January 26, 2026

By Lane Kimble

WisDOT is reminding contractors of two important compliance dates for safety-related equipment while also seeking contractor help to collect information on crashes.

Barricades

As of July 1, 2025, all Type III barricades must be Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware-2016 (MASH) compliant. Specifically, only Non-Proprietary Type III barricades can have signs mounted on them. Type III barricades are separated out on the Work Zone Traffic Control Devices APL.

Crash Attenuators

Meanwhile, any Category 3 temporary traffic control devices (specifically truck and trailer-mounted attenuators) used after Jan. 1, 2030 must be MASH-2016 compliant and be listed on WisDOT’s Approved Products List.

WisDOT encourages all contractors to begin planning attenuator updates now so they are compliant by 2030.

Seeking crash data

In an effort to improve moving work zones and cut down on crashes, WisDOT is collecting attenuator crash data.

The department is asking WTBA member contractors to fill out THIS spreadsheet (click to download) with your company’s TMA hits over the past five years. Completed spreadsheets should be returned to dotsignmarkwzmaterials@dot.wi.gov by Feb. 15, 2026.

FAQs

WisDOT recognizes contractors may have questions about MASH 2016 and its implementation. An FAQ list is available HERE.

Specific questions can be directed to WTBA’s Matt Grove or WisDOT Traffic Design Unit Supervisor Matt Rauch.