January 19, 2009
Case Number: 10SN0158 Bermuda Magisterial District, HOLIDAY SIGNS
Remarks from Mike Sawyer, PE
Vice President Chester Community Association
Good Evening Mr. Chairman,
My name is Mike Sawyer and I live in Chester,VA. I am a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a highway safety expert.
I believe this case has several engineering decisions that need to be signed and sealed by a Professional Engineer licensed in the commonwealth of Virginia.
Professional Engineers review and approve plans based upon known traffic safety engineering principles to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the traveling public from hazards. Electronic Advertising Signs are a relatively new technology and recent national research has shown that there is cause for concern related to these advertising signs and their effect on driver behavior.
This research has identified and provided guidance on several traffic engineering decisions. These include, but not limited to:
Crash history and crash trends
Roadway geometrics
Sight Distance
Speed Limit
Visual clutter with existing traffic control signal operations
Size of the proposed sign
Amount of Information on the sign at any one time
Message display duration
Proximity to other signs
Text size
Message sequencing
Visual effects between messages
I would encourage you to follow the Code of Virginia tonight and require that a professional engineer sign and seal these engineering decisions from a highway safety perspective and require a report on how these engineering requirements were applied to the specific case and context. Each evaluation is independent and the professional engineer’s recommendation should lead the discussion, not be an afterthought. The health, safety, and welfare of the traveling public can ask for no less.
This case is on a dangerous corridor and as far as I know there is no professional engineering seal on the plans; therefore I strongly oppose this case. These engineering decisions should not be left to the whims of salesmen and advertisers.
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