New Toll Road Signs in the 2009 MUTCD: Illinois State Toll Highway Authority Experience

摘要

The Federal Highway Administration led implementation of the tenth major version of theManual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD), the core USdocument guiding traffic control. The MUTCD includes a new chapter on toll road signing. TheIllinois State Toll Highway Authority (Authority) took a keen interest in the developmentprocess, providing extensive comments on draft changes. With the Manual’s release in late 2009,the Authority is attempting to implement as much of the new Manual as possible. Thecollaborative product of the FHWA MUTCD Team has gone a long way towards addressingconcerns of the Authority and others. Nevertheless, some aspects in the Manual are not meetingexpectations, the most critical being the definition of a standard (“shall” statement) andassociated prohibition on variance. The need for a middle ground between the standard languageof the 2009 MUTCD and the prior 2003 MUTCD is explored. A specific issue concernsOverhead Arrow-per-Lane signs for option lane exits at Major interchanges. In practice, theremay be other exits in close proximity that may be difficult to accommodate. Additionally,MUTCD treatment of option lane exits at non-Major interchanges mixes surface street signingwith freeway signing. More research on option lane exits is thus suggested. The paper coversAuthority comments on the draft MUTCD, resulting treatment in the MUTCD, and relatedissues. The goal is to relate the experience of a major toll agency and identify some remainingareas of concern.