Also, Mutoh and HP in cooperation with Avery-Dennison and
3M respectively have integrated and approved large format print
solutions for direct large format printing of vinyl traffic signage. I'm
a little confused by what you are saying as a result.
These all inclusive packages HP/3M, Mutoh/Avery and others are utilizing an integral RIP with custom CMYK formulations of ink that are specific to the ink/media/rip settings combination. A L*a*b* value may work during daylight, but might not give the correct color when viewed at night with the retroreflective light properties. They have made sure that these color formulas work within their narrow ecosystem and any attempt to pull out info to use in another system will not be an approved "system" any longer.
Now, can you get your RIP to print that same red for the stop sign? - most likely. But when someone blows that stop sign and kills someone saying they didn't see it, and the investigation leads to a non-compliant sign, who's gonna be the target for a lawsuit then? Anyone who had anything to do with that sign - the guy who put it up, the guy that made it, the guy who said "My RIP can produce signs that comply with MUTCD", etc.
If you want to get in the game, you're really going to need to do the legwork and get the certification for your system. On the other hand, if you just want to print graphics that look like street/highway signage for commercial, non traffic use, the pantone colors should do the trick.
Good Luck