Pat Gangitano of Massapequa says overhead street signs would provide better visibility for drivers.
Why aren’t street-name signs hung overhead alongside traffic lights? In Massapequa, there are several locations, including the intersection of Sunrise Highway and Unqua Road, where this would be beneficial. It’s often hard to hunt for a small sign on a street corner when you’re driving on a busy road. How is sign placement determined?
Aside from freeways and expressways, the use of overhead street-name signs is determined on a case-by-case basis. The New York State Department of Transportation prefers local municipalities install street-name signs on corner posts for consistency.
“The key is to reduce confusion,” said DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters, noting Long Islanders are used to seeing street-name signs on corners. “If we’re inconsistent with sign placement, then drivers are constantly wondering where to look when they approach an intersection.”
According to Federal Highway Administration guidelines, intersections with overhead street signs are often locations where roadside space is at a minimum due to private property, steep hills or other troublesome geography. Other factors include traffic volume, the number of lanes, sight distance, speed and lighting.
To avoid overhead signs at intersection like Unqua and Sunrise, the state will often use advance street-name signs to alert drivers a road is 100 or 200 feet away. At the request of residents last summer,“We installed signs with eight-inch letters,” Peters said. “But a few months later, residents asked for even bigger signs, so we’re installing ones with 12-inch letters this spring.”
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Comments (6)
"To avoid overhead signs at intersection like Unqua and Sunrise, the state will often use advance street-name signs to alert drivers a road is 100 or 200 feet away."
-These are a waste of money...most of the time if your in the middle or left lane you'll drive right by and not even see it.
"At the request of residents last summer,“We installed signs with eight-inch letters,” Peters said."
- At speeds of 40, 50, 55 mph (in reality drivers drive faster than the limit) how can drivers see a sign with 8'' lettering??? I've seen so many close calls ( and a few crashes) because drivers are searching for a certain street and break at the last minute to turn or switch lanes.
Lastly, these large signs are useless at night unless they are illuminated.
I WANT TO THANK MR. GANGITANO FOR BRING THIS MATTER UP.WHEN DRIVING INTO MOST INTERSECTION IN NASSAU AND SUFFOLK I CANNOT SEE THE SIGNS.THEY MUST BE PLACED OVER HEAD SO WE CAN SEE THEM.PLEASE WE MUST PUT PRESSURE ON NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO INSTALL THESES LARGE SIGNS!!!
Street signs, especially at intersections with traffic lights, should be added to the overhead wires that already exist. The use of 8" and even 12" signs on posts on the corners still forces the driver to look to the corner for a sign that may be hard to find or blocked by another vehicle. This is most difficult for someone in the left lane anticipating a left turn. Having a sign hanging overhead in the intersection is the least difficult to see and allows the driver to remain focused on the intersection and potential hazards that might be encountered. In many areas, such as south Florida, this is the norm and they system works very well.
I am definitely IN FAVOR of larger overhead street signs. There are many major intersections in Nassau County where the signs are so difficult to read, especially at night and in inclement weather. To make matters worse, the street names often change when you go across major intersections. The signage is adequate, for example, on Franklin Avenue in Garden City where it becomes Mineola Blvd north of Old Country Road. However, there are many similar situations with poor signage.
from the above comment:
"To make matters worse, the street names often change when you go across major intersections. The signage is adequate, for example, on Franklin Avenue in Garden City where it becomes Mineola Blvd north of Old Country Road. However, there are many similar situations with poor signage."
You can thank the town of north hempstead for being arrogant a-holes for changing almost every street that crosses from TOH to the TONH...when the TOH broke into 2 towns, during the american revolution, the TONH wanted nothing to do with the TOH thus changing all the street names.
Not to mention that to this day, in some sections, the northside of old country rd has a different speed limit than the southside.
I drive all over America and the absolute worst signage of any location is Long Island. NYS DOT is passing the buck, again.
"Hey Guys! Get some back bone and set some guidelines for large well placed readable, day or night street signs."! Stop passing the buck to the townships and counties who can't get their collective act together on somehting as simple as naming 25A, let alone put up a sign you could read.
God forbid you have a guest from out of town, fuggadaboutit. They're lost from the git go.
Take a lesson from Florida, California and others. Large signs placed over the intersection for each road. When not possible, then large street signs on each, that's right! I said each corner. That makes four signs, one for each direction of traffic. Wow! Who'd paid for that? Hell we already are. Now do it!