Regulatory signs · R11-2
Road Closed sign
Archive file: R11-02 Road Closed/R11-02 Road Closed 48x30.svg
FHWA public-use information
What it means
The road is closed to traffic other than authorized vehicles.
Source: FHWA MUTCD — MUTCD 11th Edition with Revision 1 (December 2025), Section 2B.63, paragraph 01, PDF page 178.
.
Meaning
Road Closed identifies a road unavailable to general traffic, with authorized vehicles excepted in the federal guidance. It is a closure instruction, rather than an invitation to decide whether your vehicle could get through. A closure may protect you from a hazard beyond your view.
What to do
Do not continue through the closure as an ordinary driver. Pennsylvania’s flood-closure example directs you to another route, and its flood guidance prohibits passing flood-control barriers. These questions use that documented Pennsylvania hazard example; they do not establish handbook coverage of every federal Road Closed design.
Where it is used
The federal manual distinguishes the actual closure from a road that remains open to local access up to a closure farther ahead. It also calls for advance closure warnings before the Road Closed series. Read whether the message closes this road to general traffic or describes access only as far as a later closure.
A sign to tell apart
Do Not Enter usually addresses entry from the wrong direction onto a one-way roadway or ramp. Road Closed addresses a closure to general traffic. One keeps you out of opposing traffic; the other withholds the road itself from ordinary use, even if no opposing vehicles are present.
Practice with explanations
These are original learning questions based on the cited handbooks. Read each answer and its explanation below.
1. A Pennsylvania sign says the road ahead is closed by flooding. What should you do?
- Continue if the water looks shallow.
- Find another route.
- Follow a larger vehicle through the closure.
Answer: B. Find another route.
The handbook’s closure example directs drivers to an alternate route. The closure is not a judgment call about your vehicle’s size.
2. May an ordinary driver pass a flood-control barrier in Pennsylvania?
- Yes, if no worker is present.
- Yes, when traveling only a short distance.
- No; passing the barrier is unlawful.
Answer: C. No; passing the barrier is unlawful.
The handbook explicitly prohibits passing a flood-control barrier. Use another route rather than driving around it.
- PA-en · Chapter 3 — Floods · PDF page 66 · Checked
State source coverage
Handbook coverage and sample questions do not prove that a sign will appear on your exam. Even a published test scope cannot guarantee an individual exam question.
No state test-scope claim is independently approved for this study.
State variations
State-specific variations have not been independently established for this study.
Verified question coverage
These free state-bank questions were independently verified. This does not establish complete state-bank readiness, app availability or what will appear on your permit exam.
No currently verified state-bank question is available for this sign.
The linked 20-question permit quizzes do not currently include this sign.
This meaning is a federal MUTCD reference. Check your state's handbook for its rules and sign coverage; this page does not establish what appears on a state permit exam.
Try the free road sign quiz or find your state's handbook.
