Civil Transportation PE Exam Practice Problem: Traffic Control Design

One of the best ways to get ready for the Civil PE Transportation Exam is by working through practice problems that mirror what you’ll see on test day. Here’s a quick one on traffic control design. According to the NCEES exam specifications (as of April 2024), you can expect to see 5 - 8 traffic control design questions. This section of the exam can include questions about both temporary traffic control AND permanent signs and pavement markings.

Problem

According to the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices), the minimum size for a conventional-road STOP sign (R1-1) is:

A. 18 × 18 in

B. 24 × 24 in

C. 30 × 30 in

D. 36 × 36 in

Answer: C. 30 × 30 in ✅

The answer can be found in Table 2B-1 of the MUTCD (Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices).

Exam Tip

You'll have access to the digital version of the reference manuals on exam day. However, you'll still want to familiarize yourself with the chapter content of your design standard books before exam day. Why? In this example, if you knew that Chapter 2B of the MUTCD is the chapter that specifies regulatory sign size requirements, it could have saved you time finding the answer to this question.

Keep Practicing

If you found this problem helpful, I put together a free PDF with 10 Civil PE Transportation Practice Problems you can download to get more practice before exam day.