FHWA extends comment time for MUTCD NPA

New deadline is May 14

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has extended the time for public comment to May 14 for the first comprehensive update to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways (MUTCD) in more than a decade.

The document opened for public comment on Dec. 14 as originally reported here and was originally to allow comments through March 15.

The Notice of Proposed Amendments for the 11^th edition of the MUTCD contains more than 600 proposed changes, according to a statement from the FHWA.

“The extension is based on concern expressed by a number of stakeholders that, as a result of the scope and complexity of the NPA, the March 15, 2021, closing date does not provide sufficient time to review and provide comprehensive comments,” FHWA said in announcing the deadline extension. “The FHWA recognizes that others interested in commenting may have similar concerns and agrees that the comment period should be extended. Therefore, the closing date for comments is changed to May 14, 2021, which will provide stakeholders and others interested in commenting additional time to discuss, evaluate, and submit responses to the docket.”

ATSSA Vice President of Education and Technical Services Donna Clark said she appreciated FHWA's decision.

“The last manual was published in 2009 and there have been extensive changes since then so it is important that we, as an industry, have sufficient time to review the proposed changes and comment accordingly,” Clark said. “We greatly appreciate FHWA’s willingness to extend the deadline to May 14^th and we look forward to working with the ATSSA technical committees to formulate our comments.”