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U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.
Washington, D.C. 20590
October 10, 2012
In Reply Refer To: HOTO-1
Mr. Jerry Wray
Director
Ohio Department of Transportation
1980 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43223
Dear Mr. Wray:
Thank you for your letter of July 17 requesting permission to experiment in temporary traffic control zones with a sign that will inform motorists that only the left-most lane on a divided highway will be temporarily detoured to the other side of the median, thus becoming a contraflow lane.
Your experimental Single-Lane Crossover sign uses a new symbol that is not included in the 2009 MUTCD. The new symbol includes a curved arrow to depict a single lane shift crossing over and a single straight arrow with the arrows showing travel being split by a median barrier. This sign will be installed in advance of the single-lane crossover to show the lane configuration with the use of arrows as is often done in other standard symbol signs.
We have reviewed your request. Your experimental use of the Single-Lane Crossover sign is approved on the projects identified in your letter. You indicated that the evaluation period would be during the 2013 construction season and that the sign will be installed on all of the projects. The proposed field evaluation of the sign design will be conducted by construction project staff by observing driver behavior in the transition area for the crossover. Crash reports will also be reviewed for any crashes that occur near the crossover point.
While we agree that the field evaluations should be conducted, it might be difficult to isolate the effect of this sign since there are many other visual clues in temporary traffic control zones to alert approaching motorists of this condition, including various channelizing devices and temporary pavement markings that convey path delineation. Therefore, we would encourage you to also undertake a driver comprehension evaluation removed from the actual work zone through simulation or closed road testing to determine if the symbol does actually convey the intended message.
For recordkeeping purposes, we have assigned the following official experiment number and title: "6(09)-17 (E) – Single-Lane Crossover Symbol Sign — OH DOT." Please refer to this number and title in any future correspondence regarding this experiment.
Thank you for your interest in improving the advance warning for this type of work zone traffic control strategy, as it is becoming more common as a means of improving mobility in work zones. Please contact Mr. Ken Wood at 708-283-4340 or at ken.wood@dot.gov if you have any further questions concerning this matter.
Sincerely yours,
Original signed by:
Mark R. Kehrli
Director, Office of Transportation Operations
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United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration |
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