High-Visibility and Aesthetic Crosswalk Treatments
Instantly enhance pedestrian safety and motorist awareness while improving the appearance of your community
Table Of Content
Aesthetic crosswalks greatly benefit communities by increasing pedestrian safety through enhanced pedestrian visibility and safety while beautifying neighborhoods
High-visibility crosswalks reduce pedestrian injury crashes by up to 40% giving communities a superior level of safety.
Each year in the U.S., over 7,300 pedestrians are killed and nearly 70,000 others are injured. Something as simple as a crosswalk can drive those numbers straight down.
Whether upgrading an existing crosswalk to either approved high-visibility or aesthetic crosswalk standards, the instant safety benefits a community can see at a cost that’s much lower than other roadway safety features are impressive.
- High-visibility crosswalks can reduce pedestrian injury crashes by up to 40%1
1FHWA Crosswalk Visibility Enhancements guidance. - Properly marked crossings help increase the distance at which drivers detect pedestrians, giving them an additional eight seconds of awareness at 30 mph2
2Crosswalk Marking Field Visibility Study, Federal Highway Administration via its Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, Nov. 2010, report number FHWA-HRT-10-068. - Studies also show a significant increase – an average of 22% – in driver yielding rates
at uncontrolled sites after conversion to high-visibility crosswalks3
3Yielding Compliance at High Visibility Crosswalks, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Highway Safety Research Center), report number FHWA/NC/2019-18. - A crosswalk’s marking pattern is more conspicuous to drivers, improving pedestrian detection4
4Crosswalk Marking Field Visibility Study (FHWA-HRT-10-068) and FHWA Crosswalk Visibility Enhancements guidance.
Aesthetic crosswalks offer many of the same safety benefits, including vibrant colors and distinct patterns to attract drivers’ attention. Unique visual designs often cause drivers to be more alert and slow down as they approach a crosswalk, effectively acting as a low-cost traffic-calming measure.
Click on the two image boxes above, to learn more.
Available funding for safety improvements
High‑visibility and aesthetic crosswalks can be supported through several major safety funding programs. Key sources include Safe Routes to School, Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A), and the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). Beyond these core programs, states and local governments often combine additional federal, state, regional, and local transportation and safety funds to deliver enhanced crosswalk treatments. This is not an exhaustive list, and funding eligibility varies by program and location. Local Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), state DOTs, and highway safety offices are key resources for identifying eligible funding options and building effective funding strategies.
Funding program resources
The helpful links below, to numerous resources and statistics, can help your community start saving lives today.
Resources
FHWA Crosswalk Marking Selection Guide (Published 2023)
This guide synthesizes existing research and guidance on the safety, cost, and effectiveness of crosswalk marking patterns and makes recommendations for crosswalk marking selection and application.
STEP Studio: Tools for selecting and implementing countermeasures for improving pedestrian crossing safety (Published 2020)
STEP Studio is a comprehensive compilation of resources, design guidance, research, and best practices for practitioners to identify appropriate countermeasures for improved pedestrian safety.
U.S. DOT / FHWA: Crosswalk visibility enhancements (Published 2018)
These countermeasures include improved lighting, advanced or in-street warning signage, pavement markings, and geometric design elements. Such features may be
used in combination to indicate optimal or preferred locations for people to cross and to help reinforce the driver requirement to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians at crossing locations.
FHWA: Costs for pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure improvements A resource for researchers, engineers, planners and the general public (Published 2013)
Costs for pedestrian and bicycle safety infrastructure often vary greatly from city to city and state to state. This document and its associated database are intended to provide meaningful estimates of infrastructure costs by collecting up-to-date cost information for pedestrian and bicycle treatments from states and cities across the country. Using this information, researchers, engineers, planners, and the general public can better understand the cost of pedestrian and bicycle treatments in their communities and make informed decisions about which infrastructure enhancements are best suited for implementation.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center: An overview and recommendations of high-visibility crosswalk marking styles (Published 2013)
The effect of various crosswalk marking patterns should also be understood, in terms of which ones are most effective at causing motorists to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians. The purpose of this paper is to examine the past and current research on crosswalk marking design and to come to conclusions about the best types of marking patterns under various traffic and roadway conditions.
Safe Routes to School: Marking and Signing Crosswalks (Published 2011)
It may be helpful to install marked crosswalks at signalized intersections or locations where crosswalks are typically marked, at key crossings in neighborhoods with designated school walking routes, and at certain types of uncontrolled crossings.
Safe Routes to School Online Guide (Introduced 2011)
This Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center guide is a comprehensive online reference designed to support the development of Safe Routes to School programs. One of the basic tenets of pedestrian and bicycle safety is that to be effective, safety programs must be comprehensive – involving engineering, education, enforcement, and evaluation.
FHWA Interpretation Letter 3(09)-24(I): Application of Colored Pavement (Published 2013)
In the late 1990s, the marketplace introduced and promoted aesthetic treatments for urban streetscape environments that included the opportunity to install a range of colors and a multitude of patterns. The most popular opportunity to implement these treatments was between the legally marked transverse lines of crosswalks. This was typically done as part of larger efforts by cities to enhance the aesthetics of an area that could include decorative luminaires, street furniture, sidewalk art, etc. These crosswalk treatments were publicized and marketed as a method to increase conspicuity of the crosswalk that would translate into increased safety and a reduction of pedestrian deaths. In December 2001, the FHWA issued its first Official Ruling1 regarding the use of these aesthetic treatments, which concluded that crosswalk enhancements of this type had no such discernible effect on safety or crash reduction.
Statistics
Governors Highway Safety Association: Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State
GHSA projects there were 7,148 pedestrian deaths on U.S. roads in 2024 — down 4.3% from the year before but 19.2% above 2016.
National Highway Safety Administration: Pedestrian safety
At some point in the day, everyone is a pedestrian. In 2023, 7,314 pedestrians were killed, and more than 68,000 pedestrians were injured nationwide. Over the past decade, pedestrian fatalities have continued to increase. NHTSA raises awareness of the dangers to pedestrians and provides safety tips for pedestrians and drivers.
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Fatality facts: 2023 pedestrians with 25-year trends
Deaths from motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians have increased 78% since reaching their low point in 2009 and account for 18% of crash fatalities. The rates of pedestrian crash deaths per 100,000 people are highest for people ages 20 and over.
Federal Highway Administration: Guide for improving pedestrian safety at uncontrolled crossing locations
This guide assists State or local transportation or traffic safety departments that are considering developing a policy or guide to support the installation of countermeasures at uncontrolled pedestrian crossing locations. This document provides guidance to agencies, including best practices for each step involved in selecting countermeasures. By focusing on uncontrolled crossing locations, agencies can address a significant national safety problem and improve the quality of life for pedestrians of all ages and abilities.