Richmond’s Jimmy Barrett must be pleased. The WRVA
radio show host launched an on-air campaign last year
to update the “Welcome to Virginia” signs
at the commonwealth’s borders. The old sign “looks
like something my grandmother knitted in 1954,”
Barrett quipped in The Washington Post last fall.
(“Virginia Welcomes You to Choose an Updated Look,”
November 24, 2005).
Thanks in part to Barrett’s efforts, the Virginia
Department of Transportation actually agreed to replace
the 90 signs that welcome visitors as they cross our borders.
Agency officials cited the upcoming Jamestown anniversary
celebration, complaints about the 50-year-old design,
and the age of the some of the markers as justification.
Most are more than 14 years old and lose their ability
to reflect at night or in bad weather, VDOT officials
said.
To choose the final design, VDOT asked the public to express
their opinions on six versions last year. More than 56,400
votes were cast from November
22 to December 4.
Officials announced the winner in mid-December and the
first of Virginia's new
welcome signs will be in place next month for the
spring influx of visitors at the start of Historic Garden
Week on April 22.
Whatever their message, road signs have a long history.
The ancient Romans erected stone columns in the far-flung
corners of the empire marking the distance to the capital
city. But it was the automobile that made road signs a
necessity. In 1908, an International Road Congress in
Italy established the first basic patterns. In the U.S.,
road sign standards are regulated by the Federal Highway
Administration’s Manual
on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. States often use
the federal manual as a template for their own sign designs.
Sign standards are so uniform that anyone who has taken
the Virginia driver’s test must learn the basics:
sign shapes for example. Many people, however, don’t
know how much information can be garnered from signs.
For example, there is logic to the interstate highways
numbering system. Even-numbered one- and two-digit interstates,
such as I-64 and I-66, always run east and west. The smaller
the number the farther south it is. Odd-numbered interstates,
such as I-95, I-81 or I-77, run north and south. The larger
the number the farther east it is.
The three-digit interstates are always connectors. If
the first number is even, i.e. I- 495, the road is often
a circular loop that connects to an interstate at both
ends. If the first number is odd, such as I-195 near Richmond,
it only connects at one end and the other end goes to
the center of a city (U.S. Highways: From US 1 to US 830:
Numbering Conventions for United States Numbered Highways.
Logic applies even to the small green mile markers along
interstates. The signs always start their count at the
western border of a state for east-west interstates and
at the southern border for north-south thoroughfares.
For example, if you are traveling I-95, the lower numbers
are near Richmond, the higher numbers near Fredericksburg
and Northern Virginia, no matter which direction you are
heading.
Even the blue service signs with logos of nearby businesses
tell travelers a lot. To be listed on the sign, the business
must be one of six closest to the interstate exit. Businesses,
except for campgrounds, should be within three miles of
the exit and all must have restrooms and a public phone.
They must be opened a certain number of days per week
for a certain number of hours depending on type of service
VDOT's Travel Service Program. Of course, businesses pay
for the privilege of such recognition.
Whether, they are cautioning, directing or advertising
services, it’s a rough life for Virginia’s
road signs. Many are damaged or go missing each year.
VDOT’s three regional sign shops annually send out
100,000 new or replacement signs to the various VDOT districts
that stretch from Northern Virginia to Hampton Roads,
Salem and Bristol.
Which marker is replaced most? It’s the ubiquitous
stop sign. These seem to be always be located where accidents
occur and suffer the consequences. Also, stop signs seem
to be popular trophies near college campuses, but other
markers are also coveted. The sign for Cuckoo, Virginia,
in Louisa County gets stolen about a dozen times a year,
according to one sign shop employee (“Sign, Sign,
Everywhere a Sign,” Potomac News, February
5, 2005).
Occasionally, VDOT and other local sign shops get requests
for unique markers. Back in 1998, Roswitha Augusta asked
Dulles Greenway officials to post signs warning drivers
to watch for turtles. She tried to save one on the 14-mile
stretch between Leesburg and Dulles International Airport,
but it was crushed before she could rescue it. Augusta
paid $3,000 for four signs that showed a turtle with beaded
brow and the words, “Give Them a Brake.” (“Signs
Ask Drivers’ Help to Let Turtles Cross Road,”
The Washington Post, September
27, 1998).
We hope local reptiles are relieved.
March 20, 2006
Nice & Curious
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