Just to be sure you typed that correctly- the walk drops an average of roughly one, one and half feet for every three feet in run? Are you planning on doing a "switchback" style ramp to keep a gentle slope?

I'm nowhere near your aunts' age but I do have disablitites that make me have strong opinions about walking surfaces!

As marcinde points out, if your info on slope is right, that's the first issue to address - that's way too steep.

My preferred surface is definitely concrete. I cringe whenever I have to walk on pavers. They are almost invariably uneven if you have a climate with freeze/thaw cycles. Pavers can look deceptively even if the 'lines' between the individual pavers are straight. But, if the pavers are actually uneven from the ground shifting, the disconnect between your eyes saying it's even and your feet telling you that it's not makes it doubly hazardous. At their age, there may be also visual perception problems (e.g. impaired depth perception from unequal visual acuity in left vs. right eye...) If so, that adds hazards by making it more difficult to perceive and mentally adjust for uneven footing. If you do choose pavers, avoid any pattern that gives a 3-D effect (e.g. herringbone patterns can look like a series of hills and valleys that increase the difficulty in assessing whether the surface you are stepping onto is actually level or not.

A railing - make sure it's very solid! - is definitely a good idea. In case they need a wheelchair at any point, a 4' wide path would also be a good idea.

I wouldn't expect a properly installed concrete walkway with reinforcing in it would do much cracking/shifting. But I would hire a good professional to do if after you figure out exactly what you want. I wouldn't expect it to be cheap either!

I'd think a viable alternative is a well-constructed and sturdy wooden ramp with appropriate hand railings. This is a relatively common addition to homes in my area that serve the elderly or physically disabled. And a wooden ramp is pretty easy to disassemble and remove once the house is sold.

Your slope as stated is an issue as you want the incline to be gradual, both for the sake of safety and for the ease of pushing a wheelchair or walker, should that be necessary. With a wooden ramp, you can accommodate a relatively steep slope or change in grade without regrading by properly constructed switchbacks. And the surface can be covered with an anti-skid material (or paint) for sure footing in both wet or icy conditions. Also easy to shovel for snow removal.

You might want to do some research on ADA design guidelines, as they will offer very specific construction specifications on ramps and building access for safety concerns, as well as other interior and exterior safety issues you may want to address.

Here is a link that might be useful: ADA facility access guidelines

Woodyoak and gardengal48 - thank you SO much for your excellent info. After discussing the slope with my husband, we do agree that it may be too steep for the aunts. This is a ranch style house with the garage underneath. So.. if the driveway is at 0 feet the front porch would be about 8-10 feet higher than that. We estimate the front door to be about 40 feet from the side of the house where the drive way is. I don't know what the angle of incline would be (I'll have to find a geometry book) but we do have an alternative.... the original path goes very close to the hours from the front porch to the driveway which is on the side of the house. The slope is not as steep if we went straight out from the front porch about 20 feet and then turned right, down the hill towards the driveway. So that was very very useful info. All the info from Woodyoak on the pavers was incredibly helpful as well and pretty much convinced me not to go that route. The porch steps are concrete so a concrete path would coordinate. I don't think the would go for the wood ramp although that is a good idea. If the incline is less steep we may not need a handrail and I think I would have a hard time getting the aunts to agree to a handrail anyway as they don't really need it at this time.

Safety guidelines call for about a 1:12 slope, so an elevation change of 8 feet needs 96 feet of sloping walk (not including any level landings), and an elevation change of 10 feet needs 120 feet of sloping walkway. This makes a comfortable walk that is not a strain. I'm thinking that a meandering walkway with steps as a shortcut between levels would offer ease when needed and challenge when desired.

The surface finish of concrete is quite important and needs to be discussed beforehand. There are so many finishes to choose from. Definitely DON'T want a slick finish!

Besides wheelchair access (very important), four feet of width is comfortable for two people to walk along beside each other.

Handrails don't have to be ugly.

gardengal is 100% right on handrails! An absolute must for a long, sloping walkway for balance...

If there is a suitable place off the front porch where it either drops to ground level or to a lower level that would considerably reduce the length of ramp required, you might want to consider the option of a porch lift as a complete - or partial- solution. When we bought and renovated this bungalow 9 years ago, my preference was for ramps for access but what I wanted (a double outer wall to allow for a 'hanging garden' to be built into the ramp...) turned out to be much too expensive. In addition, even though the drop to ground level was only about 3', the length of ramp was awkward to accommodate without interfering with garage access. So we had to come up with an alternative in a hurry as the renovation was nearing completion. We had porch lifts installed in both front and back porches. They are practical but rather utilitarian in appearance so we hid them behind lattice walls over which we grow vines. It was a hastily put together solution that is soon going to be due for a re-work to make a nicer arbour out of them. The cost of the lifts, while not inexpensive, was considerably less than the ramps I originally wanted. I'm sure your aunts would initially not like the idea of the lifts from looking at their utilitarian appearance but if you can imagine them with a nice arbour built around them, the idea might be more acceptable. They are certainly a very easy access option. I have a service check done twice a year but, other than that, they've been no maintenance. Power failures are a risk - I got stuck in the backyard for a while during that big power failure a few years ago....:-) If you're worried about something like that, you can get a battery back-up to ensure power is always available.

These aren't the best of pictures, but here is a view of the tower wall (the 'tower' contains the machinery that oporates and supports the lift..) for the:

front lift:
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back lift:
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Just another option to consider....

Some real challenges in this situation. Is there an opportunity to make a more favorable parking area with the driveway/walkway re-do?

Regarding the porch lift, that's a very nice treatment of an interesting solution...