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(wind rushing)

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(single note reverberating)

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- [Announcer] Traffic control devices

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help our transportation
system operate efficiently

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and safely.

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From signs, to pavement markings,

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there are numerous traffic
control devices on Texas roads.

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TCDs are essential for operations.

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It's safe to say our roadways
would be chaotic without them.

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And that's why TxDOT conducted
this evaluation program

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on both new and existing TCDs.

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- The purpose of this project

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is to conduct very high
priority short term evaluations

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of traffic control devices.

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That might not otherwise have
research to look at them.

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- There's national and the state standards

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for traffic control devices.

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But there's, there's often situations

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where a standard application of the device

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just isn't appropriate.

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So a lot of times we're looking
for kind of different ways

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or new devices.

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And that's exactly what this project

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that they're looking at.

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- We're really focusing
on new applications

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of existing traffic control
devices or new technologies.

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And it really is places
that maybe don't warrant

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a larger scale research project,

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but we just want to test
something once or twice

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to see how effective it's going to be

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before we implement it.

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- [Doug] We've got districts

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using wider pavement markings out there.

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Traditionally, we use four
inch pavement markings

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but we were wanting
consistency across the state.

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So we had the researchers look into it.

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What's out there.

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What are the safety benefits?

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When and where should they be used?

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And then they put together
guidance document for us.

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And that's something we can
implement across the state.

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It was a quick turnaround.

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And, you know, it could be a
multi-year research project,

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to look at something like this,

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but we needed something
relatively quickly to implement.

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- Decades ago.

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How we would warn the driver

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about a pedestrian crossing

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is we would put out a yellow
beacon that would flash 24/7.

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And we found them to be very ineffective.

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Drivers ignored these warning devices.

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It just faded into the background

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of the driving environment.

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So we needed something

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that would capture the driver's attention

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and having devices that are only active

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when the pedestrian pushes the button,

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helps fill that need.

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- [Doug] We really like this project.

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We've got issues that come up all the time

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and we're able to take
it to the researchers.

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And a lot of times

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they're able to to fit it into
their schedule and budget.

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And we get answers to the questions.

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- [Announcer] For more information

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and to find the publications
for this project

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please visit the TxDOT research library

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at the link shown below.