U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
Refer to: HOTO-1

September 25, 2000
Harold J. Brown
Division Administrator
Albany, New York

Attn.: James Growney, Highway Safety Engineer

Subject: Part 6 Slow/Stop Paddle, Reference # VI - III (I)

Dear Mr. Brown:

This is in response to your e-mail sent on September 22, 2000, referencing the Request For Interpretation letter sent on November 29, 1999. That request was a petition forwarded from the New York Department of Transportation (NYDOT) seeking and interpretation as to the compliance of the Traffic Safety Alert (TSA) STOP/SLOW Paddle with the provisions of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devises (MUTCD). Unfortunately, this office believed we had responded adequately to your initial request and that is the reason for the delay. This response is in regards to the STOP/SLOW Paddle supplied and manufactured by Advantec Development Inc. of Endicott, NY. For our tracking purposes, this request has been numbered and titled VI-III (I), STOP/SLOW Paddle.

It is the determination of this office that the STOP/SLOW Paddle which you have submitted does not conform to the requirements of the MUTCD. Specifically the MUTCD only allows for the use of WHITE flashing lights. You have suggested incorporating RED flashing lights to the STOP face and YELLOW flashing lights to the SLOW face. This does not specifically meet the standard features. However, we would look favorably on the use of this device as describe in your request (including standard retroflextivity) for experimentation. Please have NYDOT submit a request for experimentation as per section 1A-6 section 3 (Experiment) of the current version of the MUTCD.

Please provide a detailed evaluation plan in accordance with the above referenced section and contact Mr. Harold Lunenfeld in our office at telephone number 202-366-6598 or you can e-mail him at Harold.Lunenfeld@fhwa.dot.gov with any further questions you may have on this matter. Thank you for your patience. We will be more responsive with any future determinations or questions you may have.

Distribution:
HOTO,
New York Division Office,
Chief Counsel Office

VI-III (I), STOP/SLOW Paddle