Fit for purpose pedestrian guidance

Image credit: State of Queensland

Action 1.11, Action Plan for Walking 2019–2021
Status: Complete

The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has developed and published a series of new pedestrian technical publications and updated existing documents. This updated guidance will help transport industry professionals provide infrastructure across the state that is fit for purpose for people walking. 

Achievements

Consultation with transport planning and design stakeholders and practitioners identified gaps in pedestrian technical guidance. The aim of these new technical publications is to fill those gaps without duplicating or contradicting existing technical requirements. 

TMR established internal technical advisory groups to oversee and advise the development of new technical guidelines on:  

• pedestrian wayfinding
• pedestrian demand forecasting
• raised priority crossings.

There is also new guidance on reducing pedestrian delays at traffic signals. This is split into a technical note and guideline.

Technical content on pedestrian safety and preferred safety treatments at roundabouts and slip lanes has been developed and incorporated into the TMR Road Planning & Design Manual and the existing guideline: Providing for people walking and riding bikes at roundabouts.

From 2019 to 2021, TMR staff also worked extensively with content experts and stakeholders on the Austroads project 'Updating Austroads Pedestrian Planning and Design Guidance in line with International Good Practice'. This project updated the pedestrian content for the entire Guide to Road Design and Guide to Traffic Management series. These updated guides are published and available for use nationwide. You can view all the updated guidance on the Austroads website, including a project summary and training webinars. 

Overall, this action has provided technical guidance on infrastructure design, delivery and management to ensure that transport industry professionals create environments in Queensland that are fit for purpose for people walking. 

Next steps

The content of these technical publications will become standard practice. If there is national consensus, they will be integrated into the Austroads' guides.

More information

You can view all the guidelines on the TMR website. They are also available on TMR's Pedestrian and Walking Guidance and Resources directory.