Anciaes, PR;
Jones, P;
Stockton, J;
Mindell, J;
(2017)
Assessment of solutions to reduce the impact of traffic barriers on pedestrian accessibility.
Presented at: Active Living Research 2017 Annual Conference, Clearwater Beach, Florida, USA.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Large roads and motorised traffic are barriers to the movement of pedestrians, with potential impacts on levels of physical activity; accessibility to goods, services, and social networks; and ultimately on the health and wellbeing of residents in the surrounding areas. Children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to these impacts. OBJECTIVES: To develop methods to identify the sections of a busy road with the highest negative impacts on walking accessibility and to compare the benefits of alternative solutions to mitigate these impacts, including: a) removal of physical barriers, b) adding new crossings, c) modifying the type of existing crossings. Methods: The analysis focused on a busy road in Southend-on-Sea, a medium-sized town in England. A stated preference survey was conducted to estimate the local residents' willingness to walk (in minutes) to avoid crossing the road in places without designated crossing facilities and to use their preferred type of facilities. Using this information, we estimated optimal walking routes to the city centre before and after the potential implementation of solutions. The solutions were assessed considering overall time savings for pedestrians and proportion of pedestrians crossing away from designated crossing facilities. RESULTS: The method identified three sections of the road where interventions would be particularly effective. Only a few type of interventions decrease the proportion of risky crossings and average walking time simultaneously. The construction of new crossing facilities and the change in the type of facilities decrease risk but can lead to time losses. Some interventions increase the proportion of risky crossings with only small gains in average walking travel times. Implications for practice and policy: The paper provides a replicable method that can be used by local authorities to identify the sections of existing roads where investment in pedestrian infrastructure brings the highest benefits. It can also be used when testing different alternatives for new roads at the planning stage.
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