METRO Urban Accessibility Design
SALIENT FEATURES
Field Visit
Bus Stop Design
ADA Standards
Sight Distance Analysis
infraTECH served as Prime Consultant
CLIENT
Metropolitan Transit Authority
LOCATION:
Northwest Harris County, Texas
BACKGROUND
As part of the METRO Civil, Traffic, and Accessibility Design for Universal Accessibility Projects (Transit Facilities and Transit/Transportation Improvements) Contract, infraTECH has completed design of over 800 bus stations. The objective of this project is to upgrade the bus stops to meet the current design and ADA standards.
PROJECT FEATURE
Under two separate accessibility contracts, infraTECH has completed design of over 800 bus stops in Zone 6 (NW Harris County) and is currently designing many more. Based on the field visits, an inventory of different attributes for all bus stops is prepared using Fulcrum App. Afterwards, PS&E packages are developed for the improvements. The preference in the design is to provide the full design following City of Houston Infrastructure Design Manual (IDM). However, in some locations it is not possible to provide full design because of various reasons such as existing right-of-way, drainage issues, utilities, presence of driveways, and aesthetics. If a driveway or side street is present close to the proposed bus stop, a sight distance analysis is performed. Some of the bus stops have been relocated from near side of signalized intersection to the far side for safety reasons.
The majority of the bus stops are located along curbed roadways within the City of Houston right-of-way. However, there are some that are located along open ditch sections. infraTECH helped METRO develop a process for the design and obtain permit from the City of Houston for the latter.
RELEVANT SERVICES
As the prime, infraTECH is responsible for bus stop design and coordination with METRO and sub consultants.
"infraTECH’s management of the design team has allowed them to meet their design schedules and enabled METRO to keep their construction contractors moving uninterrupted. The quality of their deliverables reflects their commitment to providing a quality product and the processes in place to guarantee their accuracy."
Tim Mills, PE
Accessibility Director, METRO