A major project to
upgrade road signs throughout Butler County's western townships
will be fully under way by early July, according to County Engineer
Greg Wilkens. Motorists will see crews from the Butler County
Engineer's Office pulling up older signs and replacing them with
all new "retroreflectivity" signs that meet updated
national standards.
"Retroreflectivity"
refers to the property of a traffic sign to reflect light back
to the driver. Retroreflective traffic signs are used to increase
sign visibility at night. Maintaining traffic sign reflectivity
is important since nighttime fatal crashes occur approximately
three times as often as daytime fatal crashes.
Traffic signs use technology
with small glass beads or prismatic reflectors that reflect light
from vehicle headlamps back to the driver's eyes, thus making
the sign appear more bright and visible. But over time these
reflective properties break down. In addition to the higher reflectivity
of the new signs, the average life span is longer than the previous
grade of reflective signs -- about 10-12 years versus seven.
While all agencies
must have a replacement program in place by 2012 and comply with
new federal requirements by 2015, the BCEO has already gotten
a jump on the retroreflective signs, gradually integrating them
onto its roadways since 2005. "A formal sign replacement
program this year will involve all County roads in the six western
townships," said BCEO Traffic Engineer Matt Loeffler. "Affected
signs are those with red, yellow, and white backgrounds such
as stop signs, stop ahead, yield, curve warning, and speed limit
signs -- in other words, all regulatory and warning signs. This
does not include orange construction signs, guide signs, or street
name signs."
The BCEO applied for
and has received a federal grant to fund 80 percent of the $62,500
project. The remaining 20 percent local match will be paid for
with BCEO funds. All work is scheduled for completion by September
30, 2010. Signs in the northeastern and southeastern townships
are tentatively scheduled to be upgraded in 2012.
# # #
For more information
contact:
Chris
Petrocy, BCEO Public Information Supervisor
Greg Wilkens, P.E., P.S.,
Butler County Engineer
Phone 513.867.5744 • Fax 513.867.5849
