Duplicate street signs line Dawson Road in Albany

ALBANY — For Albany motorists who think they have been seeing double the last few days along Dawson Road, they have.

From Slappey Boulevard west on Dawson past the Albany Mall, practically every street sign, including stop signs, pedestrian crossing signs, no parking signs, stop light signs and speed limit signs, have been duplicated. The old signs are still in place, but brand new shiny signs stand alongside them.

“You see double signs on Dawson Road and past the mall because our contractor is putting out the new signs, and we have yet to go and pull up the old signs,” the city of Albany Public Information Office’s Monique Broughton Knight said. “That is why you see the double signs in that area. The stop signs and other road signs are replaced as needed. Especially with the storm recently, we have replaced quite a few road signs.”

Broughton explained that the city must keep certain signs “in stock” in case they need to be replaced.

“We are required to keep in stock the yield signs and the stop signs, because occasionally people knock them down,” Knight said. “When people have a car accident and knock them down or run them over, we have to replace them as soon as possible. Street name signs, however, are special order.”

According to city of Albany Engineering Director Bruce Maples, the sign replacement is also part of an upgrade required by new state and federal regulations.

“We have a contract using safety action grant money with the DOT (Department of Transportation) to re-stripe Dawson Road, put new thermoplastic markers down, put pavement markers down, and the last part of it is to put new signage out that meet the new high reflectivity standards that have been set by the federal government,” Maples said.

According to Maples, a standard stop sign with street name signs bolted to the top costs $132. With literally thousands of signs throughout the Albany area, maintaining them becomes an expensive task.

“We are also consolidating any stop signs and street name signs that are separate into one single post, and we are replacing any missing signs,” Maples said. “This ultimately helps us save money. Funny enough, some signs in Albany are a little bit of a problem. Apparently, Elvis fans really like Lonesome Road and Hardup Road. We have had to replace those quite a few times.”

According to Maples, the older duplicate signs are scheduled to be removed in the coming weeks.