Inaccurate and unreliable traffic signs: how TXDOT explains the discrepancies
We’ve all seen digital traffic signs, detailing an upcoming closure or crash. But who controls them, especially when they are expired or inaccurate?
An ABC-7 viewer and west El Paso driver snapped a shot of a sign that says the Sunland Park I-10 West on-ramp is closed from 3-29-16 to 3-31-16. This sign, still up in April, could be confusing for an out-of-town driver.
But a sign that states,” Crash I-10 East at Asarco,”could create more than confusion, it could create chaos like it did for our viewer. He writes, “The Asarco crash sign has been up a week! It caused me to unnecessarily take an alternate route to work LAST TUESDAY!”
Turns out the warning was about a non-existent wreck.
“Was that a DMS or a portable?,” asked TXDOT spokeswoman Blanca Del Valle.
A DMS, or a dynamic message sign, are controlled by TXDOT. They’re the large signs hanging over the overpass. The operators housed inside El Paso’s TransVista office.
Each costs $260,000. TXDOT said there are 80 in El Paso, costing taxpayers $20 million to operate.
“We try to move the messages when necessary,” Del Valle. “So that could have been a contractor.”
A portable is put up by the individual contractor, working the construction side. It’s their responsibility to update the signs or take down. Driver can contact TXDOT to let them know if a sign is causing confusion at (915) 790-4200. The ABC-7 viewer though is still wondering why TXDOT refers to the area near Executive Center as Asarco. The tower is obsolete.
“Many of the people in El Paso are aware that was the Asarco area,’ Del Valle said. “I believe our DMS are named that on our screen. That’s something we can look into.”
