Can municipalities be compelled to replace their signs to meet the new retroreflectivity standards?

The MUTCD requires that all municipalities must have

“implementation and continued use of an assessment or management method that is designed to maintain regulatory and warning sign retroreflectivity at or above the established minimum levels.”

There is no agency that will force a municipality to replace the signs unless Federal funds are involved. However, if an agency fails to follow the method they chose for maintaining the retroreflectivity of traffic signs, the liability to the agency is significantly increased.

The brightness of signs at night is critical to the safety of the public. If too many agencies fail to maintain their signs using the current regulations, the next time the regulations are changed, they may be more restrictive and force signs to be replaced to ensure public safety.

References

MUTCD
FHWA

What do I have to do to meet the sign retroreflectivity standard that goes into effect on June 13, 2014?
NYSLTAP-CLRP 

Maintaining Sign Retroreflectivity

• Introduction
• Defining Retroreflectivity
• Retroreflective Sheeting
• MUTCD Retroreflectivity Standard
• Visual Nighttime Inspection
• Calibration Signs Procedure
• Comparison Panel Procedure
• Retroreflectivity Comparison Panels
• Consistent Parameters Procedure
• Measured Sign Retroreflectivity
• Expected Sign Life
• Blanket Replacement
• Control Signs
• Inspection & Inventory Forms

October 2015