1. Crosswalks should be designed to offer as
much comfort and protection to pedestrians as
possible.
Intersection crossings should be kept as
compact as possible, facilitating eye contact by
moving pedestrians directly into the driver’s field
of vision.
Conventional Crosswalks
Before
After
2. 1- Stripe all signalized crossings to reinforce yielding of
vehicles turning during a green signal phase. The majority
of vehicle-pedestrian incidents involve a driver who is
turning.
2- Stripe the crosswalk as wide as or wider than the
walkway it connects to. This will ensure that when two
groups of people meet in the crosswalk, they can
comfortably pass one another. Crosswalks should be
aligned as closely as possible with the pedestrian through
zone. Inconvenient deviations create an unfriendly pedes-
trian environment.
3- High-visibility ladder, zebra, and continental crosswalk
markings are preferable to standard parallel or dashed
pavement markings. These are more visible to
approaching vehicles and have been shown to improve
yielding behavior.
Street lighting should be provided at all intersections, with
additional care and emphasis taken at and near
crosswalks.
4- Accessible curb ramps are required for Disabled at all
crosswalks.
5- Keep crossing distances as short as possible using
tight corner radii, curb extensions, and medians. Interim
curb extensions may be incorporated using flexible posts
and epoxied gravel.
6- An advanced stop bar should be located at least 8 feet
in advance of the crosswalk to reinforce yielding to
pedestrians. In cases where bicycles frequently queue in
the crosswalk or may benefit from an advanced queue, a
bike box should be utilized in place of or in addition to an
advanced stop bar.
Stop bars should be perpendicular to the travel lane, not
parallel to the adjacent street or crosswalk.
3. Midblock crosswalks facilitate crossings to
places that people want to go but that are not
well served by the existing traffic network.
Designers should study both existing and
projected pedestrian volumes in assessing
warrants for midblock crossings to account for
latent demand.
Midblock Crosswalks
Before
After
4. 1- Install a midblock crosswalk where there is a significant
pedestrian desire line. Frequent applications include
midblock bus stops, metro stations, parks, plazas,
building entrances, and midblock passageways.
2- Daylighting in advance of a cross walk makes
pedestrians more visible to motorists and cars more
visible to pedestrians. This may be accomplished by
restricting parking and/or installing a curb extension.
3- Stop lines at midblock crossings should be set back
20–50 feet. This ensures that a person crossing the street
is visible to the second driver when the first driver is
stopped at the stop line.
4- Stripe the crosswalk, regardless of the paving pattern
or material. Otherwise, drivers are not likely to see it,
especially at night.
5- Medians or safety islands create a 2stage crossing for
pedestrians, which is easier and safer.
6- At key access points to parks, schools, and
waterfronts, and at intersections with local streets, raised
crossings increase visibility, yielding behavior, and create
a safer pedestrian crossing environment.
5. Visibility and sight distance are parameters
central to the inherent safety of intersections,
driveways, and other potential conflict points.
Visibility/Sight Distance
Before
After
6. 1- In urban areas, corners frequently act as a gathering
place for people and businesses, as well as the locations
of bus stops, bicycle parking, and other elements. Design
should facilitate eye contact between these users, rather
than focus on the creation of clear sightlines for moving
traffic only.
2- Wide corners with large sight triangles may create
visibility, but in turn may cause cars to speed through the
intersection, losing the peripheral vision they might have
retained at a slower and more cautious speed.
3- Fixed objects, such as trees, buildings, signs, and
street furniture, deemed to inhibit the visibility of a given
intersection and create safety concerns, should not be
removed without the prior consideration of alternative
safety mitigation measures, including a reduction in traffic
speeds, an increase in visibility through curb extensions
or geometric design, or the addition of supplementary
warning signs.
4- Daylight intersections by removing parking within 20–
25 feet of the intersection.
Site street trees at a 5-foot minimum from the
intersection, aligning the street tree on the near side of
the intersection with the adjacent building corner. Street
trees should be sited 3 feet from the curb return and 5
feet from the nearest stop sign.
Lighting is crucial to the visibility of pedestrians, bicyclists,
and approaching vehicles. Major intersections and
pedestrian safety islands should be adequately lit with
pedestrian-scaled lights to ensure visibility. Pavement
flashing lights can enhance crossing visibility at night, but
should be reinforced by well-maintained retro reflective
markings.
