State lawmakers want the Division of Highways to overhaul the way it replaces older signs along four-lane interstates and expressways in West Virginia.
A new report by the Legislature Joint Committee on Government Organization recommends that the highways agency visually inspect individual signs and replace only those that have deteriorated and lost reflectivity. The DOH now swaps out large numbers road signs simultaneously along a designated stretch of a four-lane highway once the signs reach a certain age.
"We'd like them to replace only the signs that are bad," said Delegate Gary Howell, R-Mineral, who heads the House Government Organization Committee. "It appears that's cheaper for the taxpayers, and you wind up with higher-quality signs."
The recommendations follow a Gazette-Mail report last summer about a $1.6 million DOH road-sign replacement project along a 36-mile stretch of Interstate 79 between Charleston and Wallback. In some cases, an Ohio-based contractor hired by the DOH was putting up new signs beside seemingly identical signs - before removing the older signs.
Howell and other legislative leaders criticized the project, saying it created the impression that the DOH was wasting money by erecting duplicate signs.
A Highways spokeswoman said most of the signs hadn't been replaced since 1993. Many had lost their reflectivity, she said.
Lawmakers directed legislative staff members to investigate, and they released a report this week about their findings.
The report spotlights North Carolina's road-sign replacement program. Since 1999, North Carolina's highways agency has spot-checked individual signs at night to determine which signs should be replaced.
"Our DOH apparently was doing what North Carolina did on everything but a four-lane highway," Howell said.
In a letter responding to the legislative report, Deputy Transportation Secretary John McBrayer wrote that the DOH has changes in the "sign management system" already in the works. The agency expects to have new policies for replacing signs by July 1.
According to the letter, the DOH replaces highway signs every 20 to 25 years - sooner, if a sign is damaged or requires a new message.
McBrayer confirmed that the DOH now uses a "full blanket" sign-replacement system - changing large numbers of signs based mostly on their age - on interstates and four-lane expressways. That program complies with federal highway regulations.
"Multiple states utilize this same practice where age of the signing is the primary criteria but certainly not the only criteria for replacement," McBrayer wrote.
The legislative report recommends that the DOH require contractors to return the replaced signs to the state, so the signs can be refurbished and reused. The highways division now allows contractors to keep the old signs, which the companies typically sell as scrap metal.
In his response letter, McBrayer said the DOH collected old signs in the 1990s, but the practice was "burdensome and time-consuming." The DOH also had to pay extra costs to haul damaged signs - ones that couldn't be restored - to scrap yards.
"Previous experience resulted in an administrative burden where no cost savings could be identified," McBrayer wrote to Howell.
The legislative report suggests that the DOH make better use of its sign shops, located at 10 district garages across the state.
McBrayer said DOH shop workers already repair and replace signs along most roadways - just not on interstates and other four-lane highways.
To expand the sign-replacement program to those larger highways, the DOH would have to hire more employees and buy about 20 aerial-platform trucks - which cost $250,000 each - to hoist larger signs placed along interstates.
The legislative report also recommends that the DOH give priority to sign-replacement projects along West Virginia's busiest highways. The division supports that suggestion.
"It shouldn't make any difference if it's a two-lane highway or four lanes," Howell said. "If you're doing sign replacement for safety, it seems to me you need to make it a priority based on traffic counts."
DOH officials have promised to update state lawmakers about the agency's sign-replacement program during interim legislative meetings next year.
Reach Eric Eyre at ericeyre@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4869 or follow @ericeyre on Twitter.