Designing Temporary Pedestrian Safety Zones For Street Closures And Markets
TL;DR
A temporary pedestrian safety zone is a short-term, clearly bounded walking and gathering area created inside a street closure or lane closure. Good designs pair standard temporary traffic control (TTC) with a vehicle-stopping layer at the few points where vehicles can still approach crowds.
- Start with a traffic control plan that keeps an accessible pedestrian route continuous, detectable, and signed.
- Use lanes, buffers, and islands to separate people from moving traffic, vendor loading, and emergency paths.
- Harden the approaches, not the whole perimeter: protect the straight-line run-ups and intersections first.
- For temporary vehicle-stopping performance, use crash-tested portable barriers such as Delta’s MP100 (ASTM F2656-23 M30/P3 in an array of 5).
Designing Temporary Pedestrian Safety Zones For Street Closures And Markets
Street closures and curb-lane takeovers are now routine. Cities run weekend markets, seasonal open-streets programs, and short-notice utility work. In all of them, the same question comes up: how do you create a walking space that is easy to understand, accessible, and resistant to an errant or hostile vehicle?
This guide treats a temporary pedestrian safety zone as a tactical layout problem. You are building a short-term street section with clear edges, predictable crossings, and controlled vehicle access. You do that with standard TTC devices and signing, plus selective use of crash-tested portable barriers at the highest-risk approach points.
What A Temporary Pedestrian Safety Zone Is
A temporary pedestrian safety zone is a defined area for people on foot created during a street closure, lane closure, or special event. It may include walking paths, queuing space, seating, vendor frontage, or a protected detour. The zone works when three things are true:
- The boundary is obvious to drivers and pedestrians.
- An accessible route stays continuous and detectable for people using mobility devices or long canes.
- Only the vehicles you intend can enter, and they do so at controlled points and controlled speeds.
This is not the same as “putting up barricades.” Most TTC devices are for guidance and channelization. Where you need documented vehicle-stopping performance, specify a crash-tested barrier system.
Start With The Traffic Control Plan And The Accessible Route
Treat the pedestrian route as critical infrastructure. If you break the sidewalk or crosswalk path, you own the detour. FHWA guidance and the MUTCD emphasize maintaining pedestrian access through temporary traffic control, including for people with disabilities.
Keep The Route Continuous, Detectable, And Signed
Build a continuous path from “where people arrive” to “where they need to go.” For work zones, this is often called an alternate or temporary pedestrian access route. Use channelizing devices that provide continuous detectable edging when delineating a pedestrian path. The MUTCD and PROWAG technical requirements discuss detectable edging for alternate routes.
Plan For Crossings And Signals When You Detour People
If your detour forces people to cross at a new location, check signal needs and sight lines. The MUTCD discusses pedestrian considerations when detours are routed to temporary traffic control signals, including accessible pedestrian signals where appropriate.
Practical tip: write the pedestrian detour like a set of directions. If a first-time visitor cannot follow it from one sign to the next, it is too complex.
Build The Zone With Lanes, Buffers, And Islands
The cleanest temporary zones borrow from permanent street design. You are creating a cross section. In most downtown closures, you have three tools:
- A closed travel lane that becomes the pedestrian zone or a buffer.
- A working lane for vendors, deliveries, or emergency access.
- Islands and chokepoints that make conflicts predictable and slow vehicles down.
Use Buffers To Separate People From The Remaining Vehicle Path
If any vehicle movement remains adjacent to the pedestrian zone, treat the buffer as a safety layer. A buffer can be a closed lane, a line of channelizers, or a line of heavy planters. The key is lateral separation and reduced chance of an encroachment.
Add Islands Where People Naturally Cross Or Queue
In markets, people cluster at corners, curb ramps, payment lines, and food pick-up. Islands give you a place to manage those clusters. They also create a visual narrowing that encourages slower vehicle behavior where access is still permitted.
Design Vehicle Access Points Like Gates
Do not let “soft” gaps appear just because a vendor needs a 10-minute load-in. Define access points, post a marshal position, and pick a physical control method. Options range from staffed cones and barricades (guidance only) to crash-tested portable barriers when the approach geometry and risk justify it.
Where Crash-Rated Barriers Fit In A Temporary Layout
Most events do not need vehicle-stopping hardware along every foot of the perimeter. They do need it at a few predictable locations: straight-line approaches, high-speed downhill segments, and intersections feeding directly into dense pedestrian space. CISA’s vehicle ramming resources recommend evaluating the need for barriers and increasing stand-off distance where crowds gather.
Focus On The Straight-Line Run-Up
A vehicle is hardest to stop when it can align, accelerate, and stay aligned. If your closure has a long, straight approach, treat that as a priority. Break sight lines with a chicane if you can. If you cannot, harden that approach with a crash-tested barrier system instead of relying only on TTC devices.
Delta Portable Options That Fit Street Closures
Delta designs portable barriers for rapid deployment in events and temporary traffic changes. Two options that often map well to street-closure layouts are:
- MP100 Portable Barrier: Certified M30/P3 (ASTM F2656-23) portable barrier system when deployed in an array of five units. It is designed for rapid setup and stackable transport, with no excavation or permanent foundation required.
- DSC50 “S” Barrier: portable, crash-rated barrier announced for temporary urban protection. Public materials describe rapid deployment and no permanent infrastructure, but the specific crash-test rating should be confirmed for submittals.
For a wider view of Delta’s crash-tested portable lineup, see portable vehicle barriers from Delta Scientific.
A Practical Layout Template For Markets And Civic Street Closures
Use this as a starting pattern for a two-block closure with vendors in the curb lanes and a central promenade. Adjust for local standards, emergency access requirements, and your traffic control plan.
Step 1: Draw The Boundary And Identify Three Vehicle Categories
List the vehicles that will interact with the zone, then design to the worst interaction you will allow.
- No-entry vehicles: general traffic you must exclude.
- Conditional-entry vehicles: vendor load-in, maintenance, ADA paratransit drop-off.
- Always-allowed vehicles: fire, EMS, police, and essential operations.
Step 2: Place The Pedestrian Path First
Before you place a single vendor tent, draw the accessible route from the nearest parking, transit, or sidewalk to the market entrances. Keep it consistent. If you need a temporary pedestrian access route through a work zone or closure, use channelizing devices with detectable edging and sign the route early.
Step 3: Harden The Approach Points That Can Deliver A Vehicle Into Crowds
For most closures, that is the end of each block and any mid-block driveways that face the event space. If the approach can carry speed, consider crash-tested portable barriers as the first line at that point, backed up by staffed control.
Step 4: Manage The Inside Of The Zone
Inside the zone, prevent low-speed conflicts. Use islands and clear striping for vendor vehicle paths during load-in windows. After opening hours, close those paths and keep the walking space simple.
Common Mistakes That Create Risk In Temporary Zones
Leaving An Unprotected Straight Approach
If a closure line is visible from far away, add a chicane or harden the point with a crash-tested barrier.
Creating “Temporary” Gaps That Become Permanent
If it is a gap, someone will try it. Define access points and staff them.
Breaking The Accessible Route
If you remove a sidewalk, provide a signed, detectable alternate route. Do not send people into a travel lane without clear protection.
Overloading Corners
Corners attract queues. Give them extra width and keep obstructions out of curb ramp landings.
Ignoring Storage And Logistics
Portable barriers work when you have a plan for staging, transport, inspection, and reset.
Objections Engineers Hear And How To Answer Them
Temporary zones sit at the intersection of safety, operations, and public perception. These are common objections, and the technical responses that usually move the project forward.
“We Already Have Barricades And Cones.”
Cones and standard barricades are core TTC tools. They guide and communicate. They do not document vehicle-stopping performance. If your risk assessment shows a credible vehicle-to-crowd path at an approach, specify a crash-tested barrier at that point and keep TTC devices for the rest of the boundary.
“Crash-Rated Means Permanent, Not Temporary.”
Portable systems exist specifically to provide tested performance without excavation. Match the product to the deployment method and approach geometry, and keep the system maintained between events.
“We Cannot Block Emergency Access.”
Design emergency access deliberately. Create a defined emergency gate location, assign a marshal, and choose a barrier strategy that allows rapid opening. Some portable systems are designed to be moved or reconfigured quickly as part of the event operations plan.
Improve Temporary Pedestrian Safety Zones With Delta Scientific
If you are designing a street closure, market, or recurring open-streets program, Delta can help you review approach points, access needs, and product fit.
Start with contacting Delta Scientific to talk through the layout, or request a quote from Delta if you already have a draft traffic control plan and need a barrier package for submittal.
FAQ
What Is A Temporary Pedestrian Safety Zone?
It is a short-term, clearly bounded walking and gathering area created during a street closure or lane closure. A good zone has a continuous accessible route, obvious edges, and controlled vehicle access points.
Do Cones And Type II Or Type III Barricades Count As Vehicle Barriers?
They are traffic control devices meant to guide and warn. If you need documented vehicle-stopping performance at an approach, specify a crash-tested barrier system for that point and keep TTC devices for channelization.
Where Should Crash-Rated Portable Barriers Go In An Event Layout?
Place them where a vehicle can take a straight path into dense pedestrian space, such as block ends, downhill approaches, and intersections feeding directly into the zone. Do not try to harden every foot of the perimeter.
How Do I Keep The Setup ADA-Aware During A Closure?
Maintain a continuous pedestrian route and use channelizing devices with detectable edging when delineating alternate paths. Add clear signing early, and evaluate crossings and signals where detours change pedestrian movements.
Which Delta Portable Barriers Fit Temporary Street Closures?
Delta’s MP100 is certified to ASTM F2656-23 M30/P3 in an array of five units. Delta’s DSC50 “S” Barrier is marketed as a portable, crash-rated option for temporary urban protection, but the specific crash-test rating should be confirmed for submittals.
When you need pedestrian flow systems that consistently perform under pressure, choose Delta Scientific’s barricade protection solutions.
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
