Roger A. Wentz
Executive Director
rogerw@atssa.com

May 13, 2003

Ms. Shelley J. Row, P.E. Director
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Transportation Operations
HTD-1
400 Seventh Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590

Dear Shelley:

On behalf of the American Traffic Safety Services Association's Board of Directors and our Temporary Traffic Control Committee, I write to request that Section 7B-09 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) be amended to permit the use of in-street delineators in school zone crosswalks at both mid-block crosswalks and unsignalized intersections.

It’s our understanding that in-street delineators have been used in the State of Washington for approximately two years, and that the State Traffic Safety Commission believes these devices to be effective in slowing traffic in school zones. We also understand that preliminary tests in California have resulted in both slowing traffic and causing motorists to stop ten to fifteen feet behind the crosswalk.

Given this preliminary data, we believe that restriction of these devices to "midblock only" unnecessarily restricts the potential safety benefits that might accrue to school zone crosswalks located at unsignalized intersections.

We hope that FHWA will give serious consideration to this request. Thank you in advance for your time and attention.

Sincerely
Roger A. Wentz

cc: ATSSA Board of Directors
ATSSA Temporary Traffic Control Committee