Effort to Revise Federal Regulations
for Road Signs Related to Bicyclists:

Andy Clark wrote and forwarded to BBC the following information and request to support ongoing efforts to institute new signage:

APBP Members have an exciting opportunity to support the most extensive and beneficial ever overhaul of the regulations covering road signs and markings relating to bicyclists.

Several years of unheralded work by the dedicated members of a bicycle technical subcommittee of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices culminated on Thursday, January 6 with the adoption by the full National Committee of a completely rewritten Part IX of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices covering signs and marking for bicycle facilities. Their revised Part IX has been submitted to the Federal Highway Administration and recommended for adoption in place of the revisions proposed by FHWA in a June 24 Federal Register Notice.

The proposed changes to Part IX include:

* bringing the new AASHTO Guide and MUTCD into conformity;
* new bike lane signs and markings
* new Share the Road signs
* new loop detector markings for bicyclists
* variable-size signs for use on shared-use paths and a whole lot more.

Many members of the technical committee are APBP members and they have put an extraordinary effort into creating a vastly improved Part IX. Now it's our turn to help by writing to FHWA in support of the NCUTCD proposed revisions to Part IX.

Compose your comments and suggestions in writing, and send them to:

Docket Clerk
U.S. DOT Dockets
Room PL-401
400 Seventh Street SW
Washington, DC 20590-0001

Include a reference to Docket Number FHWA-1998-4720 in your cover letter.

The deadline for comments is March 24, 2000!

Confused? Well, you shouldn't be after visiting
http://members.aol.com/rcmoeur/part9.html

Richard Moeur, one of the subcommittee members, has provided a helpful background document and a side by side comparison of FHWA's and NCUTCD's proposed changes to Part IX. You'll be able to see just how much better the next Manual will be.

You may see room for improvements in future editions, and that's OK. Right now, we need to support the proposed changes and identify those future improvements so the bicycle technical subcommittee can continue its terrific work.

I don't know all the members of the technical committee so I can't thank them all personally in this e-mail. But, I saw Tim Oliver, John LaPlante, Richard Moeur, James Mackay, Sue MacNamara, Michelle DeRobertis and others last Thursday evening and they were positively giddy about the progress they have been able to make.

I urge you to show them how much we appreciate their commitment. Please, write to FHWA today and support the NCUTCD's proposed revisions to Part IX of the MUTCD.


Return to BBC January 2000 Newsletter