Curb cut

Historically speaking, footpaths were finished at right angles to the street surface with conventional stepped curb treatments.

[4] Following this, the value of curb cuts was promoted more strongly and their installation was often made on a voluntary basis by municipal authorities and developers.

[6] Curb cuts placed at street intersections allow wheelchair users, baby carriages, toddlers on tricycles etc., to move onto or off of a sidewalk with less difficulty.

Many curb cuts also feature tactile paving, a pattern of circular bumps that indicate to visually impaired pedestrians that they are about to enter a roadway.

The concrete curb ramp is sometimes scored with grooves, the texture of which may serve as a warning to vision-impaired persons of the transition to the street.