Author(s)

ALESSIO MORICCA, VEDRANA IKALOVIC

Abstract

Pedestrian mobility is the only mobility that is included in all types of itineraries, while pedestrians are one of the most vulnerable users of the road. In the Hauts de France region, which has been transforming from an industrial into an IT and service-oriented region, it is possible to denote a massive presence of construction sites that cause numerous issues to the local community in their proximity. Literature analysis shows that researchers often underestimate the importance of pedestrians, hence, one of the problems which is analysed in this study is the mobility in construction site proximity. The purpose was to analyse the comfort of the sidewalks and the pedestrian behaviour. The analysis of pedestrian mobility is conducted in the regional capital Lille including (1) an analysis of the history of Lille’s Catholic University and the territory using GIS; (2) a CAWI survey to study the attitude of pedestrians and their opinions about construction sites; and (3) an observation of three sidewalks located in proximity of construction sites. Observations and questionnaires show that residents are willing to accept construction sites and adapt to the changes, showing particular interest in the construction projects and their progress. In their interest lies an opportunity for a better integration of construction sites within the neighbourhood. The study concludes that better communication between stakeholders using real-time plans of temporary dynamics, would bring specific improvements to different types of sidewalks and streets.

Keywords

construction sites, pedestrian mobility, road safety