New Signs

El Paso Transportation crew member installs new street sign with lower case lettering

Newmanistas will start seeing all new street signs. The older "ALL CAPS" signs are being replaced by street signs that contain lower case letters. FRANKFORT is now Frankfort. Why? Jim Stingl of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relates what an official from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) told him:

"Using all capital letters takes up more space on the sign, leaving less non-letter space, and therefore making it a bit harder for the eye to distinguish the word, he said. It's a difference of a split second, but saving that time can help a driver make a quicker and safer decision about whether this is where to turn.

"He said the new rules are contained in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD. Let me make that easier for you to read - Mutcd."

You will enjoy reading all of Stingl's article.

The cost of the new signs for Milwaukee is $1.4 million. For NYC it will be $27 million. For El Paso? No idea - but I wish I were the sign vendor.

New mileage marker signs tell walkers at Newman Park how far they have gone on one side. 4X around the park equals one mile.