Subway (crossing)
underpass for pedestrians and cycles
A subway, also known as an underpass, is a grade-separated pedestrian crossing running underneath a road or railway in order to entirely separate pedestrians and cyclists from motor or train traffic.
Terminology
In the United States, as used by Caltrans and in parts of Pennsylvania such as Harrisburg, Duncannon and Wyoming County, subway refers to a depressed road undercrossing. Where they are built elsewhere in the country, the term 'pedestrian underpass' is more likely to be used, because "subway" in North America refers to rapid transit systems such as the New York City Subway or the Toronto subway. This usage also occurs in Scotland, where the underground railway in Glasgow is referred to as the Glasgow Subway.
Effects
Pedestrian underpasses allow for the uninterrupted flow of both pedestrians and vehicle traffic. However, they are normally considered a last resort by modern urban planners as they can be expensive and cause graffiti and security issues.
Pedestrians will not use an underpass where a more direct at-grade option is available.
Badly designed subways may not provide for disabled users, especially those in a wheelchair who cannot use stairs. As the underpass is normally below the level of the footway and carriageway (rather than the carriageway being lifted over the road), technologies such as stairs, lifts and ramps must be used. A subway under the A38 in Birmingham city centre was criticised for having a ramp on one side but only stairs on the other side.
The public source identifies “Subway (crossing)” as underpass for pedestrians and cycles. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Subway, crossing and underpass.
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This entry incorporates text from “Subway (crossing)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.