By WAYNE ALLEN
PDT Staff Writer
Scioto County is spending $100,000 to replace street signs which must now meet new Federal Highway Administration standards.
Scioto County Engineer Craig Opperman said because of the new standard the county has to replace nearly all of their signs. Crews have been working to replace the signs for the last three years and are more than half way done.
He said the new signs provide better visibility at night.
“In 2011, we spent over $47,000 on new signs. When it’s all said and done we will have spent over $100,000 in this process,” Opperman said.
He said 80 percent of project funding is coming from the Federal Highway Administration and 20 percent coming from local funds.
“One of the problems we have with putting up new signs is vandalism,” Opperman said. “There are people that shoot them with paintball guns, shotguns and there are those who will steal the sign along with the post.
We assume they are trying to scrap them. They may get $2 for the sign and we have to spend $100 to replace it.”
Opperman said crews are also taking down all of the “Children At Play” or “Watch For Children” signs throughout the county.
“Those signs are not in the state or federal manual. Since we are getting federal funding for this project, we have to meet state and federal requirements on signs. The state does not and we have not put those signs up for years,” Opperman said. “A lot of those signs are older and some of the locations no longer need them. You don’t want to have a sign up you do not need.”
He said once all of the warning and regulatory signs have been replaced crews will replace the road name signs.
For more information about this program, call the County Engineer’s office at 740-259-5541.
Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 208, or wallen@heartlandpublications.com.
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