ATSSA Signal May June 2019

The Signal | May/June 2019 29 Training News The Federal Highway Administra- tion (FHWA) Deputy Administrator Bran- dye Hendrickson recently announced that a Notice of Proposed Amendments (NPA) for the Manual on Uniform Traf- fic Control Devices (MUTCD) will be re- leased this fall. Hendrickson informed ATSSA members of upcoming revisions during ATSSA’s Legislative Briefing & Fly-In on May 1–2. Standards and regulation for Traffic Control Devices (TCD) are highly critical in keeping roadway users safe. The MUTCD’s purpose has been to provide guidance to traffic control workers across the United States. The manual also helps address the issue of a lack of standardization—still; some states dif- fer in their traffic control operations. “The MUTCD is the national reference guide that helps roadway workers can ensure the safety of everyone on the road, including themselves,” said ATSSA Senior Technical Advisor Eric Perry. “While personal knowledge, experience, and judgment should not be ignored, it is important that all public agencies, manufacturers, suppliers, traffic con- trol groups, and members of the trans- portation industry, understand the im- portance of the MUTCD and recognize that it should be a reference when con- ducting traffic operations.” The MUTCD was last revised in 2012. Changes weremade to the 2009 edition and included revisions to Section 1A.09, which added more information about utilizing engineering judgement when determining the use of a particular traf- fic device at a location in a work site. Additional revisions were made to Sec- tion 1A.13, which removed verbiage stating, “Standard statements shall not bemodified or compromised based on engineering judgment or engineer- ing study.” The final adaptation was made to Sec- tion 2D.43, which added information about the exception of historic street signs from adhering to regular sign provisions. Perry said it is anticipated that many transportation stakeholders will submit comments in response to the FHWA’s NPA, including ATSSA and the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD). At ATSSA’s 49th An- nual Convention & Traffic Expo, techni- cal committees formed a MUTCD Task Force in preparation for the NPA release, so the association is prepared to re- spond to comment from its members. According to the NCUTCD Chair Gene Hawkins, the committee’s technical com- mittees will need to think strategically about the issues that need to be ad- dressed in the MUTCD. “Changing user needs and advances in technologies may create the opportu- nity and/or need to make fundamental changes in the MUTCD,” Hawkins stated in a chair message in late January. “It is likely that our technical committeemem- bers will need to devote significant ef- fort to evaluating the content of the NPA and developing draft docket comments for the council to consider.” Hawkins stated at this stage, the NCUTCD’s technical committee should have or be finalizing a document that includes changes that were approved by the council since June 2008 and this will help in making comparisons be- tween their recommendations and the NPA language. Additionally, Hawkins stated that each of the NCUTCD’s technical committees should also have, or be in the process of developing, experience in using the webmeeting technologies that the coun- cil has access to and the experience will prove useful for developing docket re- sponses when the NPA is released. Hawkins stated another objective for this spring is to roll out improvements to the NCUTCD’s website, which should include the creation of list serves for technical committees and password- protected file sharing capabilities. Fi- nally, each technical committee mem- ber should be aware of the topical con- tent of the NPA and understand that they will be responsible for reviewing once it is published. “When the NPA is published, it will be interesting to see how the MUTCD will be adapted and how that will then af- fect those within the transportation in- dustry,” Perry said. “ATSSA intends to stay up to date about potential revisions and intends to share that information with the roadway safety industry.”  Changing user needs and advances in technologies may create the opportunity and/or need to make fundamental changes in the MUTCD. It is likely that our technical committee members will need to devote significant ef fort to evaluating the content of the NPA and developing draf t docket comments for the council to consider.