New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 17 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Chapter V - New York State Supplement To The National Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices For Streets And Highways-2009 Edition › Part 4 - Highway Traffic Signals › Chapter 4G - Traffic Control Signals And Hybrid Beacons For Emergency Vehicle Access › Section 4G.01 - Applications of Emergency-Vehicle Traffic Control Signals and Hybrid Beacons

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
DELETE the entire section.
INSERT the following paragraphs:
Support:
00A An emergency-vehicle traffic control signal is a
					 special traffic control signal that assigns the right-of-way to an authorized
					 emergency vehicle. Adherence to certain warrants and guidelines is necessary to
					 prevent indiscriminate application, with resultant motorist disregard for
					 warranted installations.
00B While emergency signals make it easier for emergency
					 vehicles to enter and proceed along highways, they can be disadvantageous for
					 volunteer personnel trying to reach an emergency vehicle facility. Volunteers
					 traveling to the facility are not permitted to proceed through red indications.
					 Red indications on the highway approaches to an emergency vehicle facility and
					 their attendant traffic queues may increase volunteers' response times.
Option:
00C An emergency-vehicle hybrid beacon may be installed
					 instead of an emergency-vehicle traffic control signal under conditions
					 described in Section 4G.04
Guidance:
00D An emergency-vehicle traffic control signal should be
					 provided only if there is a demonstrated need. Consideration should first be
					 given to providing less sophisticated solutions (e.g., warning signs and/or
					 flashing beacon assemblies) to operational problems.
00E The factors to be considered in determining the need
					 for an emergency-vehicle traffic control signal should include: vehicular
					 volumes and speeds; the number and timing of emergency vehicle movements;
					 visibility of the emergency vehicles to approaching traffic; sight distance
					 along the highway at the point where emergency vehicles enter the roadway or
					 intersection; and emergency vehicle accident experience.
00F The following warrants should be applied in considering
					 the installation of an emergency-vehicle traffic control signal:
Two-lane highways. Emergency-vehicle traffic control
					 signals should be used on two-lane highways only where, within a two-year
					 period, 200 emergency calls occur during times when the rate of flow on the
					 highway is at least:
750 vehicles per hour; or
525 vehicles per hour, if the 85th-percentile highway speed
					 is over 40 miles per hour; or
525 vehicles per hour if the stopping sight distance for
					 vehicles approaching on the major street is insufficient to permit reasonably
					 safe entrance of emergency vehicles; or
375 vehicles per hour, if the 85th-percentile highway speed
					 is over 40 miles per hour and the stopping sight distance for vehicles
					 approaching on the major street is insufficient to permit reasonably safe
					 entrance of emergency vehicles.
Four-lane highways. Emergency-vehicle traffic control
					 signals should be used on four-lane highways only where, within a two-year
					 period, 200 emergency calls occur during times when the rate of flow on the
					 highway is at least:
900 vehicles per hour; or
630 vehicles per hour, if the 85th-percentile highway speed
					 is over 40 miles per hour; or
630 vehicles per hour if the stopping sight distance for
					 vehicles approaching on the major street is insufficient to permit reasonably
					 safe entrance of emergency vehicles; or
450 vehicles per hour, if the 85th-percentile highway speed
					 is over 40 miles per hour and the stopping sight distance for vehicles
					 approaching on the major street is insufficient to permit reasonably safe
					 entrance of emergency vehicles.
Support:
00G The stopping sight distance may be determined using the
					 2004 AASHTO Policy, Stopping Sight Distance, Exhibit 3-1.