Developing Curb Ramp Designs Based on Curb Radius

AT A RECENT WORKSHOP ON WAYFINDING AT INTERSECTIONS, PARTICIPANTS WERE CHARGED WITH DEVELOPING DESIGN SCHEMES FOR INTERSECTIONS WITH CURB RADII OF 10 FEET, 25 FEET, 30 FEET AND 40 FEET. THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO PLAN FOR AS MUCH REDUNDANCY IN CUEINGTACTILE AND AUDIBLEAS POSSIBLE.
INTRODUCTION

BY EDWARD R. STOLLOF, AICP

At a joint workshop of ITE and the U.S. Access Board held in late October 2004, participants were charged with developing design schemes for intersections with curb radii of 10 feet, 25 feet, 30 feet and 40 feet. Each group was asked to consider designs with and without a landscaped strip and with and without signals. The objective was to plan for as much redundancy in cueingtactile and audibleas possible. Participants were asked to consider a range of operating conditions (for example, there may or may not be traffic sounds; some of the traffic may be unbalanced). The primary goal of this exercise was to maximize the information available for non-visual wayfinding at and across the design intersection using curb ramp orientation, edges and other features that might carry directional or travel content. Participants noted that design for pedestrian use should focus on key users children, older walkers and pedestrians who have disabilities, particularly those who have vision loss. It was agreed that the standards developed for Sacramento, CA, USA, most nearly met the objectives of the workshop by providing wheelchair-accessible curb ramps that also were in line with the path of pedestrian travel along the sidewalk. Key wayfinding features included short crossings (even if multi-lane); small curb radii; a landscaped parkway; sidewalks and curb ramps in line with crosswalks; and returned edges on curb ramps. Sponsors and attendees are indebted to workshop participant William F. Hecker Jr., AIA, for the sketches presented in this feature, which were derived from the groups work. Ramps generally are described by crossing entry location (apex, return, or tangent); pairing; type (perpendicular, parallel, combination, or in line); and edge condition (flared, curbed, or parkway).

Graphics and Definitions Key Figure 1 graphically illustrates wayfinding elements at intersections. The representative intersection has a 40foot radius.
10-FOOT RADIUS

Figure 2 shows the design schemes developed for a 10-foot radius. A small curb radiusfound in residential, historic and local business districtscan provide the most directional crossings, with or without a parkway. There is adequate space on the corner for pedestrians to wait and, depending on curb height, usually enough room for paired curb ramps. It is the most economical in terms of space and provides for the least vehicle delay at crossings. Figure 2a meets the requirements of the current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines for a 2-foot tangent length to provide a directional cue. However, a 17-foot radius is necessary to provide the required 4-foot space in the street at the toe of the ramp to ensure that pedestrians using wheelchairs and scooters do not have to enter a moving lane of traffic to enter the parallel crosswalk. Pedestrians aligned to the crossing on the tangent also can take a heading from the arrow on the faceplate of the accessible pedestrian signal (APS). However, the crossing is not well aligned with the sidewalk approach direction and pedestrian buttons are not well located for wheelchair users. Figure 2b ramps the sidewalk down to a level landing at the apex. Crosswalks are an extension of the sidewalk. Pedestrians can take a perpendicular heading from the arrow on the faceplate of the APS. Locating the pedestrian button in the ramp makes it more usable, particularly for pedestrians who are deaf-blind, but requires greater overall sidewalk width. The pedestrian button pole must not impede the clear width needed on the ramp.
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A. B. C. D. E. F. G.

H. I. J. K. L. M. N.

Driveway flare Driveway apron Sidewalk Grass parkway area APS pushbutton Ramp down for 4-inch vertical level change Ramp down for 2-inch vertical level change with 24-inch-deep truncated dome detectable warning surface Bar tiles Combination curb ramp Straight curb at roadway edge Corner curve and curb return Apex of corner curve and return 24-inch-deep truncated dome detectable warnings Ramp down for typical 6-inch vertical level change with 24-inch-deep truncated dome detectable warning surface

Figure 1. Intersection and curb ramp key; 40-foot radius.

Like Figure 2b, Figure 2c ramps the sidewalk down to a level landing at the apex. The returned curbs give good cues to crosswalk direction, which are in line with sidewalk travel. The extra width of the parkway allows more space to be provided for pedestrians on the corner (and would be a good location for APS stub poles, if provided). In Figure 2d, the full curb height is retained around the apex, with the sidewalk ramping up and down to paired level landings and crosswalks at the tangents. Like Figure 2d, Figure 2e includes a full-height curb at the apex. The change in elevation is divided into two runs one in the sidewalk, down to a level landITE JOURNAL / APRIL 2005

ing at the intersection of the two sidewalks, and the second a short perpendicular ramp to the street. In-line travel from sidewalk to ramp to crosswalk and returned edges for wayfinding are key features. Again, the parkway can serve as the location for APS, if provided. Figure 2f is similar to Figure 2e in that it provides a full curb height corner, but the parkway is wider, permitting greater changes in elevation, if necessary. This alternative is highly directional, with good protection against vehicle overrun at the corner. Perpendicular ramps located on the curb return must have a grade break at the toe rather than the curbline.

Participant Comments on Figure 2 Keep your two ramps separate. Use the sidewalk to ramp down to the level landing in an environment with a fairly small radius, it will be easier to fit in two short curb ramps if the major drop is accomplished by the sidewalk. At the landing, turn 90 degrees into a 2-foot-long perpendicular ramp, the minimum needed for a detectable warning. Set the landing fairly close to the intersection. Consider the use of a stub pole for a pedestrian detector at a signalized intersection. The stub pole, a small
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length of pipe, is more flexible to install and can ensure greater usability. For the detector and pushbuttons, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) pro-

vides strong encouragement to include two separate poles separated by a minimum of 10 feet. Place the pedestrian button as close to the curb as possible. The group

preferred that it would be in the sidewalk but not in the ramp, and within horizontal reach range of the ramp landing. It is not the best option to locate the pushbutton behind the back of the sidewalk; avoid it if at all possible. Breakaway stub poles may alleviate clear zone concerns.
25-FOOT RADIUS

Figure 2a. 10-foot radius, apex, single perpendicular, flared, with parkway.

Figure 2b. 10-foot radius, full apex parallel, curbed.

Figure 3 shows the design schemes developed for a 25-foot radius. A 25-foot radius usually is found in a local residential, local commercial, or central business district situation. There will be a 5- to 6foot sidewalk behind the curb or separated by a parkway. Figure 3a ramps the sidewalk down at each tangent point, with the entire curb radius depressed to street level. Sidewalk travel is almost in line, but there are few other cues to crossing direction. APS must be carefully aligned and well separated to give any wayfinding input. Figure 3b shows that the level landings are set at each tangent and the sidewalk is then ramped up and down, something of a disadvantage for pedestrians unless curb height is low. However, it does preserve a full-height curb at the corner. An APS locator tone could help identify the crossing locations near the tangent part of the curve. Participant Comments on Figure 3a One advantage of a full blended transition is that people are less likely to depart from the crosswalk. Traffic engineers will be concerned about vehicle overrun, especially with a narrow sidewalk and no parkway. Bollards (or bollards-and-chains or fencing) might be a useful addition at the apex and perhaps could be located to provide a wayfinding function. Participant Comments on Figure 3b The bottom of a [paired parallel] ramp that begins at the tangent could be 10 to 15 feet away from the intersecting street. That is where the crosswalk would begin. This configuration will increase the travel distance. Wheelchair travel distance is much further if you desire to travel in a straight path; it includes an upITE JOURNAL / APRIL 2005

Figure 2c. 10-foot radius, full apex parallel, curbed, with parkway.

Figure 2d. 10-foot radius, tangent paired parallel, curbed.

Figure 2e. 10-foot radius, return paired combination, curbed, with parkway. Figure 2. Design schemes for a 10-foot radius.

Figure 2f. 10-foot radius, tangent paired combination, curbed, with parkway.

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Figure 3a. 25-foot radius, full apex parallel, curbed. Figure 3. Design schemes for a 25-foot radius.

Figure 3b. 25-foot radius, return paired parallel, curbed.

ramp, so you are going down only to go up again, just to travel around the corner on the sidewalk. At an unsignalized intersection, the stop bar is so far back that sight distance requirements cannot be met. Vehicles may stop at the stop bar and then pull forward.
30-FOOT RADIUS

Figure 4 shows the design schemes developed for a 30-foot radius, perhaps along a major street or arterial. There will be a 5- to 6-foot sidewalk behind the curb, rarely separated by a parkway. The working groups first objective, in new construction or reconstruction, was to reduce this radius, if feasible. The group believed that the majority of the time, the radius might not need to be 30 feet. Vehicles should use the effective turning radius. If there is on-street parking, vehicles do not need to turn from curb lane to curb lane. The engineer must measure the radius and select a design vehicle. Vehicles must be able to turn, but they can be permitted to go across the centerline of the local street. Figure 4a features a narrow parkway and preserves the full curb height around the corner. Paired parallel curb ramps
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(they could be combination ramps with a slope at the detectable warnings) are fitted with landings at the tangent and have returned edges for directionality. The APS is at the back of the sidewalk, but could be at the back edge of the parkway for superior wayfinding. The enclosed space of the level landing must accommodate a 90-degree turn; it is very tight. Figure 4b, with a wider border and parkway, permits paired perpendicular ramps at the tangents. Good directionality is provided for pedestrians who use the ramps, but the ramps are well out of the path of sidewalk travel. A full-height curb can be provided on the radius; APS are well located for directionality in the parkway. APS stub poles also could be used in lieu of the flare to shield a returned curb on the other side of the ramp. Participant Comments on Figures 4a and 4b On large radii, the benefits of continuous directionality are lost if the ramps are located at the tangent. Good travelers who are blind often look for the tangent to take an alignment for crossing. On large radii, as the crosswalk moves closer to the intersecting street, the crossing distance increases.

The bottom of a ramp that begins at the tangent will be farther from the intersecting street. This configuration increases the same-side travel distance. Figure 4c collapses the intersection to more recognizable dimensions. The sidewalk is ramped down to a level landing at the apex and a shorter ramp (with detectable warnings) connects to the street (this also could be level rather than ramped if all of the elevation change occurs in the parallel ramps of the sidewalk). A small length of returned curb can suggest directionality. A somewhat longer opening at the apex might be able to accommodate a raised triangle to separate the ramp into two. The APS at the parkway is well located for all users and close enough to the street to provide usable directional cues as well as the 10-foot separation needed to distinguish signals. Figure 4d locates the ramp in line with the sidewalk for superior wayfinding benefit and overcomes the bad geometry of a non-perpendicular connection at the toe by notching the curb line. A wide parkway provides ample space for well-located APS at the top of the ramp. The apex is raised to full curb height.
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Figure 4a. 30-foot radius, tangent paired parallel, curbed, with parkway.

Figure 4b. 30-foot radius, tangent paired perpendicular, flared, curbed, with parkway.

Figure 4c. 30-foot radius, apex single combination, flared/curbed (with parkway).

Figure 4d. 30-foot radius, return paired perpendicular, curbed, with parkway.

Figure 4e. 30-foot radius, return single perpendicular (short), curbed, with parkway. Figure 4. Design schemes for a 30-foot radius.

Figure 4f. 30-foot radius, return single perpendicular (long), curbed.

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Perpendicular ramps on the curb return must have a grade break at the toe rather than the curbline. Participant Comments on Figure 4c This would work as a parallel ramp, too. Some jurisdictions extend the toe of a perpendicular ramp across the gutter to accommodate an elevation change. Because water collects at the toe anyway, pooling to either side may not be a big problem. Curved ramps are not recommended in narrow sidewalks or small radii. Participant Comment on Figure 4d This is an adaptation of the Sacramento types to a larger curb radius. Figure 4e provides for a single crossing beside the major roadway of a minor road without sidewalksa common type that poses the greatest wayfinding design challenge. The large radius places waiting pedestrians where they may not be seen by drivers or understood to be waiting to cross. Sound cues from vehicles on the far side of the minor street may not be audible. Ideally, a detectable warning would parallel the curb line, but that may be difficult in installations like these. However, the detectable warning should not be installed too far from the curb. The in-line crossing is a benefit. Returned curbs give good directional cues. Perpendicular ramps on the curb return must have a grade break at the toe rather than the curbline. An alternative to Figure 4e is Figure 4f (for large curb radii), which places the detectable warning in a triangular landing at the toe of the ramp. The inline ramp ends in a perpendicular grade break at the toe, with a substantial notch in the curb line. Returned curbs give good direction and may offer some protection to waiting pedestrians, who are closer to the street edge and in a much better position to analyze traffic sounds for crossing information. Perpendicular ramps on the curb return must have a grade break at the toe rather than the curbline.
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Participant Comments on Figures 4e and 4f Where do you put the APS and where do you put the detectable warning in ramps like these? One side of the sidewalk or ramp will be blending at the bottom and will be coincident with the curb line. The other side will be 1 to 4 feet from the curb line, depending on the radius and parkway conditions. If the far distance were 5 feet or less, you would put the detectable warning strip on the bottom 2 feet of the ramp and perpendicular to the flow of the ramp. If the far distance were greater than 5 feet, the detectable warning would need to be on the landing aligned with the curb line. At the bottom, if more than 5 feet, people are going to wait on the landing because now it is a sizable landing; in this case, put the detectable warning strip along the curvature so you know where the curb line is. Place the APS with its tactile arrow at the bottom of the ramp or at the beginning of the landing to provide a directionality cue. At an unsignalized intersection, APS will not provide for directionality. You would have to know that you have come down that ramp and hit the crossing. If you can provide a returned curb on the long side that is in line with the crossing, it may give useful information. However, if it were a long curve with the detectable warnings taking the corner, you would have to know something about the intersection to take a good heading to cross. Bar tiles or a raised crosswalk guidestrip may be useful. If the triangle at the bottom is small, we can place the detectable warning at the bottom of and perpendicular to the ramp. If you are on the street side of the ramp (no parkway), you have hit the street. On the other side of the ramp, you may be 5 or 10 feet away from the street, depending upon how soft that curb is and how close you are to it. If the radius is very large, visually impaired pedestrians may identify the grade break at the bottom of the

ramp as the curb line, but instead they may be more than 10 feet away from the curb. Sound cues from traffic will not be as useful, and the added distance, particularly if a late start is made, means a late finish. Additionally, a pedestrian standing far from the curb edge may not be identified by a driver as a pedestrian waiting to cross. It is a landing that is more or less flush with the street, it has a little bit of a slope and it will drain. It is a bottom landing, or what is called the pan. That pan starts to become very large if the angle of the curvature is very slight at that point; if you are very close to that parallel road. Under these designs, you cannot guarantee that there will be a 2percent cross-slope because of the gutter counter-slope it needs to meet. One of the reasons we set the ramp back is to provide us with a little extra room, to be able to twist that pan to make it fit and transition to a 2-percent cross-slope on the ramp. There are instances when it is difficult to make that work if the ramp begins right at the curb.
40-FOOT RADIUS

Figure 1 shows a 40-foot radius. This design proposes a range of ramp types at the tangents. Like the 30-foot designs, this places crossings well out of the line of continuous travel. In fact, these are much like the crossing conditions at roundabouts. Benefits for pedestrians are the much shorterand, therefore, quickercrossings with less pedestrian exposure and more cueing for directionality. (These benefit drivers, too, by lessening delay.) Apex crossings at these radii might be so long as to make it difficult to avoid veering. Ramp choices are varied, from the standard perpendicular, where there is a generous border for a parkway of 6 feet or so, to combination ramps with some elevation change accomplished by ramping the sidewalk down and the remaining difference treated with a short perpendicular run to the street. Again, bar tiles are suggested to identify crossing locations (these also have been suggested
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Figure 5. Raised crossing (speed table).

at roundabouts). APS are located in the parkway at the landing or at the top of the perpendicular ramp Assumptions All four corners have the same radius. The roadway would be three lanes (a 60-foot roadway with two 20-foot borders) that would include 100 feet of right-of-way. The road is a major thoroughfare with large traffic volumes. The road may service large or small pedestrian volumes. The intersection may be in a suburban, industrial, or strip commercial area. Participant Comments We started looking at the southwest corner. The basic idea is that if someone is traveling north and wants to keep traveling north, with this amount of right-of-way, a parkway would be advisable along the sidewalk. This would work anywhere down to about 12 feet. Ideally, a minimum of a 5-foot planter strip should be provided; better still would be a 6-foot planter strip and a 5- to 6-foot sidewalk. If you are traveling north, what would you do? Walk close to the building line. You want to reach the curb or some other point to start the crossing
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there, to feel the edge of the intersection and then go to the nearest tangent line or the perpendicular crossing and to attempt to cross there. Assuming that the signal pole is the first thing one finds with a cane (or if a person is traveling by wheelchair), the post with the pedestrian signal would need to be oriented toward the east direction, with a level area before the curb ramp. It is important to minimize curb height. Standard engineering practice places curb ramps much closer to the intersection. Driver sight distance requirements would not be satisfied with pedestrian crossings at these locations. MUTCD recommendations on stop bar location have not been coordinated with the parallel need for directional crossings at largeradius intersections. There is another school of thought on sight distance restrictions. Some believe that we overemphasize sight restrictions. If we provide [good] sight distance, this encourages drivers to speed. If the sight distance is limited, drivers may be more cautious. Speed Tables Where feasible, raised crossings can eliminate the need for curb ramps and are a good choice for narrow sidewalks (see Figure 5). The ramped sides of the table may be useful cues to the crosswalk. Often, a bridge plate spans the gutter to allow drainage patterns to continue, as detectable warnings are necessary at these flush connections. Bulbouts also can be used where border width is inadequate for a ramp. Curb radii can be limited and used in concert with the width of the parking lane to provide shorter crossings that are still manageable by long-wheelbase vehicles when turning. Participant Comments If bar tiles are used to identify crossing location (as at a mid-block crosswalk), the visual contrast of these bar tiles is extremely important. This is an area for future research.

Detectable warnings are key to the identification of the street at raised crossings, including islands and medians.
NEXT STEPS

These comments and sketches represent a first cut at the workshop goal of developing standard sidewalk and street crossing details that maximize non-visual directional and orientation information. The U.S. Access Board will be pursuing these discussions online within the group of workshop attendees and circulating the range of design options described in this feature for further consideration and improvement. As consensus is reached, recommendations will be documented and presented to ITE and other industry audiences at scheduled meetings and conventions. For more information, to submit other drawings or recommendations, or to be added to the list of participants, contact Lois Thibault, research coordinator, U.S. Access Board, at thibault@ access-board.gov.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to thank William F. Hecker Jr., of Hecker Design Ltd., for developing the illustrations incorporated into this feature, and Janet M. Barlow, certified orientation and mobility specialist, of Accessible Design for the Blind, for her review of each concept plan.

EDWARD R. STOLLOF, AICP, is contracts senior director and manager of the safety discipline at ITE Headquarters. He administers ITEs external contracts and grants and is the designated staff person involved in ITEs safety mega-issue activities. He has more than 25 years of broad transportation planning and traffic engineering experience in both the public and the private sectors. He is a member of the Howard County, MD, USA, Public Transportation Board and is a member of ITE.

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