Chapter 13: Footways and cycleways

From the mid-1700s, separate footways became the norm, with vehicles being segregated to the carriageways and pedestrians to the footway. At this stage, there is merit in clarifying the term ‘footway’ and how it is used in this chapter. In the UK, the generic term ‘pavement’ is usually applied to the footway, whereas in this text a footway is merely a subcategory of the overall family of pavements. The typical width of a footway is around 2 m, and they should be designed to ensure there is a positive drainage provision and robust edge support at the front and back. The construction of all walking surfaces is similar to the diagrams in Figures 13.1 and 13.2.