Category:903 Highway Signing

History. The need for uniform standards was recognized long ago. The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), now known as the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), published a manual for rural highways in 1927, and the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) published a manual for urban streets in 1930. In the early years, the necessity for unification of the standards applicable to the different classes of road and street systems was obvious. To meet this need, a joint committee of AASHO and NCSHS developed and published the original edition of the MUTCD in 1935. That committee, now called the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD), though changed from time to time in name, organization, and personnel, has been in continuous existence and contributes to the revisions of the MUTCD. The FHWA has administered the MUTCD since the 1971 edition and is the sole authority over its content since that time.

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, under authority granted by the Highway Safety Act of 1966, decreed that traffic control devices on all streets and highways open to public travel in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 109(d) and 402(a) in each state shall be in substantial conformance with the Standards issued or endorsed by the FHWA.23 CFR 655.603, which adopts the MUTCD as the national standard for any street, highway, or bicycle trail open to public travel in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 109(d) and 402(a).

Support. Missouri Revised Statue 300.135 states “All traffic control signs, signals and devices shall conform to the manual and specifications approved by the state highways and transportation commission or resolution adopted by the legislative body of the city. All signs or signals required hereunder for a particular purpose shall so far as practicable be uniform as to type and location throughout the city. All traffic control devices so erected and not inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance shall be official traffic control devices.”

September 12, 1961, the Commission first adopted the provisions of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and authorized the department staff to bring signing, marking, and signalization on the State Highway System into conformity therewith. On July 10, 2001, the Commission approved the most current version of the MUTCD as the basis for MODOT traffic control policy into the future and authorized implementation of actions need to bring future deviations into compliance.

Standard. The traffic control articles of the Engineering Policy Guide (EPG) serve as MoDOT’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The EPG shall be used when applying traffic control devices to state maintained routes. The MUTCD cannot be used as a standalone document without the EPG when applying traffic control devices to state maintained routes as MoDOT does not adopt all options found in the MUTCD as many do not apply. In addition, MoDOT’s standards for the application of traffic control devices may exceed the MUTCD minimums and therefore not referencing the EPG as the primary guidance can result in substandard applications on state maintained routes. Any variations from the EPG guidance for traffic control devices shall be approved by the State Highway Safety and Traffic Engineer.

Guidance. Like the MUTCD, the traffic control articles of the EPG are permissive guidance, meaning these articles outline what is permissible regarding applying traffic control devices to MoDOT roadways. When specific traffic control guidance is not found in the EPG to address a specific concern or application, the Highway Safety and Traffic Division should be contacted for assistance. The division office has access to additional resources, such as other MoDOT districts, FHWA, research facilities and other states, from which MUTCD compliant solutions can be sourced. If these solutions have the possibility of being applicable to more than one site, consideration will be made to include the solution into the EPG guidance.