The Federal Highway Administration is seeking feedback through the middle of January 2011 on a final rule that would replacement some street signs across the country that don't meet minimum sign retroreflectivity.

The FHWA said in the Federal Register this week that it is aware of concerns on the part of some state and local highway agencies about the potential impacts of new Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) compliance dates in the current economic downturn, which has significantly reduced the resources available to government agencies.

The new public comment period is open through Jan. 14, 2011.

The intent of the new signage is to assist the aging population in reading road signs more easily. For example, the 2009 MUTCD requires that the lettering on street name signs be composed of a combination of lower-case letters and initial upper case letters. However, there is no specific compliance date for replacement of existing street name signs that use all capital lettering. Existing street name signs using all capital letters can remain in place until they need to be replaced so state and local government agencies do not incur any additional cost to meet the MUTCD requirement.

U.S.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today wrote on his blog that, "While in better times this may have been appropriate, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense given the difficult economic conditions facing many cities and states across the country."

The Final Rule for the second revision of the 2003 edition of the MUTCD was issued on Dec. 21, 2007 regarding maintaining minimum levels of sign retroreflectivity in response to a statutory requirement. Jan. 22, 2012 is the deadline for implementation and continued use of an assessment or management method that is designed to maintain traffic sign retroreflectivity at or above the established minimum levels. By the same date in 2015, all regulatory, warning, and post-mounted guide signs must meet the established minimum levels. By Jan. 22, 2018, all street name signs and overhead guide signs must also meet minimum standards.