Federal Highway Administration
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590

Refer to: HOTO-1
June 26, 2002

Mr. Guy Alon
Traffic Engineer
City of Overland Park
City Hall
8500 Santa Fe Drive
Overland Park, KS 66212

Dear Mr. Alon:

Thank you for your February 18 letter (emailed to us on June 10) requesting an interpretation of Section 7B.08, School Advance Warning Sign (S1-1), of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). We apologize for the delay in responding to your request. All first class mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service to Federal agencies in the District of Columbia must be processed in a special way to protect government employees from the possibility of handling anthrax-tainted mail. The irradiation process can delay delivery by several weeks.

We have reviewed Section 7B.08, School Advance Warning Sign, and offer the following interpretation.

Case 1: The distance from the School Advance Warning sign to the actual school crosswalk is greater than the 700 feet stated in the MUTCD. However, we believe that if the view of the crosswalk is clearly visible and not obstructed, an additional School Advance Warning sign may not be needed.

Your understanding of where to begin the measurement of the "not less than 45 m (150 feet) nor more than 210 m (700 feet) in advance of the school grounds or school crossings" is correct. If there were no crosswalk, the measurement for the installation of the School Advance Warning sign would begin at the school property line. Otherwise, the measurement would begin at the crosswalk.

Case 2: We are basing this interpretation on the belief that a School Crosswalk Warning Assembly (S1-1 with Diagonal Arrow) is installed at the actual crossing location. If that is true, and since the vehicles would be going relatively slow after making the right turn onto Lemar Avenue, a second School Advance Warning sign would not be needed.

For reference purposes, we have assigned your request the following official interpretation number and title: "7-44(I)-School Advance Warning Signs."

Thank you for your inquiry and your interest in the safety of pedestrians, especially in school zones. If you have any questions, please call Ms. Cherie L. Kittle at 202-366-2188.

Sincerely yours,

Shelley J. Row, P.E.
Director, Office of Transportation
Operations