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Complying with the MUTCD in the Absence of Specific Compliance Dates

Road & Street SupervisorsTraffic SolutionsOctober 15, 2013

James W. Ellison, P.E.Consulting Traffic Engineer

Rick Mowlds, P.E.WSDOT Sign Engineer

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Achieving conformity with the MUTCD

• New installations

• Target compliance dates

• Before end of service lifeof a device

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• New installations

• New construction & reconstruction

• Resurfacing, restoration, or rehabilitation

• New sign locations on existing roads

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Target compliance dates

• For implementation of particular devices

• Listed in MUTCD Table 1-2

• Discussed within context of a Standard (“shall” statement)

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Target compliance dates – recent changes

• FHWA Final Rule – published May 14, 2012

• Most target compliance dates published in 2009 MUTCD have been eliminated

• Now only 12 target compliance dates

• Effective date of Final Rule – June 13, 2012

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Target compliance dates – Revised Table 1-2

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Target compliance dates – Revised Table 1-2

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Target compliance dates – Revised Table 1-2• Footnotes to Table 1-2

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Target compliance dates – recent changes

• Effectively 8 remaining in Table 1-2

• 4 other compliance dates in new Table 1-2 have come and gone (crashworthiness of sign supports & high visibility apparel)

Sign RetroreflectivityTarget Compliance Date

• Sign assessment or management method to be implemented byJune 13, 2014

• Former compliance date was January 22, 2012

• Specific target compliance dates forsign retro replacements removed in favor of systematic replacement approach

New requirements for number and locations of One-Way signs

Target compliance date: December 31, 2019

Using horizontal alignment signs based upon curve differential speedTarget Compliance Date: December 31, 2019

LEFT plaques required for exits to the left

Target Compliance Date: December 31, 2014

Section 4D.26 – Yellow change intervals and red clearance intervals

• Durations shall be determined using engineering practices– Compliance date June 13, 2017 or when

timing adjustments are made (whichever occurs first)

• Former compliance date was December 31, 2014

Ped. Change Interval (FDW) shall end at least 3 seconds (“buffer”) before

release of conflicting trafficBuffer shall not begin later than the start of the red clearance interval, if used

Compliance date June 13, 2017 or when timing adjustments are made (whichever occurs first)

YIELD or STOP signs required at passive highway-rail grade crossings

by December 31, 2019

Retroreflective strip on crossbuck support & crossbuckby December 31, 2019

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• What if there is no specific target compliance date for an existing non-compliant device?• Replace before end of service life

• Non-compliant device damaged, missing, or no longer serviceable? Replace with a compliant device

• “No longer serviceable” = end of useful life

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Option available to replace a non-compliant device in-kind, based on engineering judgment

• One compliant device in midst of series of non-compliant devices would be confusing

• The series of non-compliant devices is scheduled for replacement for timely compliance with the MUTCD

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• What if there is no specific target compliance date for an existing non-compliant device?• Replace before end of service life

• Use a systematic upgrading process

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• What if there is no specific target compliance date for an existing non-compliant device?

• “Unless a particular device is no longer serviceable, non-compliant devices on existing highways and bikeways shall be brought into compliance with the current edition of the National MUTCD as a part of the systematic upgrading of substandard traffic control devices...” (2009 MUTCD - Introduction)

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• “Systematic?” Webster uses words like...

• “According to a system, method, or plan”

• “Regular; orderly planning; methodical”

• “Principles, rules, etc. arranged in a regular, orderly form so as to show a logical plan linking the various parts...”

• “An established way of doing something...”

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• “Existing devices in the field that do not meet the new MUTCD provisions are expected to be upgraded by highway agencies over time to meet the newprovisions via a systematic upgrading process...” (Federal Register,August 31, 2011)

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Challenges to highway agencies

• Current economic climate

• Staffing levels

• Increase in material costs

• Labor & equipment costs to implement upgrades

• Budget cuts and/or no increases in M&O

Complying With MUTCD Changes

• Systematic upgrading process allows highway agencies to prioritize their traffic control device upgrades based on:

• Relative safety needs

• Costs

• Available resources

Systematic Upgrading Process

• Deferring certain upgrades

• Agencies can decide to defer upgrade of certain non-compliant devices until device wears out, is damaged or destroyed, or is replaced

• Before end of service life

Systematic Upgrading Process

• Where upgrades should not be deferred

• Construction projects

• Where there is a specific compliance date

• When a device isat the end of its service life

What if you don’t comply?

• No “MUTCD Police”

• Who enforces?

What if you don’t comply?

• Withholding of Federal funding?

• “Confirmed! Bureaucrats Have No Sense of Humor, Funny Stop Signs Nixed” (Source: David Lavrinc, Autoblog.com, May 2, 2008)

What if you don’t comply?

• Standards of good practice?• Professional ethics?• Doing the right thing?

• Uniformity

• Driver comprehension

• Safety considerations

What if you don’t comply?

• Tort liability and risk management

• Potential claims

• Potential lawsuits

• Damage awards

What if you don’t comply?

• Tort liability and risk management

• Kentucky Transportation Center University of Kentucky “Roadway-Related Tort Liability and Risk Management”

“The largest total dollar claim amounts were related to claims involving traffic control devices . The major types of claims in this category would be related to inadequate signs or markings, lack of a stop sign, or inadequate warning on a stop approach.”