Raised Crosswalks at Multi-Lane Roundabouts: Lessons Learned

Letty Schamp

Director of Transportation & Mobility
City of Hilliard

Letty Schamp is the Director of Transportation & Mobilty for the City of Hilliard, Ohio. She has been involved in the planning, design, and construction of twenty roundabouts in Hilliard with more planned in the future.

Letty is active in local, statewide, and national safety initiatives, including updating the Ohio Driver’s Education curriculum, assisting in the development of statewide design guidance and city code to improve safety for all road users, and leading in roundabout education & outreach.

Letty holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from The Ohio State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio.

In the summers of 2019 and 2021, the City of Hilliard constructed raised crosswalks at four roundabouts near schools as part of three different projects: two were a retrofit projects, and one was on a project where raised crosswalks were planned in the initial design. Each project had different designs - and construction processes - to attempt to achieve the same goals: reduce vehicle speeds at crosswalks, increase motorist yielding to pedestrians, and address ADA accessibility at multi-lane roundabout crossings.

This presentation will provide details on the different designs, including 11th hour field changes, and construction challenges. Quantitative before and after speed data was collected, and qualitative observations of motorist and pedestrian behavior were documented to help gauge success of the raised crosswalks. Public perceptions, especially in today's era of social media, will be shared. This presentation will inform public agency officials and designers to help develop best practices for implementation of raised crosswalks at roundabouts in the future.

Learning Objectives:
1. To share first hand experiences with raised crosswalks at multi-lane roundabout pedestrian crossings
2. To address challenges of retrofit design and ADA compliance
3. To help inform best practices for implementation of raised crosswalks in the future
Target Audience: Public agency engineers and designers

Raised crosswalks are a potential solution to address ADA accessibility at multi-lane crossings and to address public concerns about the pedestrian-friendliness of roundabouts. However, there are very few case studies in the US to guide best practices or to assist researchers in evaluating effectiveness. The three Hilliard roundabout projects, located within a half-mile of each other, provide an opportunity to compare and contrast different raised crosswalk designs and construction methods.