Street and city
Curb ramp
cornerpedestrian crossingbus stopentrance to a public building
A short ramp that lowers the sidewalk curb to street level at crossings.
What it solves
It allows people to go from the sidewalk to the street in a wheelchair, with a walker, a stroller or a suitcase. It benefits far more people than was first imagined.
Today
Align the curb ramp with the crossing, with a gentle slope, enough width and tactile paving at the bottom. Avoid the final lip and the puddle that forms in the gutter.
Common mistake
Making a steep ramp that ends in a step or in a drain where the wheel gets stuck.
Tomorrow
Accessibility maps made by neighbors themselves show which corners are missing ramps and where a ramp was badly built. A continuous curb ramp serves the wheelchair, the stroller and the older person with a walker.
Fact The slope of the curb ramp should not exceed 1 in 12, that is 8.33%, with a minimum width of 1 m.
Where it comes from
- 1United States Kalamazoo and Berkeley, 20th century
Kalamazoo tested curb cuts in the 1940s, and in Berkeley an independent living center drove a large curb ramp program. - 2Japan Okayama, 1967
Tactile paving, inspired by braille, was created, and today it warns blind people of the edge of the curb ramp.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Street and city
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.