Illumination of Isolated Rural Intersections is an update to the illumination practices found in TAC's 1983 Guide for the Design of Roadway Lighting.

Existing and/or proposed lighting warrants and practices of all Canadian provinces, the TAC warrant and three U.S. states are reviewed in order to develop a Canadian warrant for illumination of isolated rural intersections. The warrant is based on Geometric, Operational, Environmental and Collision factors. The critical factors determining the need for illumination are traffic volumes, night-time collisions attributable to lack of lighting and the extent of raised channelization.

The warrant indicates whether full intersection lighting, partial lighting or delineation lighting is needed. Full intersection lighting denotes illumination covering an intersection in a uniform manner over the traveled portion of the roadway. Partial lighting is the illumination of key decision areas, potential conflict points, and/or hazards in and on the approach to an intersection. The illumination of vehicles on a cross street or median crossing, or lighting that marks an intersection location for approaching traffic, is referred to as sentry or delineation lighting.

The warrant provides a method for selecting and prioritizing intersections at which lighting will be beneficial and identifies an appropriate lighting system. Layouts for partial and delineation lighting concentrate on illumination of the main traffic conflict areas with additional lighting in spot areas for potential hazards. Also discussed are the safety benefits of lighting at rural intersections and other intersection safety measures. Examples of various applications of the warrant are included. 25 p. + appendices