Railings and handrails can improve safety and comfort for pedestrians on bridges/overpasses and underpasses, and on pedestrian/bike bridges and pedestrian/bike underpasses.

In cases where railings or handrails are provided on both sides of a sidewalk, clear width must be maintained between them as measured from the face of the railing. The minimum clear width between railings is 4-ft and passing spaces of 5-ft are required every 200-ft. However, designers should consider consistent wider clear spaces for pedestrian facilities on all bridges and underpasses as they need to accommodate the potential for two users passing one another. A 5-ft passing space between two adjacent vertical elements is not adequate for two users in mobility devices to navigate past one another. See for minimum clear widths on shared use paths.

Additionally, pedestrians’ natural behavior is to shy away from vertical elements, such as railings or walls adjacent to a pedestrian route. The area of the sidewalk they tend to avoid is referred to as shy distance. A shy distance of 2- ft is recommended for pedestrian facilities on bridges and underpasses where continuous railings or handrails are used, with a minimum of 1-ft shy distance in constrained locations where lane widths and other widths are also reduced to minimum dimensions. This may result in a wider sidewalk than the facility approaching the bridge or underpass.

Railings may be used on the outside edge of a pedestrian facility on a bridge, between the pedestrian facility and adjacent travelway on a bridge or in an underpass, or on the edges of a pedestrian/bike bridge. Railing height and placement requirements differ based on the expected design user, the type of facility, and the adjacent slope. The warranting conditions where railings should be considered adjacent to steep slopes are discussed below under . Refer to Chapter 3 Section 2 of TxDOT’s and Chapter 3 Section 1 of TxDOT’s for further guidance on the use of railings on bridges. shows an example application of railing to treat a steep drop off.

To maintain minimum ADA requirements on sloped approaches to a grade-separated facility (bridge or overpass), handrails must be provided at a continuous height between 34- and 38-in. TxDOT’s Pedestrian Handrail standard height is 36-in above the walk surface. A second set of handrails at a maximum height of 28-in may be considered if children are expected to be regular users of the facility. If two levels of handrails are provided, the minimum vertical clearance between the two should be 9-in to reduce the likelihood of entrapment. Refer to Section 505 for additional design criteria related to handrails.