Tom tells the heartwarming story of a confusing intersection in his home town that was improved by an amateur city planner who printed a homemade sign and stuck it up without permission. The sign has stayed up.
Last spring someone affixed a hand-written sign to a lightpost at the intersection of Fellowship Road and Church Street. I thought to myself “I better get a picture of that before it gets taken down, there’s no way the town’s going to leave that up there.” I never did take that picture, and the never did take down the sign. It stayed all through the winter, even after the writing had faded away. This spring the sign was upgraded to a laminated computer print out. It was obvious that the sign was here to stay.
(Thanks, Tom!)
Update: Mauricio sez, "This story reminded me of Richard Ankrom, here in LA, who dressed as a department of transportation worker and scaled the Harbor Freeway to install a 5 Freeway exit sign back in 2002. I was directly (positively) effected by his work, during my commute from USC to Burbank."
The artist built and installed the directions to help motorists make a smooth transition from the Harbor Freeway to northbound Interstate 5, located near downtown.
By plastering the "North 5" moniker on the existing sign, Ankrom not only followed state specifications but also showed that art can make a difference.
"The experts are saying that Mr. Ankrom did a fantastic job," conceded Caltrans spokeswoman Jeanne Bonfilio. "They thought it was an internal job."
"2 weeks ago, Ankrom himself posted a youtube documentary called 'Guerrilla Public Service' showing him adding the sign on the 5 freeway. His contractor truck labeled 'Aesthetic De Construciton' is pretty darn classy."
Update 2: Ryan sez, "When I was a kid a distressed parent in my neighborhood installed private-label stop signs (the kind you find in parking lots or on private roads in housing developments) at an intersection near my house. When the newly founded city of Pinecrest, FL took over the responsibility of maintaining street signs (formerly a county job) they replaced all the weathered, damaged signs around town. The original private-label stop signs were replaced with official ones and now it's part of the city records that stop signs should be at that location."
