Accommodating Pedestrians in Work Zones Webinar

The Federal Highway Administration’s Work Zone Management Team conducted a webinar on September 5, 2018 to share information on resources developed under the Work Zone Safety Grant Program on Accommodating Pedestrians in Work Zones. This webinar featured information about two Pedestrian Accommodation guidance documents and two Pedestrian Accommodation training courses. In addition, FHWA discussed federal requirements for pedestrian accommodation in work zones as outlined in Part 6 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

• Pedestrian Accommodation in Work Zones: A Field Guide. This guide identifies common issues adversely affecting pedestrians that field personnel should be regularly checking for and correcting when working on or near sidewalks or walking paths. These issues are categorized according to the type of pedestrian accommodation that the work activity requires:
  • Working Near the Sidewalk or Walking Path, but the Sidewalk/Path Remains Open
  • Diversion of Sidewalk or Path around the Work Space
  • Sidewalk or Path is Temporarily Closed, Pedestrians Detoured to an Alternate Existing Sidewalk or Path

A number of resources are made available that describe how to properly design and implement these accommodations, and are referenced at the end of the guide.

• Guidelines for Work Zone Designers – Pedestrian and Bicycle Accommodation. This design guide is one in a series of guides that cover various work zone safety design topics.  The series of guides are for states design manual decision makers, editors, and subject matter experts to develop or enhance their own guidance materials.  The guide provides best practices on accommodating non-motorized traffic in work zones through proper design. The guide also discusses common work zone hazards and provides information on design elements and options for mitigating these hazards. The work zone pedestrian design process and options for construction staging are also discussed to allow for the maintenance of pedestrian traffic and facilities during construction.
• Designing Temporary Traffic Control Zones for Pedestrian Accessibility Training Course. This one-day instructor-led course is intended to make participants aware of the pedestrian accessibility requirements of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and their applicability to highway work zones. The course will focus on practical solutions to real-world situations. The intended audience for this course is both designers and field personnel. Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
  • Identify applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and standards pertaining to accessibility for persons with disabilities.
  • Discuss their application in temporary traffic control zones.
  • Identify some of the challenges in the Public Right-of-Way (PROW) faced by persons with disabilities.
  • Review design elements necessary for achieving accessibility in the PROW.
  • Identify contractors’ best practices and provide real-world examples under various conditions.
• Temporary Traffic Control Considerations for Urban Work Zones Training Course. This two-day course addresses work zones in more populated and congested areas, particularly the considerations (substantive safety) necessary to address work zones in urban environments. These environments may involve restricted spaces, parking issues, limited sight distance, business access, pedestrian, ADA, and bicyclist considerations. This course addresses instances when standards cannot be met and how to address these situations on urban streets. This course is intended for work zone designers and traffic control supervisors who may work in urban environments.

Speakers

• Jerry Ullman was the lead author of ARTBA’s Field Guide on Pedestrian Accommodation in Work Zones. Dr. Ullman is a Senior Research Engineer and Regent’s Fellow at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) where he leads the Work Zone and Dynamic Message Sign research program. Since joining TTI in 1984, he has been the principal investigator for numerous studies pertaining to work zone safety and mobility, traffic control device effectiveness, freeway operations, and traveler information systems.

• Juan M. Morales was the lead developer of the ATSSA course “Designing Temporary Traffic Control (TTC) Zones for Pedestrian Accessibility”. Mr. Morales is President of J.M. Morales & Associates, P.C., an Orlando consulting firm specializing in traffic safety. Mr. Morales has over 35 years of transportation engineering experience, particularly work zone safety. Prior to starting his transportation engineering consulting firm, Mr. Morales was the director of technical programs for the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) where he served as ITE’s liaison to the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Prior to joining ITE, Mr. Morales worked as a traffic and research engineer for the Federal Highway Administration where he was actively involved in traffic control, highway safety, congestion management, and traffic simulation.
• David Noyce was the Principal Investigator for UWM’s Guidelines for Work Zone Designers on Pedestrian and Bicycle Accommodations. Dr. Noyce is the Department Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UWM and is the Director of the University’s Traffic Operations and Safety (TOPS) Laboratory which conducts research in the local, state, national, and international markets. Dr. Noyce has spent the last 15 years working with driving simulations and studying driver comprehension and behavior related to various traffic control devices, geometric designs, and operational conditions.