The National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD), of which ITE is a sponsoring organization, has developed and released a 20-year Long-Range Vision and Strategic Plan for the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This 80-page draft document identifies many issues related to the need, use, and application of the MUTCD and makes numerous recommendations for future strategic aspects of the document. It is worth noting that this vision and strategic plan for the MUTCD addresses the MUTCD at a strategic level and does not address specific content or technical issues in the MUTCD.
The current draft will be distributed to the NCUTCD sponsoring organizations as a ballot in early fall for review and comment, but is also available to all stakeholders for review and comment. Individuals interested in the future of the MUTCD are encouraged to read the document in its entirety and offer specific comments that recommend changes to the language in the document.
The document is available at http://mutcd.tamu.edu/vision-and-strategic-plan and comments on the document can be submitted at http://mutcd.tamu.edu/comments. The deadline to submit comments is October 15, 2013. The NCUTCD Edit Committee will review sponsor comments and those submitted through the website and prepare a revised version of the document for consideration at the NCUTCD meeting in January 2014.
It is anticipated that the NCUTCD Council will approve a revised version of the document at that meeting and that it will be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration in the Spring 2014 if approved by the NCUTCD at the January 2014 meeting. Gene Hawkins is the chair of the task force and of the Edit Committee that developed and refined this document. Questions regarding the document can be sent to him at mutcd@civil.tamu.edu.