Pedestrian Passages and Crosswalks (TC-11-24): This text change amends the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) to allow pedestrian passages to substitute for streets in more situations. It also specifies narrower street widths at intersections to improve pedestrian safety and comfort. Finally, it amends the city’s Street Design Manual to specify the design of new pedestrian passages for improved safety. Read the draft ordinance.

Proposed changes to the Manual and UDO:

• A pedestrian passage is a facility for people walking, biking, or using other non-car means of travel. In essence, it is a very wide sidewalk. It is a minimum 10’ wide and within a 20’ public access easement (see image below).

Currently, a new or altered block (the shortest distance around a site and nearby properties that can be travelled on public streets) can be 50 percent larger than otherwise if it includes a pedestrian passage. To further encourage the use of these facilities, TC-11-24 modifies that provision to allow blocks that are 100 percent larger if they include a pedestrian passage.

•  The UDO specifies widths for a range of street types (neighborhood streets, two lane streets with a turning lane, four lane streets, and so on). For each of those types, it specifies the width for travel lanes, parking lanes (if any), planting strips, sidewalks, and other elements. To reduce the crossing distance for pedestrians and to signal to drivers to be aware of pedestrians, best practices are to create a curb extension or “bulb out” at intersections (see image below). TC-11-24 does this by specifying widths at intersections.

• In some cases, a pedestrian passage will intersect with an internal driveway at a site, such as a grocery store or other retail space with a large parking lot in front. Best practices are to give priority to people walking in those situations by continuing the pedestrian passage (essentially a sidewalk) through the driveway. This can be done either by raising the passage slightly above the driveway or by continuing the paving materials across the driveway. The example below does both.

Public Meeting Schedule: 

This text change is scheduled for a Planning Commission Text Change Committee meeting on May 21, 2025. Comments after this date should be submitted directly to Jason Hardin.