It’s hard to think of a lot of situations where an extra
fifth of a mile will help lost motorists figure out where they’re at – but
don’t tell that to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
With the help of millions in state road funding, MoDOT is
adding about 6,000 new mile markers to the 1,200 miles of federal interstate
highway in the state. Once installed, Missouri will be the first state to adopt
the new federally approved mile markers, which include the interstate number,
direction of travel, mile point, and sub-mile point, which is calculated to
every two-tenths of a mile.
The project is expected to cost approximately $3.2 million,
the Columbia Missourian reported. Divided evenly, that breaks down to a
cost of about $533 per sign. All of the signs should be in place statewide by
the end of the year.
And although a MoDOT press release confirms that the old
signs will be removed, the Missourian reports that at least some have
been left in place next to the new signs, creating an overlap.
“You’d think they’d take the old ones down when they put the
new ones up,” Norm Ruebling, a Columbia, MO, resident, told the Missourian. “I think it’s hilarious. If I’m at (mile) 185, then I go another 10 yards and
see 185.0.”
