Fairfax County to Begin $1.75 Million Street Sign Replacement to Meet Federal Mandate

Squinting to read that road sign? It'll be easier to read in coming years. At a cost of $1.75 million, Fairfax County will begin replacing street signs, starting this summer, to comply with a federal mandate to make them more readable by making them reflective or in some cases more reflective.

"We have probably about 40,000 intersections, and we estimate 5,000 of those intersections require updating," said Steve Aitcheson, director of Fairfax County's Maintenance and Stormwater Management Division, Department of Public Works and Environmental Services. The county has until 2018 to comply with updated street sign regulations, but must have a plan in place by Jan. 1, 2012.

After the beginning of the county's fiscal year on July 1st, the county will begin the process with a pilot program, checking sign reflectivity, and noting which street signs in the county to replace, Aitcheson said.

The county will begin with street signs located on roads where the speed limit is 50 mph, he said. Other priorities will be any of the green street signs, which are the oldest street signs in the county. Some of the current blue street signs may remain, if they pass a new reflection test. Those that were created in the '90s probably won't pass the test, Aitcheson noted. More recent blue signs may pass, he said.

Steel poles located on 50 mph roads holding street signs will also be replaced with "breakaway" poles. "There's another provision in the standards that require breakaway poles," Aitcheson noted. "Instead of the round steel poles that we have now, we will replace those with breakaway poles. If a car hits it, it will break away instead of going through the windshield."

The cost to replace a sign is about $350 per intersection, Aitcheson said. That includes:

• a reflectivity test, which is done with a hand-held meter
• contacting Miss Utility before digging
• creating two sign blades, hardware and poles

Initially, the county will work with its own staff and equipment in the pilot phase between July 1st and the end of the year. But toward the end of the year, the county will put the job up for bid to outside companies that will do the work. "We wouldn't be able to do that much work, with the staffing we have," Aitcheson said.

Aitcheson estimates the county will spend about $250,000 per year of the overall $1.75 million until the project is completed. The deadline is 2018.