In June 2010, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) hosted a two-day event, “Temporary Pedestrian Access Route (TPAR) Workshop and Demonstration.” Mn/DOT's express purpose was to gather more information about accessible work zones.
The Mn/DOT Work Zone Safety Committee had earlier recognized that current ADA and MUTCD guidelines did not completely address, in detail, specifications and guidelines for accessible work zones.
The safety committee saw the need to compile more information before issuing final guidelines. Specifically, Mn/DOT sought to identify features that would enable pedestrians to safely traverse through temporary routes that are installed and removed in the same work day.
On the first day of the workshop, Mn/DOT invited contractors and local agencies to review and comment on their draft titled, “Temporary Pedestrian Access Route Guidelines.”
This same group also examined and commented on the TPAR Device Demonstration, a display of several manufacturers' devices. Mn/DOT also presented the legal perspective of accessible routes, and a work-zone case study in St. Peter, Minn.
On the second day, pedestrians with disabilities evaluated the TPAR devices. They provided feedback to Mn/DOT, which later generated a research summary report of their findings.
SafetyRail received very positive reviews at the Mn/DOT workshop and, since its introduction, in the marketplace as a whole.
