By: Marc E. Christensen and James S. Baron, Contributing Authors
Eleven American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) member companies participated in a unique demonstration and product evaluation early last fall, aimed specifically at assisting visually impaired pedestrians to traverse safely through work zones.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) partnered with the U.S. Access Board and ATSSA on Sept. 22 to host a “Pedestrian Accommodation and Delineation Devices Demonstration” at the FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, Va. Manufacturers took this unique opportunity to bring their existing, modified or prototype devices to northern Virginia to participate in an outdoor laboratory, where their new ideas would be evaluated by visually impaired pedestrians.
Serving feedback
The ATSSA-member manufactured longitudinal channelizing barricades and devices were displayed in a large and covered simulated work-zone walkway, set up adjacent to the transportation research center.
People with visual disabilities walked through the huge work zone to evaluate each of the products, immediately providing critiques to the manufacturers about the effectiveness of each device.
“The basis for this demonstration was to expose the person with disabilities and the U.S. Access Board to the existing ATSSA members’ traffic-control devices that could accommodate persons with disabilities. Although the new language in the 2003 MUTCD addresses the unique challenges of people with disabilities within work zones, this demonstration provided valuable information to manufacturers on ideas to improve their devices,” said FHWA’s Ernie Huckaby.
The new section of the MUTCD, Section 6F.66: Longitudinal Channelizing Barricades, addresses the need for interlocking devices that can clearly delineate or channelize the flow of pedestrian traffic around work zones. Used instead of cones, drums or barricades, the longitudinal channelizing barricades are interlocked, with no gaps, to prevent pedestrians or vehicles from straying out of the channelizing path. Most importantly, this type of guidance effectively assists persons with visual impairments to safely traverse through a work zone.
“This demonstration allowed ATSSA members to get feedback from the disabled community immediately,” said David McKee, ATSSA’s director of membership. “The feedback was of great value, as it enabled the manufacturers to further modify their products to better serve their customers.”
For the demonstration, ATSSA and the FHWA requested manufacturers to set up their products, then allowed visually impaired persons to use their walking canes to “tap” along the temporary pedestrian walkway within the demonstration’s work zone. Representatives from the U.S. Access Board were on hand to examine the devices and to determine if they would meet the needs of pedestrians with visual disabilities. Evaluators accompanied visually impaired pedestrians and asked a series of questions about each product from a prepared evaluation form designed specifically for the event.
Information compiled from the questionnaires gave the manufacturers an immediate evaluation of the effectiveness of their devices. The feedback also provided information to the manufacturers to further modify their existing devices or to develop other devices to meet the needs of the visually impaired community.
The information gathered at the event will be used to assist in developing rule making for the Access Board’s Guidelines for Accessible Rights-of-Way, as well as future changes to the MUTCD.
