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Trails crossing roads: non-signalized

Treatments of road crossings by trails to alert trail users. Potential hazards exist every time a trail crosses a street or roadway. Trail and bikeway crossings may use the same warnings and crosswalks as standard pedestrian crossings. Others use creative signs to warn trail users to stop and be alert to motorized traffic. Standard red Stop signs are generally used on trails where they cross roadways. Painted crosswalks are another typical feature. The following examples are taken from various trails across the United States.

Also see photo gallery of fencing and warning signs for trailside construction

Also see photo gallery of maps at trailheads. and trailhead signs

Click on any photo to see it full size:

(Commentary and photos by Stuart Macdonald, November 2009)

All the elements of a road/trail crossing: Stop sign and dismount sign for trail users; ped/bike crossing warning for motorists; crosswalk painted on roadway; and fencing to force trail users to slow at the road. Photo by Stuart Macdonald, May 14, 2007

In addition to stop sign for trail users, motorists see yellow highway warning sign with bike/ped symbols; on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Photo by Stuart Macdonald, May 14, 2007

On Baltimore & Annapolis rail trail, street sign helps orient trail users; note rare use of bollard; photo by Stuart Macdonald, May 14, 2007

Trail crossing requires motorists as well as trail users to obey four-way stop; prominent "STOP" letters painted on trail borrows from highway standard. On trail around Mission Bay, San Diego; photo by Stuart Macdonald, Sept. 7, 2009

Unpaved trail crosses low volume road at entrance to Rocky Mountain Wildlife Refuge with crosswalk, stop sign, and STOP painted on roadway; photo by Stuart Macdonald, Nov. 7, 2009

Hot Springs Mountain Trail crosses highway switchback with crosswalk to mark the trail in 2006

"Stop Ahead" sign warns trail users of road crossing on Withlacoochie State Trail, Forida; photo by Stuart Macdonald, June 2009

Typical road crossing on Baker River Trail, Skagit County, WA; photo by Stuart Macdonald, July, 2007

Burke-Gilman Trail, another rails to trails project, crosses busy street in University of Washington, Seattle; photo by Stuart Macdonald, July 2007

Stop sign is on the left side of the trail for some reason on Orlando's Cady Way Trail; photo by Stuart Macdonald, July 5, 2009

Highly developed crossing with stop sign, symbolic bollard, and mysterious handrail; photo by Stuart Macdonald, July 5, 2009

The same Cady Way crossing includes a tactile warning strip for blind trail users, but bollard is a hazard to bikers as well as the sight-impaired; photo by Stuart Macdonald, July 5, 2009

Trail users are warned by a standard highway crossroads sign with painted arrow to guide them to right lane on Cady Way Trail, Orlando, FL; photo by Stuart Macdonald, July 5, 2009

Highline Canal Trail in Denver crosses street at angle with crosswalk guiding trail users and warning drivers; photo by Stuart Macdonald, November 6, 2009

Trails diverge at road crossing in Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC with crosswalks marking the route; photo by Stuart Macdonald, June 16, 2007

No stop sign, but bollards on the trail's edge mark street crossing on San Diego Harbor Trail; photo by Stuart Macdonald, Sept. 23, 2009

Where the same Harbor Trail crosses high-volume Coast Guard entrance, stop sign as well as "Caution watch for cars" sign warn trail users in San Diego; photo by Stuart Macdonald, Sept. 23, 2009

Sign along Shoal Creek Trail, Austin, TX; photo by Stuart Macdonald, May 6, 2007

Trail users are cautioned to continue along Iliff Blvd. to crosswalk on Highline Canal Trail, Denver; photo by Stuart Macdonald, Oct. 18, 2009

Raised refuge island where Highline Canal Trail crosses four-lane Iliff Blvd., Denver; this is another technique to improve safety on high-volume roads; photo by Stuart Macdonald, Oct. 18, 2009