City of Jasper developing new position for someone with 60 year old vision
The State of Indiana is requiring municipalities to develop a program to test the reflectivity of the street signs by 2015.
Street Superintendent Rayme Eckerle made recommendations to adopt a management plan at the Jasper Public Works meeting today. Eckerle informed the board the street department already replaces signs regularly, but the new program requires a adoption of a management practice.
The Federal Highway Department Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) states the reflectivity can be tested several ways.
- A nighttime visual inspection by an individual in a vehicle.
- Measuring the sign retro-reflectivity with a retroreflectometer.
- Estimating the expected sign life and replacing when the sign life is up.
- Blanket replacement of all signs in an area/corridor or of a given type.
- Using control signs to determine replacement times.
Eckerle recommended the city adopt the practice of using an individual to conduct a nighttime inspection. According to the MUTCD the individual that conducts the inspection must be at least 60 years old and use a vehicle that is at least of the model year 2000.
The management practice still has to be written and adopted but the idea is to have the 60 year old individual do an inspection of a certain area for about three to four hours a night. The person will have to calibrate their eyes by checking a sample sign with the vehicle’s headlights before proceeding out to check the street signs.
The street department already has a checklist that it uses when checking signs and they would incorporate this form into the process.
The board did not discuss where the individual would be hired from, but did consider the fact they would have to create a new position or expand an existing position to incorporate the sign testing program.
Eckerle stated this would be the most cost effective method of checking the signs rather than buying new equipment or conducting arbitrary replacement.
