CAUTION! Avoid the Legal Detour: Understand Your Traffic Control Before You Dig
Have you ever noticed that most types of traffic signs in the US – regardless of your location - are generally in the same proximity and size? That uniformity of traffic signs, or sometimes referred to as traffic control devices, is largely due to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD for short. The MUTCD contains the national standards and guidance for governing traffic control devices, for both permanent and temporary (i.e. construction work zones) applications. Its key purpose is to ensure uniformity on roadways in order to increase the safety of the traveling public.
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he Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) MUTCD has been largely adopted by every state in the US and fed downward through counties, cities, towns, etc. Throughout the last 20 years, there have been few editions of the MUTCD, with revisions being made and adopted along the way. The current MUTCD, the 2009 Edition, became effective in January 2010 and was required to be adopted by states or other federal agencies within two years of the effective date. When using the MUTCD, the user must first understand that the manual is broken up by four different headings – Standard, Guidance, Option, and Support – used to help the user with making the appropriate decision. The MUTCD is no different than other design standards put in place across the Country; however, there are a few general things to consider when looking at traffic control and its possible impacts to a site.
FEBRUARY, 2022
Understand the Basics How can something so simple have so much importance when it comes to a project or a case? Well, to get a good glimpse of how important it can be, especially in the construction industry, one needs to simply look at the roadway work zone statistics. In 2019, the FHWA reported that there were nearly 842 work zone fatalities by transportation mode in the US, mostly due to drivers and passengers.1 When existing driving patterns are impacted in a work zone, drivers and pedestrians can often be confused as to where they are supposed to go, especially when done incorrectly. This is where the MUTCD and its sections on temporary traffic control play the utmost importance. Could those 842 fatalities in 2019 have been avoided by proper use of traffic control? Maybe, maybe not. But it could help in preventing contractors and owncontinued on page 60
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