New Orleans Street Sign Replacement Another Sign of Recovery

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina left over 25,000 traffic signs damaged or destroyed, making it difficult and dangerous to navigate through the city. Now, the City of New Orleans is starting the final phase of traffic sign replacement. To date, over 17,000 signs have already been replaced. This project is scheduled to be finished in March 2008.

Seeing tangible signs of improvement helps to bolster faith in the City's ability to move forward with the recovery process. At the end of last month, the broken neon sign on the outside of the City Hall building was finally fixed. "The repairs to the City Hall sign were needed due to wind damage to the building in 2005," said Pamela Smith, director of the Property Management Department. "We wanted to replace the damaged characters, as well as those slightly damaged, to present a uniformed appearance for the city's central governmental facility."

Now, residents can experience a similar boost in moral when their streets are again clearly identified to the world. The French Quarter, Central Business District (CBD), and the Warehouse District are among the areas getting the signage facelift. These busy districts of the large city had the most signs, with some signage covered by several ordinances and codes.

The Lower Ninth Ward is also being covered in this final sign repair effort. It was the last area in the city to be assessed for repair. The damage caused by the terrible storms of 2005 made it extremely difficult to get people in and out of the area to evaluate the extent of the damage. The rest of the city was assessed in 2006. The Lower Ninth Ward was finally able to be evaluated earlier this year.

District E Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis said, "The unveiling of the first street sign in the Lower Ninth Ward, at the center of the levee breach, will stand as a symbol for everyone to see that we are rebuilding all of New Orleans block by block, street by street. We are doing it despite our many obstacles, because we are all working together to get it done."

The $200,000 City sign restoration contract for this final phase of sign repairs is being fulfilled by Highway Technologies, a company based in nearby Harvey. They are responsible for doing a literal block by block inspection of signs to check for damage, then making the necessary replacements. Some of the signs they will be replacing mark street names, speed limits, school zones, parking regulations, and even stop signs.

"These new signs are evidence of our continuing recovery," said Mayor C. Ray Nagin. "Already, we have replaced more than 17,000 storm-damaged street and traffic signs. This has occurred alongside other critical infrastructure repairs we have undertaken to rebuild following the greatest natural and man-made disaster in our country's history."

Sources: City of New Orleans, "City of New Orleans Begins Third and Final Phase of Street Sign Replacement"
City of New Orleans, "City Hall Sign Reflects Beacon of Progress"