Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities: Design

Bicycle and pedestrian facilities are types of active transportation infrastructure that support and enhance non-motorized mobility and safety within our communities.

How it Works

Bicycle and pedestrian facilities have grown in popularity within the County over the past decade and are effective techniques to reduce traffic and pollution and enhance the quality of life for residents.

These facilities, if planned, designed, and implemented appropriately, can become well-utilized assets that enhance a community's transportation and recreational networks. Proper design is critical to the safety and usability of these facilities that result in positive experiences for users.

In coordination with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities: Planning & Policy eTool that describes how communities can revise ordinances and other regulatory tools to plan for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, this 'Design' tool provides information on the physical attributes and design-related factors to be considered when constructing such facilities.

"Pedestrian facilities" are specific types of infrastructure that facilitate safe pedestrian circulation, such as walking, jogging, running, pushing a stroller, or using a wheelchair. Examples of pedestrian facilities include walkways, sidewalks, paths, and trails.

"Bicycle facilities" can be defined as any facility or infrastructure that supports and enhances the safety of bicyclists. Bicycle users range in age and experience, from children to elderly adults and from very advanced to more casual riders. These facilities can be located both within and outside of roadway rights-of-way. Bicycle-specific facilities within the roadway right-of-way include either bicycle lanes or cycle tracks that each provide dedicated space for bicyclists, or they are 'share the road' routes that typically include improved shoulders, signage, and sometimes pavement markings. Bicycle facilities outside the roadway are commonly referred to as "trails" and are often part of "shared-use" or "multi-use" facilities.

"Shared-use" or "Multi-use" refers to facilities where pedestrians and cyclists share the same facility. These facilities may, but not always, accommodate other non-motorized modes of travel such as equestrians, cross country skiers, skateboarders and rollerbladers. These facilities are commonly referred to as "trails" when located outside the right-of-way or "sidepaths" when located within or near the right-of-way running parallel to the adjacent roadway.

Multi-use facilities are mostly found within community parks or regional trails such as Chester County's Chester Valley, Schuylkill River, and Struble Trails.

Benefits

Accessibility

Active transportation facilities designed to meet accessibility standards are inclusive and can be used by everyone regardless of age or ability.

Safety

Properly designed bicycle and pedestrian facilities create safer conditions for users.

Connectivity

Bicycle and pedestrian facilities often provide important first- and last-mile connections that make walking or bicycling a more convenient and feasible transportation alternative.

Equity

Bicycle and pedestrian facilities promote equitable transportation networks when they provide access to key destinations like schools, work, commercial centers, parks, and public transportation. These facilities increase mobility options for those who cannot drive due to physical, financial, or legal limitations.

Environment

Non-motorized transportation decreases the use of fossil fuels and can reduce air and particulate matter pollution.

Health Benefits

Biking and walking can improve physical and mental health and provide opportunities for social interaction.

Economic

Bicycle and pedestrian facilities can boost employment levels, increase property values, promote private investment, and provide new business opportunities.

Get Started

people walking on a sidewalk — Struble Trail, East Caln Township

Implementation

Municipalities can encourage implementation of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure by having appropriate language in municipal ordinances and by identifying planned pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in municipal planning documents. More specific recommendations for how to incorporate these types of improvements into your municipality's plans and ordinances may be found in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities: Planning & Policy eTool.

For developing communities, most of their new pedestrian and bicycle facilities will be provided by private developers as part of new subdivision and land development projects. In addition, local municipalities may install these projects, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities may also be implemented as part of PennDOT roadway projects so long as the local municipality agrees to own and maintain the facility once constructed.

Proper design of bicycle and pedestrian facilities is critically important and should include the following types of facilities and design parameters.

Bicycle Facilities

These facilities are limited to bicycle use only:

Shared Roadway: (with limited, inconsistent, or no shoulder)

A roadway which accommodates bicyclists and motorists in the same travel lane. Typically, the travel lanes are wider than what would be designed for automobile traffic only for the associated functional classification of the road and its context (e.g. rural or urban). With the exception of limited access highways or where otherwise expressly prohibited, all roadways in Pennsylvania are considered shared roadways.
Shared roadways may be a Signed Bike Route or include other supplemental striping and signage treatments such as Share the Road Signs, Sharrows, or other pavement markings.

Shared Roadway with Paved Shoulder

A street with a paved shoulder or wide curb lane that accommodates bicyclists adjacent to the vehicle travel lanes. A four-to-six-foot shoulder is preferable, in conjunction with applicable municipal and PennDOT guidelines.
Paved shoulders are separated from travel lanes by the striping representing the outside edge of the outermost travel lane. The maintenance of paved shoulders via street-sweeping is important for their success, as roadway debris, cinders, and tree limbs typically accumulate in this area of the cartway.

Bike Lane

A designated travel lane within the cartway or along the road shoulder for exclusive use by bicyclists. Bicycle lanes are typically located on roadways in urban and suburban settings with moderate to high vehicular traffic volumes and moderate to high posted speeds.
PennDOT's Design Manual specifies minimum and maximum widths for bike lanes based on the roadway conditions. Bike lanes must include appropriate pavement striping, markings, and regulatory signage. Bicycle lane facilities should be one-way facilities that carry traffic in the same direction as motor vehicles.
Buffered bike lanes include a designated buffer space separating the bike lane from the adjacent motor vehicle and/or parking lane, providing additional room for user safety and comfort. PennDOT requires a minimum buffer space of two feet. Buffers three feet or wider should contain gore markings.

Cycle Track

An exclusive facility for bicyclists that combines design aspects of bike lanes and shared use trails (see "Shared Use/Multi-Use Trail"). Cycle tracks are constructed within an existing cartway but buffered from the vehicle lanes by striping or on-street, parallel parking. Existing cycle track facilities have been designed for both one-way and two-way operations.

bike route sign — Bike route sign along Schuylkill River Trail

Supplemental Striping and Signage Treatments

In addition to the shared roadway and bike lane facilities, supplemental signage and/or roadway treatments (striping, coloration, or texture) can be added to these facilities when warranted.

Share the Road

A type of supplemental signage added to a shared roadway to warn motorists of the increased likelihood of bicyclists.

Sharrow (or Shared-lane marking)

A pavement marking that increases driver awareness of shared roadway arrangements. Shared-lane markings are also used to encourage proper bicycle positioning within the travel lane. The location of shared-lane markings within the roadway is dependent on the width of the road and whether on street-parking is provided.
Sharrows have been approved by PennDOT; however, the approval of sharrows is presently evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Shared-lane markings may be considered on streets with a speed limit of 35 mph or lower (with a speed limit lower than 30 mph preferred.)

Signed Bicycle Route

A treatment used to designate a preferential bicycle routing and provide wayfinding guidance to cyclists. AASHTO's Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities states that the "signing of shared roadways indicates to cyclists that there are particular advantages to using these routes compared to alternate routes".
Route signs can be used to provide directional, distance, and destination information (wayfinding) to assist bicyclists in navigation. Signed routes can also be used to direct cyclists to corridors that have existing on-road facilities or to access locations for off road facilities.

Bicycle Boulevard

A street corridor treatment that prioritizes and enhances bicycle travel with traffic calming measures, signs, pavement markings, and crossing improvements to enhance bicycle travel. Corridors identified for bicycle boulevards are typically characterized by low volumes and low speeds.

dirt path near road — Social Path going west along Paoli Pike in West Goshen Township

Pedestrian Facilities

These facilities are limited to pedestrian-use only:

Sidewalks

A "pedestrian lane" that provides space to travel within the public right-of-way that is separated from roadway vehicles. Sidewalks are critical to providing a safe path for pedestrians and are encouraged to be installed on both sides of the street in mixed-use, institutional, commercial and residential growth areas.
PennDOT's Design Manual requires sidewalks to be a minimum of five feet in width to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. Wider sidewalks should be considered and are encouraged in areas with higher levels of pedestrian traffic, such as downtowns or areas identified as major pedestrian routes.
Sidewalks should be set back from road cartways by three or more feet to provide a buffer between pedestrians and vehicles on the cartway.
Sidewalks are primarily for pedestrian use only; exceptions for bicycles may include use by small children or where no other option is available (such as narrow bridges where bicycles may be expressly permitted).

Internal Walkway

A designated single use facility with an improved surface, primarily for use by pedestrians, typically located outside of the road right-of-way and/or not directly adjacent to a street. A walkway is generally used to facilitate pedestrian transportation between buildings and parking areas or sidewalks, within parking lots, between buildings on a parcel or within a development, or between adjacent uses, developments, or facilities.

Social Path/Trail

An informal, unimproved path typically, of bare earth (dirt) worn in grassy areas formed by pedestrians repeatedly traveling between areas where no trails, sidewalks, or pedestrian paths have been installed. The point of defining Social Paths is to require their identification during the subdivision and land development process and requiring that consideration be given to formalizing them into sidewalks, internal walkways, or trails as a part of new development to facilitate pedestrian movement within a site and to connect to adjacent areas.

Use-Restricted Path/Trail

A trail that is designated for one form of travel or by one type of user due to conditions that would make shared use impractical and/or unsafe, such as trail width, surface, slope, accessibility, and/or potential user conflict. These trails may be paved or unpaved.

bikers crossing road on trail in crosswalk — Mid-block crossing of the Chester Valley Trail in West Whiteland Township.

Shared-Use Facilities

These facilities accommodate users of different modes on the same facility:

Shared-Use/Multi-Use Trail

A permanent facility that is physically separated from the roadway and typically accommodates bi-directional travel by both bicyclists and pedestrians. The trail can be located within a publicly owned right-of-way, an exclusive right-of-way, or an easement.
Shared-use trails typically have an improved surface (e.g., asphalt, concrete, compacted gravel, etc.) and have a recommended minimum width per AASHTO of 10 feet, although a minimum width of 8 feet may be used where space is constrained or in environmentally sensitive areas. Wider trails may be needed in high-usage areas, particularly if there is a mix of pedestrians and bicyclists.
Sidepaths are a subset of shared-use trails that denote paths that run adjacent to a parallel roadway. They can provide bicycle connections between on- and off-road facilities, but often require a more in-depth operational and safety analysis.

Mid-Block Crossing

A mid-block crossing permits pedestrians and bicyclists to cross a road at a location other than an intersection. These crossings require special engineering analysis to determine their appropriateness and effectiveness. Section 11.9 of PennDOT's Traffic Engineering Manual (Pub. 46) establishes criteria for mid-block crossings including roadway speed limit, traffic volume, sight distance, parking restrictions, proximity to other crossings, and pedestrian volume. For state-owned roads, a mid-block crosswalk engineering and traffic study is required to record the study's findings.

ADA Accessibility

State and Federal laws mandate that all new bicycle and pedestrian facilities must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines for design and implementation. While the guidelines may differ slightly depending on the requirements of the funding source and/or proposed location, all new bicycle and pedestrian facilities should be designed and constructed to provide for accessibility to the greatest extent possible given site-specific conditions.

In August 2023, the United States Access Board published the Final Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (Final PROWAG). The guidelines address access to sidewalks and streets, crosswalks, curb ramps, pedestrian signals, on-street parking, shared-use/multi-use paths and other components of the public right-of-way. These guidelines may be viewed as accessibility best practices for pedestrian improvements within and outside the right-of-way, however the Final PROWAG is not enforceable until DOJ and DOT adopt accessibility standards consistent with the Final PROWAG through separate rulemaking procedures. Until DOJ and DOT adopt new accessibility standards, the following are the applicable guidelines commonly accepted for each facility type in Pennsylvania.

Pedestrian-only Facilities

For any pedestrian improvements that are proposed within PennDOT rights-of-way, and particularly within Chester County, the PennDOT ADA Information Page provides guidance for the design and construction of these improvements.
For pedestrian improvements proposed to be located outside of PennDOT rights-of-way, the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design should be referenced.

Shared-Use/Multi-Use Trails

The United States Access Board has developed accessibility standards for recreational facilities that has been widely accepted by the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the design of Shared-use and Multi-use trails or pathways within the Commonwealth.

Considerations

Securing funding for bicycle and pedestrian facilities and related projects;
Limited maintenance budgets to maintain the facility;
Lack of space within the public right-of-way;
Private property ownership;
Physically challenging or environmentally sensitive site conditions such as steep slopes, waterways, floodplains, or wetlands;
Stormwater management requirements, especially in constrained conditions or when located near sensitive sites;
Potential conflicts and safety issues among pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, especially in congested areas or on roads with little or no separation between uses;
Securing funding for bicycle and pedestrian facilities and related projects; and,
The lack of education, enforcement, and encouragement of bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Examples

Share the Roadway with Paved Shoulders

Throughout Chester County

Bike Lanes

Lincoln Highway City of Coatesville
Baltimore Pike (West Grove to New Garden)
Kennett Pike (PA-52, Pennsbury and Kennett Townships)

Share the Roadway Signage

Throughout Chester County

Signed Bike Routes

PA Bike Routes L and S

Shared/Multi-Use Trails

Chester Valley Trail, Schuylkill River Trail, Struble Trail, Uwchlan Trail, and Brandywine Trail

Mid-block Crossings

Chester Valley Trail at Valley Creek Blvd.

Sidewalks

All 15 County Boroughs and City
Subdivisions
Along commercial corridors (BUS 30, Route 1, 3, 41, 100, 113, and 322)
Retrofit: Marshallton Village, Tredyffrin Township

Trails

Chester County Trailfinder Map
Regional Multi-Use Trails (Chester Valley Trail, Schuylkill River Trail, Struble Trail)
Trails within parks
Trails within subdivisions