The MUTCD has established minimum retroreflectivity requirements for regulatory, warning, and guide signs and object markers.  As part of those requirements, agencies need to have an assessment or management method in place to maintain sign retroreflectivity at or above minimum levels.  A retroreflectometer can help in meeting this requirement in a number of ways:

• Through the direct measurement of an agency’s signs in the field,
• Tracking retroreflectivity levels for a set of control signs at the maintenance yard,
• Establishing acceptable retroreflectivity on calibrated signs used before nighttime field inspections.

The retroreflectometer works by placing the device against the sign face, with a light pulse emitted from a lens on the front of the unit when a trigger on the device is pulled. That light reflects off the sign face and returns to a light sensor in the unit that provides a measurement of the retroreflectivity level for the particular sign color.  The value is then compared to the values in the Manual on Uniform traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Table 2A-3 for the respective sign color and sheeting type being examined.  A guide on the use of the reflectometer is available here.

To request use of the retroreflectometer, please complete the request form below.