FHWA > Design > Design Standards > 11/04/88 Memo: Design Speed |
Mr. E. Dean Carlson's April 15, 1985, memorandum, "Implementation of New Design Criteria for Federal-aid Projects," established the FHWA policy that for Federal-aid projects the selected design speed is to be equal to or exceed the posted or regulatory speed limit of the completed facility. Mr. Ronald E. Heinz's August 21, 1985, memorandum "Design Speed," provided guidance for applying that policy. Since the issuance of the two memoranda, there has been considerable discussion of concerns over the application of that policy. These concerns have been primarily associated with, but not necessarily limited to, 3R projects and have focused on the perceived need for additional and unnecessary paperwork associated with justifying design exceptions. Therefore, in order to clarify our position on this issue, and to emphasize the flexibility afforded by the provisions of the 23 CFR 625 and the actions taken to accept the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Special Report 214, Designing Safer Roads, Practices for Resurfacing , Restoration, and Rehabilitation, the following guidance is being provided for selecting appropriate design speeds for Federal-aid projects.
The intent of this policy is not to require speed limit posting or advisory speed signing to correspond to the actual design speed of the project or to an individual design element within a project. However, when the legal driving speed exceeds the design speed of a project element, the need for signs and markings should be based on recognized traffic engineering practice, accepted State policy, and be in accordance with the MUTCD. /s/ original signed by |
ContactBrooke Struve |
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This page last modified on 11/13/07 |