If you haven’t noticed, there are some new street signs in Downtown Waycross.
The new signs were designed and purchased through The Big Green Sign Company in Alpharetta, Waycross Public Works Director Matt Elwell said.
They’re not metal, but rather a composite material coated with high intensity sheeting that enhances visibility for drivers when a vehicle’s headlights shine on them.
“We’re using this (composite material) for all our new street signs including stop signs and speed limit signs,” Elwell said last week. “The life expectancy is seven to 10 years. These are taking the place of our older signs which were metal and had about the same expectancy life, but the composite ones are 30- to 40-percent cheaper per sign.”
The signs also contain a historical marker from the city. A corner of each sign has a metallic image of the fountain located in Plant Memorial Park at the intersection of Plant Avenue and Isabella Street.
The fountain was installed in 1879 making it one of the oldest municipal projects in Waycross. It was cast by Robinson Iron Works located in Alexander City, Ala.
Elwell said the upgrade process began on the main thoroughfares as they receive the most traffic. From there, the focus turned to the downtown area, which will be followed by specific neighborhoods in each of the city’s four public works zones.
“We’re in hopes we can get all street signs upgraded throughout the entire city within four years,” the director said. “Some street signs were upgraded last year with the metal signs so those are still in good shape and won’t need to be replaced until they reach the end of their lifespan. So all in all it’s a five-year replacement plan.”
Elwell said workers have replaced about 100 signs since July. He said the city has a goal of swapping out 200 each fiscal year paid for with money budgeted in the city’s General Fund.
Elwell said the new signs already have saved his department a lot of money in man hours. He said the old signs basically were built by hand.
For a street sign, the city would buy a blank metal sign along with the green sheeting. The sheeting would need to be applied to the sign then personnel would have to print out the letters of whatever street the sign was to be erected for, Elwell said.
“Now, we can just send a list of what street signs we want made,” he said. “The Big Green Sign Company prints them out and shipped them to us within a couple of weeks.”
Elwell said the city still has the ability to make its own street signs in house if the need arises. That can be done the same day as the need surfaces.
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