Accessibility Concerns of People with Vision Loss at Roundabouts—Pilot Study

Municipalities and Transportation Agencies in Canada are building more roundabout intersections to promote efficient and safe traffic movement. Roundabouts are known for their low carbon footprint, low lifetime maintenance cost, and better safety performance in reducing collision frequency and severity, among other benefits. The main disadvantage is that Persons with Vision Loss (PWVL) feel unsafe when crossing the street on roundabouts. Therefore, the objectives of this project were to conduct a comprehensive literature review regarding roundabout accessibility as it pertains to PWVL, to identify the concerns and challenges experienced by PWVL on roundabouts in Canada through participation and discussions at a workshop and an opinion survey involving participants across the country as well as to conduct a field study assessing the effectiveness of the installation of sound strips on the road to help PWVL when deciding to cross the streets on the roundabout in Thunder Bay. For the national workshop and the opinion survey, members of staff from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) helped plan and facilitate events by contacting their clients across the country and sharing the necessary information required for the survey. For the field study, seven clients from CNIB in Thunder Bay volunteered to participate in the project. The City of Thunder Bay collaborated and assisted with the field study. The data collection session lasted about three hours before and after the strips were installed. Data collected included details about vehicle speed and the number of times that vehicles yielded or didn’t yield to pedestrians. Also, comments made by the volunteers about their experiences onsite during the field study were noted. Additionally, a 3D model of a roundabout was used to illustrate points relevant to roundabout accessibility when discussing with PWVL and other stakeholders. Included in this conference paper are results from the literature review that are related to roundabout accessibility for PWVL, and those from the national opinion survey as well as comments from the volunteers regarding their concerns arising on-site during the study. Their comments provided insightful information about the issues that PWVL face at roundabouts, forming the basis for future investigation into ways of making roundabouts more accessible for the PWVL. Furthermore, the result obtained showed that the placement of the strips reduced the delay the pedestrians felt at the crosswalk.