HISTORY OF SUBSURFACE UTILITY ENGINEERING

POST 79 – MUTCD

The USDOT’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is an important part of Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE). 

Many of SUE’s designating and locating activities involve work on or near streets and highways. Motorists often do not expect these intrusions and therefore should be informed well in advance of what is going on. Nationally mandated information for doing this is contained in Part 6 of the MUTCD, which addresses temporary traffic control (TTC). TTC involves the use of signs, markings, and other devices used to regulate, warn, or guide users of roadway facilities.

 The MUTCD is published by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and contains national standards for all traffic control devices, including highway signs, markings, and other devices. It is updated periodically to accommodate the nation’s changing transportation needs and to address new safety technologies, traffic control tools, and traffic management techniques.

 On December 19, 2023, a Final Rule adopted the 11th Edition of the MUTCD and was published in the Federal Register with an effective date of January 18, 2024. States were required to adopt the 11th Edition of the National MUTCD as their legal State standard for traffic control devices within two years from the effective date. The Federal Register notice, which provides detailed discussion of the final dispositions of major changes from the 2009 edition, can be viewed at https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-27178.

FHWA does not print paper copies of the MUTCD. It is available, however, as a free PDF document at 11th Edition of the MUTCD.

More next week about applicability of the MUTCD to SUE.