Federal Highway Administration Is Ordering Local Governments to Buy New Street Signs That They Say Are Easier to Read
While I support the need to update traffic signs, this is a prime example of an unfunded federal mandate. The regulations require cities and counties to replace signs with 4" lettering with signs with 6" lettering by 2012 and that all signs must use reflective lettering by 2018. If the FHA wants any functional signs replaced by 2012, they can pay for the replacements themselves. In these tough economic times, if they expect cities and counties to pay the bill, they better relax the timing. I would support consolidating the lettering size and reflexivity requirements with the 2018 deadline. This would give communities one target date for all sign replacements and would allow them to spread the cost over several years. It would also make sense for communities to start following the regulations immediately when installing new signs or replacing damaged signs.
This means that cities and counties would still need to start budgeting and planning for the sign replacements now. Even though I support spreading the cost over several years, it is not intended to have communities wait until the last minute in hopes that they will be able to better afford the cost down the road.
