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Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Workshops Summary Report

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The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.

Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72)
1. Report No.
FHWA-SA-08-003		 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No.
4. Title and Subtitle
Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Workshops Summary Report 		5. Report Date
February 2008
6. Performing Organization Code
7. Authors
Katherine W. Falk, P.E., PTOE and Paul J. Carlson		 8. Performing Organization Report No.
9. Performing Organization Name and Address
Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
13221 Woodland Park Road
Suite 400
Herndon, VA 20171 Texas Transportation Institute
The Texas A&M University System
College Station, TX 77843-3135 		10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-06-D-00005/T-07-00504
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Office of Safety
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590 		13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Summary Report
June 2007 – December 2007
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
15. Supplementary Notes
The workshops and this report were conducted under subcontract to SAIC as part of a contract with
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
Matt Lupes, COTM
Barry Zimmer, COTR
16. Abstract
The FHWA is preparing to develop proposed language for the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) regarding pavement marking retroreflectivity. The purpose of this report is to summarize the recommendations from the two pavement marking retroreflectivity workshops that the FHWA held in the summer of 2007 regarding the upcoming proposed rulemaking on pavement marking retroreflectivity. This rulemaking effort is a result of the 1993 U.S. DOT Appropriations Act requiring the Secretary of Transportation to “…include a standard for minimum level of retroreflectivity that must be maintained for traffic signs and pavement markings for all roads open to public travel.” In response to this legislative mandate and after many years of research and proposed rulemaking, the FHWA has developed and adopted a set of minimum retroreflectivity levels for traffic signs, which became effective in January 2008.
17. Key Words
traffic control devices, minimum retroreflectivity, pavement markings, workshop		 18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions.
19. Security Classif. (of this report)
Unclassified		 20. Security Classif. (of this page)
Unclassified		 21. No of Pages 22. Price
N/A
Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72)
Reproduction of completed page authorized
SI* (MODERN METRIC) CONVERSION
FACTORS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS
SYMBOL WHEN YOU KNOW MULTIPLY BY TO FIND SYMBOL
LENGTH
in inches 25.4 millimeters mm
ft feet 0.305 meters m
yd yards 0.914 meters m
mi miles 1.61 kilometers km
AREA
in2 square inches 645.2 square millimeters mm2
ft2 square feet 0.093 square meters m2
yd2 square yard 0.836 square meters m2
ac acres 0.405 hectares ha
mi2 square miles 2.59 square kilometers km2
VOLUME
fl oz fluid ounces 29.57 milliliters mL
gal gallons 3.785 liters L
ft3 cubic feet 0.028 cubic meters m3
yd3 cubic yards 0.765 cubic meters m3

NOTE: volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in m3

MASS
oz ounces 28.35 grams g
lb pounds 0.454 kilograms kg
T short tons (2000 lb) 0.907 megagrams (or "metric ton") Mg (or "t")
TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)
oF Fahrenheit 5 (F-32)/9 or (F-32)/1.8 Celsius oC
ILLUMINATION
fc foot-candles 10.76 lux lx
fl foot-Lamberts 3.426 candela/m2 cd/m2
FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS
lbf poundforce 4.45 newtons N
lbf/in2 poundforce per square inch 6.89 kilopascals kPa
APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM SI UNITS
LENGTH
mm millimeters 0.039 inches in
m meters 3.28 feet ft
m meters 1.09 yards yd
km kilometers 0.621 miles mi
AREA
mm2 square millimeters 0.0016 square inches in2
m2 square meters 10.764 square feet ft2
m2 square meters 1.195 square yards yd2
ha hectares 2.47 acres ac
km2 square kilometers 0.386 square miles mi2
VOLUME
mL milliliters 0.034 fluid ounces fl oz
L liters 0.264 gallons gal
m3 cubic meters 35.314 cubic feet ft3
m3 cubic meters 1.307 cubic yards yd3
MASS
g grams 0.035 ounces oz
kg kilograms 2.202 pounds lb
Mg (or "t") megagrams (or "metric ton") 1.103 short tons (2000 lb) T
TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)
oC Celsius 1.8C+32 Fahrenheit oF
ILLUMINATION
lx lux 0.0929 foot-candles fc
cd/m2 candela/m2 0.2919 foot-Lamberts fl
FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS
N newtons 0.225 poundforce lbf
kPa kilopascals 0.145 poundforce per square inch lbf/in2
*SI is the symbol for the International System of Units. Appropriate rounding should be made to comply with Section 4 of ASTM E380.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Workshop Participants and the FHWA Team

Chapter 2 Summary of Workshop Discussions

Chapter 3 Recommended MUTCD Language

Chapter 4 Summary

References

Appendices:

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