What’s Up with That? Highway 14 sign upgrades aimed at driver safety

I am a volunteer driver for two different charity organizations, and I have a question. Why are the footings for most of the signage on State Highway 14 between Vancouver and Camas being replaced? If the Washington DOT is hurting for money, why are they doing this at the taxpayers expense? Are the signs in danger?

— Rik Miller, West Minnehaha

It’s not so much danger to signs that the state is worried about, Rik — it’s danger to people.

Those sign footings are being replaced according to updated safety standards, according to Washington State Department of Transportation Spokeswoman Abbi Russell. It’s part of a repaving contract the state has for the stretch of State Highway 14 from I-5 to 164th Avenue, she said — about 8.5 miles in all. The repaving was finished up last summer, she said, but the contractor couldn’t get to the signage before winter weather set in. So, what you’re seeing now is a little buttoning-up of last year’s big project.

When the state does improvements like paving projects, Russell said, it’s required by law to make all related improvements as part of the same job. That means everything from stormwater drainage facilities, guard rails and sidewalk curb cuts to signage upgrades.

Unidirectional breakaway sign footings are being replaced with multidirectional ones, Russell said. The old footings were designed to give way only when struck head-on from the front, while the new ones will give way when struck from any direction.

Wait a minute — from any direction? Somebody’s going to hit a freeway sign from behind — coming the wrong way and off the shoulder?

Yup. Things can get crazy at high speeds, as we know all too well.

“Anything can happen,” Russell said. “People have spin-outs and hit signs from the side. You just never know.”

The state is only replacing the footings on six signs, Russell said, for a total cost of $16,800.That’s less than one-half of one percent of the total cost of the repaving job, which was $3.97 million and paid for largely through 2009 federal stimulus funds. The footings used to be wood but now they’re steel, she said, and will last much longer even while giving way more readily if struck — from any direction. In some cases, Russell said, the whole sign is being replaced — not just the footings — to comply with upgraded federal reflectivity standards.

To learn more about the entire project, visit http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/SR14/SE164thInterchangePaving.

Got a question about your neighborhood? We’ll get it answered. Send “What’s Up With That?” questions to neighbors@columbian.com.