An examination of practices for retrofitting existing roads with sidewalks in the United States.

Details

• Creators:
  Kastenhofer, Ilona O
• Corporate Creators:
  Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC) ; Virginia. Dept. of Transportation ; United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Sidewalks
  • Retrofitting
  • Pedestrian areas
  • Surveys
  • Sidewalks--Virginia
  • Sidewalks--United States
  • Sidewalks--Planning--Virginia
  • Pedestrian areas--Planning--Virginia
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/VTRC 10-R4 ; VTRC 10-R4
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Virginia
• Edition:
  Final report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Virginia Transportation Research Council (VTRC)
• Abstract:
  In Virginia, as in the United States, many roads were built without sidewalks. With steadily increasing efforts to ; develop a more balanced, multimodal transportation system, missing sidewalks pose a unique connectivity issue. Although the ; Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) Policy for Integrating Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodations allows for the ; construction of bicycle and pedestrian facilities separate from highway construction, it does not specifically address the issue of ; missing sidewalks. The purpose of this study was to identify and examine current practices relating to retrofitting existing roads ; with sidewalks in order to provide VDOT with guidance on addressing the issue of missing sidewalks in its transportation ; system. ; Three tasks were performed to achieve the study objectives. First, a literature review was conducted to identify material ; that addressed issues relating to retrofitting existing roads with sidewalks. Second, VDOT’s current practices were documented ; and reviewed based on a survey and interviews of district staff. Third, the practices of state departments of transportation ; (DOTs) and selected localities were identified based on a survey of the DOT and locality representatives, the literature review, ; and a search of agency websites. ; With regard to the literature review, no publication focusing on the topic of missing sidewalks was found. Most of the ; literature was focused on accommodations for pedestrians along newly constructed roads and on operational issues for existing ; pedestrian facilities. ; With regard to VDOT’s current practices, VDOT has no current policy to construct missing sidewalks. No VDOT ; district has an inventory of sidewalks or missing sidewalks or any “wish-list” for sidewalk connections. Further, there is no ; prioritization method should more requests for sidewalk connections be received than is possible to accommodate. Although ; VDOT has completed a limited number of projects to provide missing sidewalks, there is no dedicated funding source to address ; future requests. ; Most state DOTs are similar to VDOT in not having a program to construct missing sidewalks. Experiences of localities ; across the United States show successful sidewalk retrofit programs, which focus on targeted areas with high pedestrian activity. ; The study recommends that VDOT develop guidelines for identifying, prioritizing, and constructing missing sidewalks. ; Such guidelines are expected to provide guidance relating to identifying high-priority targeted areas for constructing missing ; sidewalks, prioritizing needed projects, and identifying funding options.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  83999
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/20246/dot_20246_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 213.51 KB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b88f542141e8e426c752061c5ab2c3f4fa66a33dce5a4bc36583ab33d33f562e722587ef211269ca7b7f16e67f0d01ca2e9e1d2272f57319506d7448de284bad