Federal Highway Administration releases updated traffic control manual

With pedestrian deaths surging nationwide, the Federal Highway Administration released a new edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways.

The manual contains standards for street markings and design, standardizing signage, and making driving as seamless as possible. The new edition is the first update in 14 years.

Critics have lamented that the manual has been too focused on moving vehicular traffic as quickly as possible, sometimes sacrificing safety. The regulations have been redesigned to align with the Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, a 2022 initiative that aims to dramatically reduce traffic deaths via a multilayered “safe system” approach widely used in Europe.

The 1,000-page manual now focuses more on pedestrian and bicycling safety elements such as sidewalk markings, guidelines on cycle lane design, and features such as turn boxes and intersection safety improvements such as flashing beacons at crosswalks. The manual also includes standard signage for EV charging stations on highways.

Since early 2020, Americans have been forced to sequester themselves in their homes with outdoor activities, in most cases, being the sole respite for social distancing. And many of people are going back to the basics with a quintessential outdoor activity: biking. Bike sales absolutely skyrocketed during the pandemic, growing by 69% in 2020.

Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021

Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]

New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.

Nelson Mandela Park green space in Rotterdam

Urban Planning | May 3, 2021

SWA/Balsley unveils Nelson Mandela Park Master Plan for Rotterdam

The conceptual plan provides much-needed central neighborhood and civic open space in the city’s South Maashaven district.

The Weekly Show, Apr 29, 2021: COVID-19's impact on campus planning, and bird management strategies

University Buildings | Apr 29, 2021

The Weekly Show, April 29, 2021: COVID-19's impact on campus planning, and bird management strategies

This week on The Weekly show, BD+C Senior Editor John Caulfield interviews a duo of industry experts on 1) how campus planning has changed during the pandemic and 2) managing bird infestations on construction sites and completed buildings.