The Access Board’s guidelines establish that pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way dedicated to transportation are readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.
GSA has adopted these guidelines, creating a uniform federal standard that aims to ensure all new and modified pedestrian facilities, such as sidewalks and crosswalks, are accessible and meet the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, as amended.
With over 300,000 federal buildings nationwide, the federal government, led by GSA as the nation’s largest landlord, is the country’s biggest property manager. In support of President Biden’s Executive Order Nos. 13985, 14035 and 14091, executive agencies are leading by example to make the federal government more accessible to the communities it serves.
Adopting the Access Board’s guidelines is another way for GSA to formalize its commitment to accessibility for people with disabilities by requiring enhanced accessibility features, including pedestrian signals and alternate access routes.
Examples of how this new rule will benefit the public, and people with disabilities in particular, at new and modified pedestrian facilities, include:
- Shortening travel distances from on-street parking to building entrances, making it easier to access government buildings while increasing efficiency for everyone who uses street parking;
- Increasing sidewalk sizes and widths makes it easier for people to pass on the sidewalk, reducing accidental collisions and better accommodating mobility aids such as walkers, rollators, and both manual and electric wheelchairs.
- Regulating the ground slope at passenger loading zones prevents them from being too steep for people with mobility disabilities to climb.
- Better audio and tactile warning systems, including audio signal warnings, truncated domes, and detectable warning pavers, increases pedestrian safety by alerting them to an imminent street crossing or to when they have the right-of-way to cross the street.
This new rule ensures GSA’s federal new construction, alteration and renovation projects will comply with the Access Board’s guidelines. GSA will update its informational content related to design and construction, as well as its training for architects and engineers, and client agencies. For leased buildings, GSA will revise the current Leasing Desk Guide template by adding new contract language, leasing policy and procedures, as well as adding training for lease contracting officers and lease managers.