As some on the left scoff at the right’s complaints about unfunded federal mandates and the need for greater 10th Amendment protection, I offer up Exhibit A. This is how the Feds cause states to bust their budgets.
New York Daily News: The city will change the lettering on every single street sign - at an estimated cost of about $27.5 million - because the feds don't like the font.
Street names will change from all capital letters to a combination of upper and lower case on roads across the country thanks to the pricey federal regulation, officials said Wednesday.
By 2018, MADISON AVE. will become Madison Ave. and will be printed in a font called Clearview, the city Department of Transportation says.
The Federal Highway Administration says the switch will improve safety because drivers identify the words more quickly when they're displayed that way - and can sooner return their eyes to the road.
Still, several city residents were OUTRAGED.
The city has about 250,000 signs, and it costs about $110 to replace one, the DOT says. Officials said the new signs will have improved reflectivity and clarity for nighttime drivers. […]
The changes are among many in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices that regularly changes to improve road safety, highway administration spokesman Doug Hecox said. The mixed upper- and lowercase rule was adopted in 2003, but municipalities were given until 2018 to comply completely, Hecox said. [MORE]
New York City is currently running a $4 billion deficit for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the state needs to close a $47 billion budget gap. In a sane and orderly world, New York should be able to decide if and when something like street sign changes are necessary and affordable.
Sooner or later, states must exert their rights to determine when and where money is to be spent. Otherwise the wasteful spending disease from Washington will continue to spread.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Reuters