COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION GUIDE SIGNING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES 2021 EDITION Published on January 21, 2021 by Traffic & Safety Engineering Services 2829 West Howard Place, 4th Floor Denver, CO 80204 Telephone: (303) 757-9662 Fax: (303) 757-9219 RESOLUTION OF THE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION Resolution Number TC-2095 Adopt Policy Directive 1500.0, “Guide Signing Policy” WHEREAS, § 43-1-106 (8)(a) C.R.S. (2011) gives authority to the Transportation Commission of Colorado (“Commission”) to formulate the general policy with respect to the management, construction, and maintenance of public highways and other transportation systems in the state; and WHEREAS, current Policy Directive 1500.0 was adopted by the Transportation Commission on April 19, 2018; and WHEREAS, pursuant to § 42-4-104 C.R.S., CDOT is charged with adopting a manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic control devices for use upon highways within Colorado; and WHEREAS, pursuant to § 42-4-104 C.R.S., CDOT’s Guide Signing manual must conform to the system set forth in the most recent edition of the "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways" (“MUTCD”) and other related standards issued or endorsed by the federal highway administrator; and WHEREAS, the Traffic and Safety Engineering Branch of the Department has completed a revision of the Guide Signing Policies and Procedures Manual (“Manual”) and ensured that it conforms to the MUTCD, which contains the standards and guidelines for the design and installation of highway signing; and WHEREAS, the Commission supports CDOT’s goal of guide signing by striking the appropriate balance between the needs of local governments, individual businesses, motorists and passengers, minimizing sign "pollution" and complying with federal and state law governing outdoor advertising and the design and application of highway guide signing; and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Commission herein ADOPTS Policy Directive 1500.0 “Guide Signing Policy.” Herman Stockinger, Secretary Transportation Commission of Colorado i Table of Contents RESOLUTION OF THE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ...................................................... i INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................................................... 3 CDOT REGION BOUNDARY MAP ........................................................................................ 5 SIGNING PRIORITIES ........................................................................................................... 6 AIRPORTS ......................................................................................................................... 7 COLORADO WELCOME CENTERS .................................................................................. 8 EMERGENCY MEDICAL CLINICS ..................................................................................... 9 GENERAL TRAVELER SERVICES ...................................................................................10 GOVERNMENT SERVICES AND FACILITIES ..................................................................14 MUSEUMS ........................................................................................................................15 STATE MONUMENTS .......................................................................................................16 NATIONAL HISTORIC DISTRICTS ...................................................................................17 POINTS OF INTEREST .....................................................................................................18 POLITICAL BOUNDARY/IDENTIFICATION ......................................................................20 DESTINATION AND DISTANCE SIGNS............................................................................25 COMMUNITY WAYFINDING SIGNS .................................................................................26 RADIO INFORMATION ......................................................................................................29 511 SERVICES ..................................................................................................................30 SKI AREAS ........................................................................................................................31 SPECIAL MOUNTAIN PEAKS ...........................................................................................32 PARKS AND RECREATION AREAS .................................................................................33 NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS ..........................................................................................35 WILDLIFE VIEWING ..........................................................................................................37 COLORADO BIRDING TRAIL ............................................................................................38 SCENIC BYWAYS .............................................................................................................39 MEMORIAL HIGHWAYS ...................................................................................................41 OTHER TRAFFIC GENERATORS ........................................................................................43 SPECIAL EVENTS ................................................................................................................45 INTEGRATING ARTWORK INTO .........................................................................................46 TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES ..........................................................................................46 SIGN REQUESTS BY OUTSIDE ENTITIES ..........................................................................47 SIGN PERMITTING PROCESS ............................................................................................48 VARIABLE MESSAGE SIGNS ..............................................................................................49 SIGNING FOR THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE AND ..........................................51 BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT .....................................................................................51 SIGN POLICY VARIANCE COMMITTEE PROCESS ............................................................52 ii INTRODUCTION Of the many programs administered by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), one of the most visible but least understood is the area of highway guide signing. "Guide" signs are those official signs, manufactured and installed by CDOT and others, which give information about and direction to many different types of services and destinations. Examples include not only the commonly observed signs for GAS, FOOD, LODGING, MUSEUM, TOURIST INFORMATION, and so on, but also specific destinations like ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES, LOVELAND SKI AREA, and FRONT RANGE AIRPORT. As a public agency, CDOT plays a major role in ensuring the economic vitality of our state and supports economic development in a variety of ways. We certainly recognize that local governments and individual businesses place a high value on guide signing. At the same time, motorists' needs and their ability to assimilate information, while engaged in the already complicated driving task, must be considered. Cost of the signs is another issue, as is the matter of controlling sign "pollution”. Annually, CDOT receives hundreds of requests for highway signing from individual citizens, citizen groups and associations, businesses, local governments and elected officials. Given the magnitude and wide variety of these requests it is imperative that policies and procedures be developed to ensure that economic development is supported to the extent possible by providing motorists with necessary directional information in a consistent, understandable format. Most importantly, the policies and procedures must ensure that each request for highway signs is considered in a fair and equitable manner. The following information provides an outline of CDOT’s policies and procedures related to the more common types of signing requests received by the Department. The reader will note that some of these signing areas "overlap"; this overlap offers (in some cases) options for addressing a particular sign request. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), published by the Federal Highway Administration, is the national standard for the design and installation of traffic control devices (signs, signals and pavement markings) on all public roads open to travel. The principal purpose of such a national standard is to help ensure the safety of travelers by providing for the orderly and predictable movement of traffic throughout the highway transportation system, and to provide such guidance, regulation, warnings and information as are needed for that purpose. Colorado State law (C.R.S. 42-4-104) requires that CDOT provide traffic control devices in accordance with the provisions of the MUTCD. While the MUTCD contains rather specific criteria for the design and application of most traffic control devices, it provides only general design and location criteria for most guide signs and allows the states to develop individual policies for guide signs to meet local needs. The MUTCD states that no sign may contain any advertising or commercial message. This requirement is consistent