News in Brief

Frank Brewer Named to NCUTCD Technical Committee

Congratulations are in order for our own Frank Brewer! Frank has been named as a technical member of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or NCUTCD. He serves as a member of NCUTCD's Temporary Traffic Controls technical committee. This move recognizes Frank's many years of excellence as a work zone traffic control instructor for both TTAP and the National Highway Institute and places him in a position to help shape future revisions to Part 6 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

Deadline for MUTCD Traffic Signal Timing Changes Has Passed

The 2009 Edition of the MUTCD included revisions which may require changes to signal timing at some intersections. Section 4D.26 states that the durations of yellow change and red clearance intervals shall be determined using engineering practices. Section 4E.06 contains a new requirement in the 2009 MUTCD that the pedestrian change interval shall not extend into the red clearance interval and shall be followed by a buffer interval of at least 3 seconds. The compliance date associated with these revisions is June 13, 2017 (5 years after Tennessee's official adoption of the 2009 MUTCD). To learn more about these changes and to see additional compliance dates, please visit the MUTCD website at (https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno_2009r1r2.htm).

FHWA Issues New MUTCD Interim Approvals for Tennessee Agencies

TDOT has requested and received approval to implement new or revised traffic control devices under existing FHWA interim approvals. This approval allows TDOT and all local agencies in Tennessee to use green pavement in bicycle lanes (IA-14.100) and to apply an alternate version of signal warrant 7 for crash experience (IA-19.1). The use of green pavement or the alternate signal warrant is optional. All applications must comply with the terms of the interim approvals as shown on the MUTCD website (https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/res-interim_approvals.htm). Local agencies wishing to utilize these interim measures should coordinate with TDOT State Traffic Engineer Jason Oldham (615-741-0995 or Jason.oldham@tn.gov). Please remember that any traffic control device deployed under an interim approval must be brought into compliance with the provisions of the MUTCD within 3 months following the issuance of a final rule on this traffic control device; and it must be removed if at any time FHWA determines significant safety concerns are directly or indirectly attributable to the device or application.

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