21
Guide for Improving Pedestrian Safety at Uncontrolled Crossing Locations
Select Countermeasure(s)
Road Diet
A road diet reconfigures the roadway. A
frequently-implemented Road Diet involves
converting a 4-lane, undivided roadway into
a 3-lane roadway with a center turn lane. This
is a candidate treatment for any undivided
road with wide travel lanes or multiple lanes
that can be narrowed or repurposed to
improve pedestrian crossing safety.
After conducting a traffic analysis to
consider its feasibility, the agency may
determine that a Road Diet is a good
candidate for use on roads with four
or more lanes and traffic volumes of
approximately 20,000 or less. In some cases,
agencies have successfully implemented
Road Diets on roads with AADTs of up
to 25,000. By reducing the width of the
roadway, pedestrians benefit from shorter
crossing distances and often bike lanes or
streetscape features can be added. Road
Diets are often effectively accomplished
during pavement resurfacing.
Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacon
(RRFB)
An RRFB is a pedestrian-actuated conspicuity
enhancement used in combination with a
pedestrian, school, or trail crossing warning
sign to improve safety at uncontrolled,
marked crosswalks. The device includes two
rectangular-shaped yellow indications, each
with an LED-array-based light source, that
flash with high frequency when activated.
RRFBs may be used to enhance the
conspicuity of standard pedestrian
and school crossing warning signs at
uncontrolled marked crosswalks. RRFBs
are placed on both ends of a crosswalk.
If the crosswalk contains a pedestrian
refuge island or other type of median, an
RRFB should be placed to the right of the
crosswalk and on the median (instead
of the left side of the crosswalk). The
RRFB's irregular flashing pattern pattern
is unlit when not activated and can be
activated manually by pedestrians using
a push button or passively by a pedestrian
detection system. This device is not currently
included in the MUTCD, but FHWA has
issued Interim Approval 21 (IA-21) for the use
of the RRFB. State and local agencies must
request and receive permission to use this
interim approval before they can use the
RRFB. IA-21 provides additional information
about the conditions of use, including
dimensions, placement, and flashing
requirements. IA-21 does not provide
guidance or criteria based on number of
lanes, speed, or traffic volumes.
The RRFB is a treatment option at many
types of established pedestrian crossings.
Research indicates RRFBs can result in
motorist yielding rates as high as 98 percent
at marked crosswalks. However, yielding
rates as low as 19 percent have also been
noted. Compliance rates varied most per
the city location, posted speed limit, crossing
distance, and whether the road was one-
or two-way.
1
RRFBs are particularly effective
at multilane crossings with speed limits less
than 40 mph. Consider the PHB instead
of RRFBs for roadways with higher speeds.
Table 1 provides specific conditions where
practitioner s should strongly c onsid er the PH B
instead of the RRFB.
1
Fitzpatrick, K., M. Brewer, R. Avelar, and T. Lindheimer.
Will You Stop for Me? Roadway Design and Traffic Control Device Influences on Drivers Yielding to
Pedestrians in a Crosswalk with a Rectangular Rapid-Flashing Beacon.
Report No. TTI-CTS-0010. Texas A&M Transportation Institute, College Station, Texas. June
2016. https://static.tti.tamu.edu/tti.tamu.edu/documents/TTI-CTS-0010.pdf