Dropped Sign Mandate Opens Doors For Other Projects

You might not notice without a second glance, but a portion of Harrison's street signs are newer, brighter and safer, at least according to the federal government.

Other signs haven't been replaced, and whether or not they will be updated is now up to the discretion of the town board.

A forcing every municipality in the country to replace its street signs by 2016 forced Harrison to start planning for the estimated $70,000 expense of replacing about 1,300 street signs over the next few years. The mandate was dropped in September, leaving municipalities the option of keeping the same signs and saving the money.

Harrison has already replaced some of the signs and had planned to use highway improvement (CHIPS) funds from New York State to complete the project. With the mandate rescinded, about $20,000 of leftover money previously allocated to the signs can now be used for other highway projects including sidewalk and street repairs. 

"It will be allocated in various ways, whether it be sidewalks, roads, paving or repairs," said Harrison Councilwoman Marlane Amelio.

The town also has the option of completing the project, although now there isn't a deadline involved. Harrison Supervisor Joan Walsh said she would still like to see the new signs brought in eventually.

"I think the town looks better with them complete," Walsh said.

The town still doesn't have an exact tally of the total number of signs that haven't been replaced, but Walsh said those figures could be added up the next time DPW officials clean the signs.

Amelio said she is pleased with the federal government's decision to drop the mandate, putting the decision of where to spend the money back in the hands of local government.

"Someone finally realized that in this economy, is this really what we need to be worrying about and spending money on?" said Amelio.

Municipalities across the region lamented the unfunded street sign mandate for months before it was eventually dropped. Although replacing the signs is a relatively small expense in Harrison, New York City announced replacing the thousands of signs there could cost more than $27 million.

The City of Rye announced this summer that the old signs there would be placed up for sale to help cover the cost of replacing them. Harrison officials were working on a plan to sell their signs as well.

Walsh said the town board will decide at a later date exactly where is will spend the remaining CHIPS money.