The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the Guide for Maintaining Pedestrian Facilities for Enhanced Safety. The guide was designed to achieve two objectives:
- To compile a research report documenting the best practices for inspection and routine maintenance for pedestrian facilities; maintenance needs of different types of pedestrian facility surfacing materials, (including truncated dome tactile surfaces and wheelchair ramps); geographic differences in sidewalk/shared use path maintenance; types of equipment used; and other issues having to do with pedestrian facility maintenance.
- To develop a guidebook for maintaining pedestrian facilities for enhanced safety based on the outcome of the research report mentioned in objective 1.
The guide identifies best practices and barriers or challenges in sidewalk, sidepath, and shared use path maintenance from state and local agencies. The guide also provides examples of effective policies for selecting and maintaining pedestrian facilities as relates to responsibilities, enforcement, allocation of costs, and related issues.