Rules
Part of 3 lessons from walkable town case studies
What redeveloped districts actually offer accessible travelers
Accessible travel in towns that have rebuilt their streets: what to expect in a redeveloped American district, why the new part is usually better.
Redeveloped districts are usually the most usable places in an American town for anyone with mobility or vision needs, because new and altered public work has to meet current requirements. The catch is the boundary. Access quality can change sharply at the edge of the project, and the edge is rarely marked.
What to take away
- Rebuilt blocks are generally good. The block where the project stopped is generally not.
- Find the project boundary on a map before you plan a route through it.
- Crossings are the part most likely to be missing or incomplete at the edges.
- Signal equipment is not certified by anyone. Local installation quality varies.
Find the boundary first
Comparing street imagery from before and after a rebuild shows the boundary in about two minutes. Look for where the sidewalk width changes, where the paving material changes, and where street trees stop.
Inside the project vs at the boundary
Inside the project
- Sidewalk width
- Consistent
- Corner ramps
- Every corner
- Signals
- New, pushbuttons
- Lighting
- Continuous
At the boundary
- Sidewalk width
- Changes mid-block
- Corner ramps
- One side only
- Signals
- Older or none
- Lighting
- Stops abruptly
Plan routes inside the rebuilt area where you can, and treat any crossing at the boundary as unverified until you have looked at it. The boundary is not a failure of anyone's planning. Projects are funded in defined areas and the work stops where the money does, which is why the change is often abrupt rather than gradual.
It also moves. A district rebuilt five years ago has usually seen the adjacent blocks improved since, so recent imagery is worth more here than an older account of the project.
| Inside the project | At the boundary |
|---|---|
| Consistent sidewalk width | Width changes mid-block |
| Ramps at every corner | Ramps on one side only |
| New signals and pushbuttons | Older equipment, or none |
| Continuous lighting | Lighting stops abruptly |
Roundabouts are the known weak point
Modern intersection designs often arrive with a rebuild, and roundabouts remain the hardest of them for pedestrians who cannot see the traffic. A 2007 report prepared for the Access Board on the signalization of roundabouts reviews the key issues where signals exist to provide pedestrian access, with particular attention to people with severe vision loss.
The report notes that roundabouts are rarely signalized for that purpose. Where roundabout crosswalks have been signalized, it has usually been because heavy pedestrian flow would otherwise cause long vehicle delays. If a rebuilt district includes a roundabout, plan to cross elsewhere unless you have confirmed the crossing works for your group.
Equipment is not certified
In the report on interfacing accessible pedestrian signals with traffic signal controllers, the Access Board says the products shown are illustrative examples, not endorsements. Other products may be available.
The Board does not evaluate or certify products for compliance with its accessibility guidelines. It advises users to review product specifications themselves.
In practice, a new pushbutton on a new corner is not automatically a working one, and installation quality is a local matter, not a federally certified one. Watch a full cycle before relying on it, and report faults to the city, which is the body that owns and maintains it.
Our guide to accessible options in walkable towns covers what the rules require in general, and the access mistakes piece covers the errors that catch travelers out most often.
