Unfunded Sign Mandate a Challenge for All Communities

Having trouble reading that street or traffic sign? You shouldn't by 2015.

Communities across the nation are faced with updating their STOP and other traffic signs — in Kent there are more than 5,000 such signs — thanks to a new federal mandate.

We broke the news in Kent earlier this month about and how it is part of an update to the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The changes, among other reasons, are to help increase night-time visibility and the reflective nature of the signs to help older drivers.

But the Record-Courier takes a brief look this morning at how communities around Portage County are dealing with the new sign requirements.