Long-term Operation Orange Cone signs irk resident
Mac Nachlas of Mount Washington has a gripe with the signs that have been popping up in his neighborhood. It sounds like a reasonable complaint to me. Let's let him explain:
Ok, I'm used to politicians claiming credit for doing their jobs and I know it's an election year.... and I'm no TEA Party fanatic, but the recent introduction of permanent, metal signs to denote each newly repaved street has me bugged.
"Project Orange Cone" started as a catchy phrase that did not harm. A temporary sign at each construction site gave the mayor du jour credit for road resurfacing (which one assumes is the job of the city anyway), but the signs didn't cost very much and disappeared with the paving crew.
Now, each newly paved street in my neighborhood (Mount Washington) is adorned with permanent metal signs announcing the project name and crediting the mayor. The signs add no value, provide no information needed by the motorist and add to visual clutter.
They serve no purpose other than to advertise a specific politician at taxpayer expense.
We will probably be told the signs are cheap, but even if they are only a couple of dollars it's more than we should be spending on unnecessary and unhelpful signage. The ten minutes spent by a DOT crew putting each sign up could easily be spent more usefully.
This is not a gripe about a specific mayor... but about the concept that allows ANY mayor to waste money on this sort of self aggrandizement. If you want to brag about your accomplishments issue a report of miles paved. Don't junk up the neighborhoods
and waste money on signs that don't help motorists. Just fix the roads and you'll get the credit you deserve.
Categories: Politics & transportation
