Flexible Roundabout Lighting Design: Pennsylvania DOT’s New Lighting Policy

Lee Rodegerdts

Principal Engineer
Kittelson & Associates, Inc.

Lee Rodegerdts is a Principal Engineer with Kittelson & Associates, Inc. in their Portland, Oregon office, licensed as a Professional Engineer in sixteen states. He has 29 years of experience in traffic operations, traffic design, transportation planning, and transportation research and education. He is recognized internationally for his expertise on roundabouts and has contributed to much of the national and state-level research in use today. He led a worldwide team of experts to develop NCHRP Report 672, Roundabouts: An Informational Guide, 2nd edition, after serving on the team that developed the first edition for FHWA. He has also guided many intersection and roundabout projects through planning, analysis, and design, serving as the engineer in responsible charge for many aspects. He is a founding member of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices’ Roundabout Joint Task Force and has actively contributed content to the MUTCD. Lee previously served as a founding member of TRB's Committee on Roundabouts and Other Intersection Design and Control Strategies, and he led the development of the roundabout chapters for the Highway Capacity Manual's three most recent editions.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) desired an updated lighting policy for roundabouts that is current with the latest national guidance and that increases design flexibility for the agency and local partners. This presentation presents a background on the need for lighting at roundabouts and some of the challenges faced in providing lighting in rural areas. The presentation covers some of the key elements of the new policy, including PennDOT's policy on when lighting is required versus recommended, and two major sets of technical details: lighting levels for a range of environments and pavement types, and a new flexible design policy for transition lighting.

Learning Objective 1: To understand why roundabout lighting is recommended.

Learning Objective 2: To understand the key elements of PennDOT's new lighting policy.

Learning Objective 3: To understand the background of why flexibility in lighting levels and flexibility in transition lighting is possible.

Target Audience: State agencies, local agencies, and consultants.

Lighting can be an expensive component of a roundabout project, especially in rural areas where providing lighting is more burdensome. Existing lighting policies and guidelines are inflexible and not sensitive to local conditions. In some cases lighting can be the reason a roundabout is not selected as the preferred alternative. This presentation is intended to share a new approach to providing context-sensitive, performance-based design for lighting in the same manner that overall roundabout design is conducted.