Does ADA compliance make us less safe?

[OPAFiets1]

Wasn't sure if this should be under another topic or not. Anyway...

In several discussions with traffic engineers over making crossings safer, primarily for bicycles, but also pedestrians, I've heard numerous times "we can't do that because it conflicts with ADA requirements." A lot of this has had to do with beg button placement, inverted domes, inability to create a smooth transition between path and road surface (engineers say there must be a bump, for ADA and water runoff), inability to move crossings back from the intersection, and other more minor issues.

Have others run in to this? Can someone educate me a bit on the ins & outs of ADA compliance and if there is a way to better design crossings that also meets ADA?

Thanks,

[mulad]

I'm assuming you're coming at this from a bike perspective -- I know that edges at pedestrian crossings need to have a tactile surface these days (typically button-sized bumps set into concrete or added with a metal plate), but I don't know if there's a requirement for a larger bump (transition between road surface and a slightly elevated one for the sidewalk?). But if that is a requirement, it may be a reason why modern cycletracks are often set to be level with the street surface, below the sidewalk level -- sidewalk crossings of the cycletrack would have to angle downward to that level and then up again on the other side, but that makes it a little more obvious that something is happening (er, I presume).

The Snelling Study details some of the issues. One thing that bugs me a lot about that document is the discussion of a "furniture zone" and a walking zone on sidewalks. I always get irked by the fact that Metro Transit bus shelters tend to have entrances facing away from the street, but I guess that's necessary in order to have a straight clear zone along the sidewalk.

But something along the same lines that I liked about the document was the recommendation to do away with the dome-style pedestrian landings at corners in favor of having two separate ramps for each direction, allowing for a straight shot rather than the typical zig-zag that pedestrians have to do today (well, if they're using the ramps -- someone with sufficient mobility can usually step down and go straight anyway, unless someone put an obstacle there).

[OPAFiets1]

Mulad, thanks for the req on the Snelling document. I've been slowly going through it but keep getting distracted on other stuff. Amazing amount of good information in there.