City of Chicago
Richard M. Daley, Mayor

Department of Transportation

Miguel d'Escoto
Commissioner

Donald Grabowski
Deputy Commissioner
Chief Traffic Engineer

Bureau of Traffic
30 North LaSalle Street Suite 400
Chicago, Illinois 60602-2570
(312) 744-4684
(312) 744-8511 (FAX)
(312) 744-7215 (TTY)
www.cityofchicago.org/transportation

March 8, 2002

Mr. Earnest D. L. Huckaby
MUTCD Leader
Federal Highway Administration Room 3408, HOTO-1
400 Seventh Street S.W.
Washington, DC 20590

Re: Experimental Request- Yellow/Green Pavement Markings

Dear Mr. Huckaby,

Thank you for your letter of July 20, 2001 approving our request to experiment with the use of yellow-green pavement markings at school crosswalks as part of the City of Chicago's School Traffic Safety Pilot Program. Due to budgetary constraints, we were unable to begin the pilot program in time for the 2001 construction season. However, we currently have a contract in place and are ready to begin the pilot this coming Spring 2002.

At this time we are requesting consideration for your approval to expand the pilot program from our original request of 50 school zones to 100 school zones. This request is based on selecting 2 schools for each of Chicago's 50 Wards in order to better represent the city's 829 schools. We feel that this application will statistically result in more accurate test data because we will be drawing from a greater number of test sites across the entire City.

Finally, project management for this pilot has been transferred from the Bureau of Signs and Markings to the Bureau of Traffic who will be responsible for evaluating and reporting on the pilot program's progress. We intend to send you a report on our progress in the coming months. In the interim, please feel free to contact Deputy Commissioner Donald Grabowski at (312) 744-4684 who will answer any questions or concerns.

We appreciate your assistance with this pilot program and look forward to your favorable review of this request. Please let us know if we should furnish more information. Thank you, again, for considering this request.

Miguel d'Escoto
Commissioner

Originated by:
Don Grabowski
Deputy Commissioner Bureau of Traffic