Apr 23, 2008 11:01 pm US/Eastern
Driving Signs Can Make Navigating Boston Difficult
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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WBZ found a few issues with this sign. It has five lines morphing to four arrows for five locations.
WBZ
The road signs? Misleading. The parking signs? Forget it! While the rules of the road should be clear, often times driving around Boston can be confusing.
"I love Boston," said Paul Schlictman. "I love the randomness, but at least put up some signs so you can figure out where you're going."
Schlictman is Harvard educated, and yet self taught in road signs 101. He's got a passion for parking signs… a yearning for yields. "Massachusetts is just very poor on the state level of marking route signs… all the way down to the local level."
Paul lives in Arlington -- not far from Route 60. There, you'll find signs for the Kiwanis and Lions Club, but nothing else on the four-way rotary. "Only the center has a vague sign. And if you come the other way, you have nothing."
From that rotary to Downtown, we found the signs on the surface roads around the Kennedy Greenway are much better than they were during the Big Dig. The Expressway north and south, the waterfront, the airport and the Mass. Pike are all clearly marked -- though you need the orange glow of temporary signs to get to the Children's Museum.
Tom Gagne has been driving into Boston since he was 16. He's more confident now, but "we typically give directions by 'Go to the blue building take a right. Go to the second building take a left and go to the church.' Other than that -- there are no signs to be found in the city."
There are plenty of signs near Mass. General and Storrow Drive. And WBZ found a few issues, like five lines morphing to four arrows for five locations. One sign covering another. Oh, and EB is east bound, not East Boston.
You can probably stick this sign in the confusing category. It has four different arrows and only three destinations. The left arrow definitely points to Cambridge, but that's not listed on the sign at all.
Tom Tinlin is Boston's Transportation commissioner. He's got a tough job. The city has more than 350,000 signs. Right now he's tackling confusing parking signs. "We do try to keep them simple… Clear and concise."
He's trying to turn several signs into one. "So when you consolidate it, it cuts down on street signs and it's again -- more clear."
Everyone agrees there's no perfect system, unless you're talking about a global positioning system.
Placement, or lack thereof is one thing. But, if you don't like what you see on the signs, you can blame the feds. They have strict regulations on size, shape, symbols and lettering.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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