U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590

October 17, 2005
Refer to: HOTO-1

Mr. William C. Kloos
Signals & Street Lighting Division Manager
City of Portland
Office of Transportation
1120 S.W. 5th Avenue, Suite 800
Portland, OR 97204-1914

Dear Mr. Kloos:

Thank you for your October 4 letter requesting permission to experiment with Modified High Intensity Activated Crosswalk ("HAWK") Signals for Pedestrian and Bicycle Crossings at two intersections in Portland. It is our understanding that one intersection is currently unsignalized and the second intersection is currently operated as a legacy "half-signal" not complying with current Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) display standards. Neither location meets any of the existing warranting conditions for signalization as contained in the MUTCD.

Your experimentation is intended to evaluate the effects on safety and road user behavior of a HAWK system similar to that used in Tucson, Arizona, as applied to intersections with low vehicular side street volumes where bicyclists and/or pedestrians have difficulty obtaining adequate gaps in major street traffic to safely cross the street. Your proposed modified HAWK system features two overhead-mounted signal faces for each major street approach, with each face having two side-by-side circular red lenses above a circular yellow lens. These signal faces will rest in a dark condition until a bicyclist and/or pedestrian activates a control sequence. After flashing yellow and/or steady yellow change intervals, the red lenses will first display steady red, followed by a simultaneous (rather than wig-wag) flashing red display. Side street vehicular traffic will be controlled by a stop sign. A signal face using red, yellow, and green bicycle symbol lenses, similar to those in the City of Denver's approved experimentation number 9-76, will control bicycle crossings and standard pedestrian signal faces will control pedestrian crossings. You will evaluate two different vehicular signal display sequences and rest condition displays for the pedestrian signals.

We have reviewed your proposal for experimentation and have found it to be satisfactory. Your request for experimentation is approved for a period of 4-1/2 years following the installation of the part-time signal. For reference purposes, we have assigned the request the following official experimentation number and title: "4-298(E) - Modified Hawk Signal and Bike Signal Portland OR." Please refer to this number in future correspondence.

We appreciate your interest and effort in improving traffic safety and operations, and we look forward to receiving your reports and evaluation results from the experimentation. If we can be of further assistance in this project, please contact Mr. Scott Wainwright by email at scott.wainwright@fhwa.dot.gov or by telephone at 202-366-0857.

Sincerely yours,

Regin S. McElroy
Director, Office of Transportation Operations

cc: Mr. Roger Wentz, ATSSA