# Presentation: 923482

## Jan. 2, 2008 Notice of Proposed Amendments to the MUTCD

- Presented by the
- 	Federal Highway Administration’s
- 	Office of Transportation Operations

**Linda Brown**
**Fred Ranck**
**Ken Wood**

**Hari Kalla**
**Scott Wainwright**
**Kevin Sylvester**

## 2007 NPA

**Published in the Federal Register on     January 2, 2008**
**Deadline for comments to docket is               **_***July 31, 2008***_
**View all documents on MUTCD website at **_**[http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov](http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/)**_
**Submit any comments to docket electronically at **_**www.regulations.gov**_

## How does this NPA relate to the 12/21/07 Final Rule on Maintaining Sign Retroreflectivity?

**Sign Retroreflectivity Rule modifies existing 2003 MUTCD as Revision 2 of that edition**
**Effective date of Rev. 2 is 1/22/08**
**NPA does not show the Rev. 2 changes, but...**
**When final rule for 2009 MUTCD is published, it will incorporate the Sign Retroreflectivity material already in effect.**

## Formatting Revisions

**Formatting Revisions**

**Notes:**
There were significant formatting revisions in the 2000 and 2003 editions of the MUTCD.  There is only one significant formatting revision contemplated for the 2009 Edition.

## Should paragraphs be numbered?

**Notes:**
Comments are being sought as to whether paragraph numbers should be provided in the margins of the 2009 MUTCD text to aid practitioners in referencing the MUTCD.  Samples of 4 different ways of paragraph numbering that are being considered can be viewed on the MUTCD website.

## Revisions to the Introduction

**Revisions to the Introduction**

**Notes:**
The following slides discuss the significant proposed revisions in the MUTCD Introduction.

## MUTCD application on private property that is “open to public travel”

**Notes:**
Clarification is being added that, for the purpose of MUTCD applicability, the phrase “open to public travel” includes toll roads and roads within shopping centers, parking lots, airports, sports arenas, and other similar business and recreation facilities that are privately owned but where the public is allowed to travel without access restrictions.  This reflects the final rule in 2006 that modified the Code of Federal Regulations (23 CFR 655) to add this definition, except that military bases would be considered open to public travel.

**Green STOP sign with a pictograph---endangered species!**

**Notes:**
The use of signs like this one will hopefully become less frequent on private facilities open to public travel.

## Compliance Dates

**New dates for new provisions**
**Dates made specific for provisions associated with 2003 MUTCD**
**Dates deleted that will have been reached by early 2009**

**Notes:**
Compliance dates, ranging from two years to 15 years, are proposed for some of these significant changes in the 2007 NPA, in order to minimize any impact on state and local highway agencies. Compliance dates associated with the 2003 MUTCD are being assigned specific dates (rather than “X years after the effective date of the final rule for the 2003 MUTCD”) now that those specific dates are known. Compliance dates (for provisions in earlier editions of the MUTCD) that will have been reached by early 2009 are being deleted.

## Revisions to Part 1 -- General

**Revisions to Part 1 -- General**

**Notes:**
The following slides discuss the significant revisions that are proposed in Part 1, some of which have global effects throughout the MUTCD.

## Certain signs and other devices are not considered to be              traffic control devices 

**Notes:**
Certain types of signs and other devices that that do not have any traffic control purpose that are placed by or with the permission of the public agency or official having jurisdiction are being identified as “not considered to be traffic control devices” .  These signs and other devices are not intended for use by road users in general and their message is only important to individuals who have been instructed in their meanings. Examples include:
devices to assist highway maintenance personnel (such as markers to guide snowplow operators, identify culvert and drop inlet locations, etc.) 
devices to assist law enforcement or fire personnel (such as markers to identify fire hydrant locations, fire or water district boundaries, speed measurement markings, and “rat lights” for red light violation enforcement)
devices to assist utility company personnel and highway contractors (such as markers to identify underground utility locations)
signs posting local non-traffic ordinances, and  
signs giving civic organization meeting information.
GUIDANCE is also added that such signs and other devices as described above should be located where they will not interfere with, or detract from traffic control devices.  

## Traffic control devices for toll plazas, managed lanes, and preferential lanes

**Traffic control devices for toll plazas, managed lanes, and preferential lanes**

**Notes:**
Experience has shown us that the evolution of electronic toll technology has the potential to improve capacity as well as reduce congestion at toll plazas.  In addition to ETC, the transportation industry is also seen the evolution of a variety of other technology applications based on the managed lane concept.  Managed lanes feature operational strategies such as tolls, vehicle occupancy requirements, and vehicle type restrictions that are variable and put into effect on a real-time basis to respond to changing conditions. 
In an effort to improve safety and traffic operations, new provisions are included throughout the MUTCD to provide consistency and uniformity of signs, pavement markings and traffic signals used for these types of facilities. 

## New purple color for “electronic toll collection only”signs and pavement markings

**Notes:**
The color purple is being assigned to indicate facilities or lanes restricted to use only by vehicles equipped with electronic toll collection (ETC) transponders in order to readily identify such facilities or lanes using signs and pavement markings. 

## Definitions

**Approximately 30 new definitions are being added**
**Approximately 20 existing definitions are being revised**

**Notes:**
Approximately 30 new definitions are being added and approximately 20 existing definitions are being revised for words and phrases used in the MUTCD.

## Acronyms and abbreviations

**The meanings of approximately 30 acronyms and abbreviations are being identified**

**Notes:**
A new section is being added to provide the meanings of approximately 30 acronyms and abbreviations that are used in the MUTCD, to assist readers.

## Acceptable abbreviations on traffic control devices

**Additions, deletions**
**Use on portable changeable message signs vs. use on fixed message signs and large permanent CMS**
**Punctuation or characters other than letters or numerals should not be used on any signs**

**Notes:**
In Table 1A-1 Acceptable Abbreviations, several additional abbreviations are being added for various terms that are often used on signs or markings and for which a single abbreviation for each is needed to enhance uniformity.  Also, several are being revised based on accepted practice in the specific context of the manner in which fixed messages are developed.  Further, some words are being removed from the table that should not be abbreviated on static signs or large permanent full-matrix changeable message signs.
In concert with these changes to Table 1A-1, the title of Table 1A-2 is being revised to “Abbreviations That Shall Only Be Used on Portable Changeable Message Signs” and some of the abbreviations being removed from Table 1A-1 are being added to Table 1A-2, which will specifically list the abbreviations (some of which can only be used with a prompt word) that are appropriate only for use on portable changeable message signs (PCMS).  The original research on abbreviations was based on the need to shorten words when used on portable changeable message signs due to the limited number of characters available, unlike fixed-message signs.  Many of the abbreviations were developed for words that would not otherwise normally be abbreviated on signs, and the intent was not to abbreviate such words on fixed-message signs.
Also, GUIDANCE is being added indicating that punctuation marks or other characters that are not letters or numerals should not be used in abbreviations, unless absolutely necessary to avoid confusion.