AB 609

Under current law, during construction or repair of a road or when a road is

impassable or unsafe for travel, the highway authorities in charge of construction or

maintenance of the road may close the road by maintaining barriers at each end of

the closed road. The barriers must be of such material and construction and so placed

as to indicate that the highway is closed and must be lighted at night. Under this

bill, road closure barriers, in lieu of being lighted at night, must conform to the

standards for traffic control devices in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices

(MUTCD) adopted by the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Also under current law, contractors doing work that obstructs city streets or

sidewalks must put up and maintain barriers and lights to prevent accidents. Under

this bill, these contractors are not required to put up lights but the barriers they are

required to put up and maintain must conform to the standards for traffic control

devices in the MUTCD adopted by DOT.