Maintaining access for people walking around construction projects

With Massachusetts’ booming economy, pedestrians encounter construction sites on streets large and small. WalkBoston recently led a lunch-n-learn at Commodore Builders, (a WalkBoston corporate supporter) focused on construction site management strategies that provide safe spaces for people to continue walking during construction.

Key points:

Maintain a safe path of ACCESSIBLE travel.
Match the solution to the setting – if there are a lot of walkers and busy streets, do not force pedestrians to cross the street. Find space for pedestrians on the same side of the street.
Provide advance warning at a safe crossing if the sidewalk is closed mid-block.

We shared good and bad examples of local construction sites and links to some good resources. If your company is interested in a similar presentation, please get in touch. Stay tuned: later this summer, we’ll be leading a construction access walk in Allston!

Not good. No space for people walking for a whole block on one side of street. Yet 5 lanes for vehicle travel and another reserved for parking.

This works: temporary ramp, newly painted crosswalk and bike lane around closed sidewalk.

Not good. No advanced warning, no temporary ramp!

This works: temporary ramp and barriers to maintain access on same side of street.

If you see a construction site that blocks access for pedestrians, we encourage you to report it to your city or town. In more and more municipalities across MA, you can dial 311, or use a reporting app like Commonwealth Connect. You can also tag us in photos @WalkBoston on Twitter.