SENATE
                           Final Reading
                        May 5, 2011First Regular Session
              Sixty-eighth General Assembly
                    STATE OF COLORADO
                                                  ENGROSSED
                                                           
                                                           
 LLS NO. R11-0515.01 Ashley Zimmerman             SJR11-015
                   SENATE SPONSORSHIP
 Kopp, 
 
                    HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
 McNulty, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Senate Committees
 House Committees
 
 
 Transportation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                  SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 11-015 
       Concerning the opinion of the General Assembly against the
                  Federal Highway Administration regulation that
            amends the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control
            Devices.
       
       
            WHEREAS, The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
       (MUTCD), issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
       contains the national standards governing all traffic control devices; and
       
            WHEREAS, All public agencies and owners of private roads open
       to public travel across the nation rely on the MUTCD to bring uniformity
       to the roadway, and the MUTCD plays a critical role in improving the
       safety and mobility of all road users; and
       
            WHEREAS, In November 2010, the FHWA       asked for
       additional public comments on the MUTCD regulation that will require
       changes to street sign retroreflectivity levels and initial-capped lettering,
       which is intended to aid aging drivers and increase safety on America's
       roadways; and
       
            WHEREAS, Many states and local governments across the country
       are concerned about the expected cost associated with these       required
       changes to road signs and consider such changes to be unfunded
       mandates from the federal government; and
       
            WHEREAS, These unfunded mandates come at a bad time, when
       most Americans and local governments have tightened their belts and cut
       costs while struggling to get through the recession; and
       
            WHEREAS, By requiring these       changes to street signs on not
       only interstate roads and highways but also on county roads, the federal
       government is overstepping its boundaries into what should be an issue
       for local governments; and
       
            WHEREAS, The deadline for additional comments on the
       regulation       was extended to the end of January 2011 to allow for
       further public comments, and this deadline should remain extended until
       economic conditions improve; and
       
            WHEREAS, United States Department of Transportation Secretary
       Ray LaHood spoke out against the       changes in November 2010, saying
       "I believe that this regulation makes no sense.  It does not properly take
       into account the high costs that local governments would have to bear. 
       States, cities, and towns should not be required to spend money that they
       don't have to replace perfectly good traffic signs...There have got to be
       better ways to improve safety without piling costs onto the American
       people."; now, therefore,
       
            Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-eighth General Assembly
       of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
       
            (1)  That the General Assembly believes the       regulation to
       change street signs is a local issue, and the FHWA will be overstepping
       its federal authority in implementing this       regulation; and
       
            (2)  That the General Assembly encourages the FHWA to put this
             regulation on hold for at least three years, to review the actual costs
       to be incurred by local governments across the country, and also to
       consider tabling the       regulation indefinitely.
       
            Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent
       to United States Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and
       the members of Colorado's congressional delegation.