Re: Button Copy in Ohio

['Buckeye Roadgeek':]

Well, arguably it's not that Ohio doesn't need to spend the money, but
that they need to spend it on other things. The one project that
really jumps to mind is a bypass for US 33 around Nelsonville, but
several of Columbus' (or is that Columbus's?) suburban freeways need
updated too, to cope with the sprawling suburbs.

Unlike other people on this newsgroup, I don't really get excited when a state DOT replaces the same sign three times in five years. (I have seen it happen, but not in Ohio or California--the example I have in mind is actually in west Texas, and it is far from unique.) The reason is that signing work is generally very cheap. A really large signing contract will barely break $2 million unless structural work is involved. Generally it isn't, since sign panels are typically changed out on the existing structures. In contradistinction, $20 million will barely buy you a single interchange and perhaps one or two miles of rural freeway. (You do hear stories of projects in the hundreds of millions of dollars where about 10% of the cost is attributable to signing, but these are generally new construction or major reconstruction where the sign structures are also being purchased.)

Frankly, I would rather a state spent a few million dollars too much replacing signs a bit too frequently than that it decided not to replace signs at all, despite growing evidence of their functional obsolescence. This is essentially the problem with California's signs. Caltrans relied on nonreflective porcelain enamel substrates for so long that it has a huge problem of excess durability and is trying to keep its old signs going for as long as possible despite growing evidence that they provide a grossly substandard service to motorists compared to regularly replaced reflective-sheeting signs in other states.

Of course, it's still a waste of money, but it's not as if Ohio just
has enough money to go around doing such unnecessary work.. It's like
if you lent me $20 for gas and I used it to rent video games...I
acutally needed the money, but I didn't use it wisely.

It's not quite the same. The true comparison would be if you were given $20 to buy gas, but decided to spend $2 of it renting video games, and as a result couldn't buy gas until a little later when you were able to get $2 from other sources.
.

Quantcast