk to indicate the boundaries where bicyclists may be crossing the intersection. The edge of the detectable warning surface would be installed between 6 inches minimum and 12 inches maximum from the edge of the intersecting segments of the shared use paths and sidewalks. The detectable warning surface would extend 2 feet minimum in the direction of pedestrian travel and the full width of the intersecting segments. We request comments on this issue.