Paths, trails and tracks

1.0Overview 2.0Location/function 3.0Summary 4.0Site Planning 5.0Design 6.0Recreation planning 7.0Positioning 8.0Equal access 9.0Illustrations 10.0Vehicles 11.0Fire management 12.0Detailed design 13.0Surface materials 14.0Standards 15.0Project management and maintenance 16.0Technical drawings

Site Planning

Best practice guidance for site planning

Decision framework

The LIM has adopted the Australian Standards for classification of paths/trails:

AS 2156.1 – Walking tracks – Classification and signage.
- See also ‘PTT classification information’ on the following page for further guidance.
AS 2156.2 – Walking tracks – Infrastructure design.

There are a range of Australian Standards/best practice guidelines, relating to this category. Key documents are referenced throughout and in the recommended standards section.

Site decisions

All decisions, including the location of the embellishment and related infrastructure, must be made in conjunction with council (determined by site location), including officers from such areas as:

Council (Parks and Gardens)

Council (Environmental Operations)

Council (Transport Network Management)

Users

Consult with council stakeholders, neighbouring properties and identified park users in the planning stage of a project.

Site conditions

Consider the physical characteristics of a site and requirements of the activities to be conducted:

prevailing winds
location of utilities
well drained site
level surface
flood immunity requirements.

Co-location of facilities

Facilities, including parking and pathways, are often already established and need to be considered in the overall park design.
Include connecting pathways for universal access and provide shade where possible.

Safety

Safety clearances must be met.
Adopt principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) Guidelines for Queensland. Locate PTT to allow users to feel safe, and to provide an opportunity for casual surveillance.

Potential site conflicts

Locate PTT away from:

Residential areas, where possible, to avoid noise issues.
High use bikeways, busy roads and steep slopes, to avoid accidents.
Avoid interfering with other open space users. PTT installed too close to embellishments will interrupt the free flow of pedestrian/cyclist traffic.
Hazards such as waterways, fire and flood prone areas, sewers and stormwater drains, underground services, power poles.

Planning for sustainability

Refer Design principles – Sustainability for guidance.

Planning for future works

Co-locate embellishments requiring similar services e.g. water, to reduce infrastructure, where possible.
Where underground utilities are installed, set brass markers to concrete slab edges to indicate the location.
Consider installation of additional conduits under concrete slabs for future provision, where utilities (e.g. electrical, water) and irrigation systems are planned. Ensure additional conduit is capped to prevent ingress of water and debris.
Consider climate change impacts on the embellishment location and construction ¹.
- In coastal areas, or near waterways, design should consider rise in sea level predictions, storm tide, salt inundation and severe storm events.
- Positioning should also consider flooding, seasonal/ephemeral water bodies and water table changes.
- Near bushland areas, design should consider the occurrence of bushfires.

^{Source 1: Sunshine Coast Environment and Liveability Strategy 2017.}

PTT classification

The LIM Paths, trails and tracks category, has adopted the Australian Standards classification for paths.

Paths/trails/tracks (PTT) is the term used in this section to refer to a ‘way’ which is designed primarily for the use of pedestrians (including mobility devices), cyclists and for horse riding.

See the following for further guidance:

AS 2156.1 – Walking Tracks Part 1: Classification and signage.
Table 1: Paths/trails/tracks classification.

The Open Space Landscape Infrastructure Manual (LIM) has adopted the following classes for paths/trails as follows:

Paths (class 1 and 2 paths)

May be located in parks, open spaces and natural areas.
May form part of a tracks and trails network.
May form part of a network which includes paths within road reserves and on-road cyclist paths.
May form part of a network which includes pedestrian bridges and boardwalks which are raised or laid on ground.

Trails (class 3, and 4 trails)

May be located in open spaces and natural areas.
May form part of a tracks and trails network.
May form part of a network which includes pedestrian bridges and boardwalks which are raised or laid on ground.

Tracks (class 5 and 6 trails/tracks the majority of which are state administered, excepting class 5 mountain bike trails/tracks)

Class 5 mountain bike trails/tracks are located on land managed by Council and are used primarily for the purpose of recreational mountain bike riding.
May form part of a tracks and trails network.
The majority of Class 5 and 6 trails/tracks are located on land not owned or managed by Council, and as such are not profiled in the LIM.
Please contact the relevant State Government department directly for further guidance. For design guidelines see also Outdoors Queensland website (formerly known as Queensland Outdoor Recreation Federation).

Table 1: Paths/trails/tracks classification

Embellishment	Class category	Authority
Paths Paths should be located in developed and semi-developed open spaces i.e. Pedestrian coastal pathway/cycle way		Sunshine Coast Council (SCC)
Trails Trails should be located in a natural or semi-natural open space i.e. a nature walking trail		Sunshine Coast Council (SCC)
Tracks Tracks refers to anything from a dirt road to an unpaved pedestrian path on State land		Sunshine Coast Council (SCC) Dept of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing (NPRSR)

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Sunshine Coast Open Space Landscape Infrastructure Manual (LIM) DISCLAIMER

Disclaimer

Information contained in this document may change without notice and you should use the current material available from Council’s website and not rely on material previously printed or stored by you.

All figures and diagrams are intended to be used as an aid to design and include Council’s preferred elements but they are not intended to be prescriptive and may need to be varied as dictated by site specific factors. While Council has exercised reasonable care in preparing this document, it does not warrant or represent that it is accurate or complete. The Council will not accept responsibility for any loss, damage, cost or expense that you may incur as a result of the use of or reliance upon any material contained in this document.

This document is produced to convey general information and is not intended to constitute advice whether professional or legal. Any reference to legislation in this document is not an interpretation of the law. It is to be used as a guide only. Consult relevant authority websites for current documents, revisions and amendments.

Where a particular product or supplier is profiled in this document, Council is NOT nominating this product or supplier as the selected choice. Product/supplier information has been provided to allow users to source products which contain the correct elements required for Council embellishments. Each product profiled states ‘or equivalent’ which means that different products may be supplied provided they satisfy the identified performance criteria, recommended standards, equal access guidance and product specifications.

Product design, manufacture and installation requires appropriately qualified people to provide site specific solutions to ensure the embellishment is appropriately adapted to local conditions and data.

This document does not override requirements stipulated in a development approval. Project specific variations may be appropriate as a result of site, environmental or other constraints. Any variations to these standards must be approved in writing by council prior to commencement of variation works. Components of this document may be used within a contract document but users should undertake their own investigations to confirm the information is suitable for this purpose.

Drawings contained in this document are NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION.

Details in this document are deemed to be the minimum standard and the user may wish to apply a higher standard subject to approval by council.

Acknowledgements

Council wishes to thank all contributors and stakeholders involved in the development of this document.

Sunshine Coast Regional Council (Council) supports and encourages the distribution of its material however, copyright protects this document. Council has no objection to this material being reproduced but only if council is recognised as the owner of the copyright and this material remains unaltered.

https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au [email protected]07 5475 7272