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

Refer to: HOTO-1
August 23, 2002

Mr. James C. Codell, III
Secretary
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Frankfort, KY 40622

Dear Mr. Codell:

Thank you for your August 8 letter requesting experimentation with yellow-green pavement markings for school zone crossings. You have our approval to begin installing the marking material. We will provide your project manager, Mr. Duane Thomas, further details on data collection recommendations in the near future.

We have received several inquiries on experimentation with the yellow-green pavement marking materials. We are working with the research staff at the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner Fairbanks Highway Research Center in developing guidance for an effective evaluation plan and data gathering. The following is a non-exclusive list of data that we recommend be collected for both before and after conditions:

Vehicle speeds
Vehicle volumes
Pedestrian volumes
Driver behavior (on-set of braking, yielding, etc.)
Pedestrian behavior (when there is no crossing guard)
Weather conditions
Time of day
Time of year

We also recommend including a control site at a comparable school (elementary, middle, or high school) crossing location in order to validate data collection. This same data would also be collected at that site. If crossing guards are used then, they should be used at both sites. We hope to have a sample data collection form in the near future. Please note that it is not critical that your "after" data collection take place this fall. The collection of the data in the spring would be acceptable and may even be preferred since the novelty effect may wear off, and it would also allow for some weathering of the material.

Please revise your evaluation plan to include the items mentioned above. It is recommended that the white markings at the control site and the contrasting markings be installed at the same time. Please provide us with an approximate start date for your experimentation and the exact locations of the experimental and control sites when they have been selected. Also, please acknowledge your agreement that semi-annual progress reports will be provided as stated in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Section 1A.10, Item I.

For reference purposes, we have assigned your request the following official experimentation number and title: "7-46(E)-Yellow-Green Pavement Markings for School Crosswalks." Please refer to this number in future correspondence. To expedite the approval process you may fax your plan to us at 202-366-3225.

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