The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) recently awarded SDOT a $1,000,000 grant for replacing damaged and faded stop and yield signs throughout the city. The funding will allow SDOT to replace approximately 1,450 signs. The department estimates that the basic cost per sign and the reflectors that will be added to the sign poles to make them more visible is $450.
The grant funding is distributed through the Quick Response Safety Program, which pays for small improvements and repairs that have been statistically shown to reduce crashes on existing roadways. The grant award required that the project meet two goals: 1) The safety improvement had to reduce fatal and serious injury collisions on local roads and streets and on state highways that serve as city arterials within any local jurisdiction. 2) The safety project had to get on the ground quickly.
SDOT will prioritize the signs to be replaced based on age and least reflectivity, signs at locations with high collisions, and signs where there are high traffic volumes.