Earlier this year, I took note of the city’s new mixed-case design for street signs. And in the past few months, I have watched the new signs pop up across town, and they, with some exceptions, look pretty sharp.
But last weekend, while running some errands with DeGirlfriend, I saw more new signs, with yet another new design.
They are on the southwest corner of North Capitol Street and Florida Avenue. They sport all-capital letters in a standard highway font, surrounded by a novel white border. They look nothing like any other D.C. street sign I’ve ever seen.
What gives? The mystery deepened when the transportation department disclaimed any responsibility.
“Our sign shop says it did not fabricate those signs,” spokesman John Lisle told me. “The question is, who did?”
After some investigation, Lisle reported back with no hard answers, but an “assumption” that a contractor was responsible.
In any case, he said, they will be swapped out for standard mixed-case signs. And if you see any rogue sign-hanging contractors out there, please let me know in the interest of municipal signage consistency.
