Vermont Shared Path Fencing Usage

Funding Source: Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans)
ATMC Materials Lab Involvement: Principle Investigator
Start Date: May 2005
End Date: April 2006
Summary:

Shared use paths are facilities that are used by pedestrians, joggers, in-line skaters, bicyclists, and in some cases for equestrian. These facilities are located on an exclusive right of way with minimal cross flow of motor vehicles.

There is little or no technical guidance available to designers of shared use paths regarding the specific situations that warrant the use of fencing or barrier along a path. Currently there is a tendency to err on the side of caution, resulting in the use of barrier in scenarios where it is not needed and thus leading to increased costs.

The intent of this research is to develop specific guidelines regarding proper use of barriers so that their use is minimized to only critical areas (The use and design of barriers on path bridges is specifically excluded from this proposed research). More specifically these guidelines will be developed into a brief specification based upon research of existing design guidelines, field inspections of existing shared paths, and input from path industry professionals and current path users.