We often complain that there is so little care given to pedestrians; there are jersey barriers to keep cars out of construction zones, but people walking, when there is no overhead scaffolding required by law, often get ignored. And people on bikes? don't get us started.
© Pedrail
However a Florida company, Pedrail, is trying to do something about this. They have developed a simple system that uses a “proprietary Longitudinal Channelizing Device” to lock the guardrails together and sandbags to hold them down. CEO Miguel Vila read our earlier post about "It's a bike lane not a construction loading area" and told TreeHugger:
We are encouraged that cities throughout the world are taking notice of the importance of maintaining adequate access for Pedestrians and Bicyclists throughout dangerous work zones as cities try to improve street infrastructure for our children's safety and future.
Mash Standard/Public Domain
According to the specifications, it is made from galvanized steel with high density polyethylene panels, and has a crashworthy status of MASH TL-2, which apparently can withstand a pickup truck going 43 miles per hour at a 25 degree angle; that’s impressive. Yet each six foot section only weighs 33 pounds.
Closed sidewalk in Toronto/ Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0
The default where I live is that pedestrians can cross the street and cyclists can go get squished. But in Florida, Pedrail has installed over 25,000 linear feet of temporary lanes throughout the state.
Every construction zone should have this minimal level of protection for pedestrians, it’s not too much to ask. Website under construction at Pedrail.
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