A Columbus resident recently posted a photo to Facebook of the street sign at the Georgesville Road and West Broad Street intersection that appeared to be melting.
A Dispatch colleague noticed the strange photo and brought it up at a morning news meeting. As the Dispatch transportation reporter [and the author of this column], I was tasked with getting to the bottom of what was going on with this “melting sign.”
I called the city of Columbus, which said the sign was actually managed by the Ohio Department of Transportation. So, I contacted ODOT, where a spokesperson told me that their traffic operations engineer believed the sign was made by placing a green film over a white reflective sheet. The green film was chipping away and peeling, creating the melting effect.
The bottom line: ODOT plans to replace the sign.
Now, if you see one of these signs out in the wild, you can impress friends and family with your keen insight into “melting” road signs.
Another fun fact for you: ODOT makes its own road signs. The department can mass produce common road signs like stop signs or yield signs at rates of up to 400 a day.
Here are some ODOT road projects for motorists to look out for this week:
Franklin County ODOT projects for the week of June 5
Additional information on road projects will be added to this story on June 5 as it becomes available.
Transportation and neighborhoods reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The road signs! They’re melting! (Or not). The mystery behind a Columbus road sign.
Reporting by Nathan Hart, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nathan Hart, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
