BUK-50 on Channel 4

I-95 Express Lane Signs Tagged With Graffiti

MIAMI (CBS4) ―


The Florida Department of Transportation is assessing the extent of damage to see if new traffic signs on I-95 need repairs, or will have to be totally replaced. The signs seem to be giving drivers little direction now, but they are sending an obvious message.


"I think they're playing with words aren't they," said one driver. The graffiti reads "Buk 50." When you combine the fact that the signs are on the new I-95 North express lanes that drivers are still getting familiar with and big time problems can develop.


CBS4's Jorge Estevez checked into the numbers and found that cleaning up the graffiti on some of the major expressways like I-95 costs taxpayers upwards of $80 thousand per year. It's not as easy as simply painting over it, mainly because the signs are made to reflect for night driving.




"If you go ahead and do it too much (cleaning), especially if the damage is too much, it might indeed necessitate the replacement of that sign," said FDOT spokesman Brian Rick.



But stopping the vandals may difficult as the cameras are often pointed at the highway and not the signs, so FDOT officials say it's up to drivers everywhere to spot them. The Florida Highway Patrol has not received a final report as to the extent and cost of the damages to the signs over the weekend.




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