1. Revisions to Part 7 – Traffic Control for School Areas
The following slides discuss the significant revisions in Part 7 which are items #517 through #538 in the preamble.

2. Deletion of material from Part 7
Sections 7A.05 through 7A.10
Sections 7C.02 through 7C.06 covered in Chapter 3B
Chapter 7D – Signals (See Sec. 7A.04)
Student patrols in existing Chapter 7E
Chapter 7F – Grade-Separated Crossings
(not TCDs)
Sections 7A.05 through 7A.10 and Sections 7C.02, 7C.04, and 7C.05 are deleted because the subjects of those sections are already covered in other parts of the Manual. In their place, Paragraph 2 is added to Section 7A.04 and Paragraph 4 is added to Section 7C.02, providing cross references to the appropriate sections.
Existing Chapter 7D (Signals) is deleted since it is a small chapter whose only purpose is to provide cross references to Part 4. These cross references are relocated to Paragraph 5 in Section 7A.04.
In existing Chapter 7E (new Chapter 7D), regulatory language about student patrols is deleted. The FHWA believes that student patrols do not control vehicular traffic and provisions relating to student patrols are not appropriate for the MUTCD. Adequate and appropriate guidance on student patrols is readily available from other sources, such as the American Automobile Association’s “School Safety Patrol Operations Manual,” which is referenced in Section 7D.01.
Chapter 7F Grade-Separated Crossings is deleted because grade-separated crossings are not traffic control devices regulated by the MUTCD.

3. Use of minimum size of school signs
Application of the minimum sizes only where traffic volumes are low and speeds are 30 mph or lower
In Section 7B.01 Size of School Signs – clarification has been added that the application of the minimum sizes to the identified signs is only where there are low traffic volumes and speeds are 30 mph or lower.
Additionally, GUIDANCE and OPTION statements are added, respectively, on the use of oversized school signs, for consistency with provisions in Part 2 for sizes of regulatory and warning signs on multilane roadways. 3

4. FYG color required for all school warning signs
The use of fluorescent yellow-green as the background color for all school warning signs and plaques is now required rather than an option, because the use of fluorescent yellow-green has become the predominant practice in most jurisdictions. Fluorescent yellow-green provides enhanced conspicuity for these critical signs, especially in dusk and dawn periods, and the uniform use of this background color for all school warning signs and plaques will enhance safety and road user recognition.
Also, for consistency, the use of fluorescent yellow-green pixels when the “SCHOOL” message is displayed on a changeable message sign for a school speed limit is now required rather than an option. 4

5. New plaques for school area signing
Existing school area signs
New plaque designs
Several new plaque designs are added to Chapter 7B.
Preamble item#523. In new section numbered and titled Section 7B.09 School Zone Sign and Plaques and END SCHOOL ZONE Sign, new provisions now:
- allow the use of the School sign with a supplemental arrow plaque on a cross street “in close proximity to the intersection.”
- allow a new plaque, “ALL YEAR” (S4-7P) that may be used to supplement the School Zone Sign (S1-1) 5

6. New symbol sign to replace the S3-1 word message sign
The existing SCHOOL BUS STOP AHEAD word message sign is replaced with a symbol sign that features a school bus with a depiction of red flashing lights and students getting on or off the bus. This change is based on positive experiences in West Virginia and in Canada, where a similar symbol sign for this message has been used for 25 to 30 years, and human factors testing in a symbols research project by the Traffic Control Devices Pooled Fund Study.
Regarding the criteria for using this sign, the specific distance of 500 feet that a stopped school bus should be visible to road users is replaced by “an adequate distance.” The visibility of the high-mounted red flashers located at the top of the rear of the school bus are much more readily visible for the School Bus Stop Ahead sign than for a bus without its flashers activated for the School Bus Turn Ahead sign.
S3-1

7. New sign to warn of school bus turnaround locations
A new SCHOOL BUS TURN AHEAD word message sign is added. This sign can be installed in advance of locations where school buses turn around on a roadway at a location not visible to approaching users for a distance as determined by Table 2C-4.
S3-2

8. Warning of school zone in close proximity to an intersection
An option is added that permits the use of a W16-5P or W16-6P supplemental arrow plaque (FYG color) below a School sign in locations where a school area or zone or a school crosswalk that is located on a cross street is in close proximity to an intersection. This change provides jurisdictions with flexibility for installing signs where there is not sufficient distance for advance signing on the cross street.
W16-6P

9. New figure illustrating higher fines school zone without a school crossing
Flexibility to post as a
BEGIN HIGHER FINES ZONE sign or
as a plaque below the School Zone sign
A new figure has been added that illustrates the use of the School sign and the Fines Higher plaque and signs for a school zone that has no school crossing.
Chapter 7B has been revised to specifically provide for either Higher Fines to commence at the School Zone sign (with HIGHER FINES plaque) or at the point of the posting of the BEGIN HIGHER FINES ZONE regulatory sign in order to provide flexibility in applying the laws of the individual states. 9

10. New signs for higher fines school zones+
R2-10
R2-11
S5-3
New Signs for Higher Fines School
524. A new section numbered and titled Section 7B.10 Higher Fines Zone Signs and Plaques has been added. The BEGIN HIGHER FINES ZONE (R2-10) sign, END HIGHER FINES ZONE (R2-11) sign, and FINES HIGHER (R2-6P) plaque have been adopted and these signs have been incorporated into Figure 7B-1 and Table 7B-1.
To illustrate the use of the signs in Section 7B.10, the title of Figure 7B-2 has been revised to “Example of Signing for a Higher Fines School Zone without a School Crossing” and a new figure, numbered and titled “Figure 7B-5 Example of Signing for a Higher Fines School Zone with a School Speed Limit” has been added.
R2-6P
S5-2 10

11. END SCHOOL SPEED LIMIT or END SCHOOL ZONE sign required at end of reduced school speed limit zone
The existing requirement regarding the use of either a Speed Limit sign or an END SCHOOL ZONE sign at the end of an authorized and posted school speed zone is changed to a requirement that the end of a designated school zone shall be marked with an END SCHOOL SPEED LIMIT or an END SCHOOL ZONE sign, as it is important and sometimes legally necessary to mark the end points of designated school zones.
The use of only a Speed Limit sign at the end of a school zone could unintentionally result in some drivers speeding up before the actual end of the school zone, because they can see the Speed Limit sign in advance of the end of the school zone, or could result in some drivers continuing to drive at the reduced speed if they fail to interpret the Speed Limit sign as indicating the end of the school zone. Therefore, the use of an END SCHOOL SPEED LIMIT or END SCHOOL ZONE sign is mandatory at the end of the school zone. However, to retain the option for jurisdictions to post the speed limit for the section of highway that is downstream from the school zone, a new option is being added permitting a standard Speed Limit sign to be mounted on the same post as the END SCHOOL SPEED LIMIT or END SCHOOL ZONE sign.
Also an option is added to allow the use of an END SCHOOL ZONE (S5-2) sign in the place of the END HIGHER FINES ZONE (R2-11) sign and an END SCHOOL SPEED LIMIT (S5-3) sign combination.

12. New figure illustrating higher fines school zone with a school speed limit
A new figure has also been added that illustrates the use of the School sign and the Higher Fines zone sign for a higher fines school zone that also has a reduced school speed limit.
A new recommendation is added to increase the distance between the beginning point of a reduced school zone speed limit and the school crossing where the school speed limit is 30 mph or higher. This recommendation was added based on research recently published by the TTI.

13. Schoolchildren symbol may be used on in-street signs at school crossings
To reflect an Official Interpretation, a new option is added that when used at a school crossing, the In-Street Pedestrian sign may use the schoolchildren symbol rather than the pedestrian symbol.
R1-6b
R1-6c

14. Overhead pedestrian crossing signs with schoolchildren symbols may be used at unsignalized school crossings
A new option is added that allows the use of the schoolchildren symbol on the new Overhead Pedestrian Crossing sign at unsignalized school crossings to enhance the safety of school crossings.

15. Operating procedures for adult crossing guards changed from recommended to required
Shall not direct traffic in the usual law enforcement regulatory sense
Shall pick opportune times to create a sufficient gap in traffic flow
Shall stand in roadway
Shall use a STOP paddle
In Section 7D.05 (old Section 7E.05 in 2003 MUTCD) Operating Procedures for Adult Crossing Guards, the GUIDANCE statement is changed to a STANDARD, thereby making all of the paragraphs requirements, rather than recommendations. Because the safety of schoolchildren is paramount, it is important that adult crossing guards follow specific requirements when controlling traffic for the purpose of assisting schoolchildren.

16. Adult school crossing guards and law enforcement personnel performing school crossing supervision must wear Class 2 high-visibility apparel
Compliance date December 31, 2011
A new requirement is added that adult school crossing guards and law enforcement officers performing school crossing supervision shall use Class 2 high-visibility safety apparel labeled as ANSI
This change incorporates into the MUTCD the provisions of 23 CFR Part 634 that were published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2006.
A target compliance date of December 31, 2011 (approximately two years from the effective date of this final rule) has been established for adult crossing guards and law enforcement personnel performing school crossing supervision to wear high-visibility apparel on non-Federal-aid highways. Required compliance of apparel for all workers, including law enforcement officers, on Federal-aid highways has been in effect since November 24, 2008, pursuant to 23 CFR Part 634.

17. QUESTIONS or COMMENTS??