Plan to renumber Route 6 exit signs hits speed bump

Plan to renumber Route 6 exit signs hits speed bump

By Doug Fraser

Posted Feb. 23, 2016 at 8:42 PM

State Rep. Sarah Peake cannot imagine turning off Route 6 in Orleans at Exit 88, which denotes the distance to Seekonk, where the highway first crosses into Massachusetts.

“I don’t care how far it is to Seekonk,” the Provincetown Democrat said. “To folks who have lived on the Cape a long time, what we’ll see is Exit 12. It’s always going to be Exit 12.”

Peake and other members of the Cape legislative delegation, as well as members of the Cape Cod Metropolitan Planning Organization, which helps prioritize road construction projects, received an email Friday from the Cape Cod Commission notifying them of upgrades to Route 6 exit signs proposed by the state Department of Transportation.

The first draft of the proposal included the replacement of the square signs on the roadside with larger signs cantilevered over the highway. It also included changes to the exit numbers, currently exits 2 in Sandwich through 12 in Orleans, to exit numbers 58 through 88, marking the distance from the Rhode Island border to each exit, and thus satisfying a federal highway design standard that exit numbers reflect mileage, not a number sequence.

Exit 9 A-B or Exit 77 A-B under the proposed mileage-based system would be an overhead sign across the entire highway similar to the one that already exists for Exit 1, which is considered the junction with Route 3.
_________________________________
Nope.

State puts brakes on plan to renumber Route 6 signs

HYANNIS — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation statewide road show promoting its $14.4 billion five-year capital investment plan stopped in Hyannis on Wednesday, revealing surprise news.

“The highway administrator has put a halt to that and there are no plans to renumber the exits,”said Jim Kersten, MassDOT legislative liaison, in response to Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Wendy Northcross’ opposition to plans to renumber exits along Route 6.

The state transportation agency proposed the renumbering in February to satisfy a federal highway design standard that exit numbers reflect mileage, not a number sequence.

“The new exit signs are needed to replace signs that are showing the signs of old age; they are faded or have some structural issues. We will be having meetings with the Cape’s legislative delegation to discuss what the new signs will look like but can state that they will be in keeping with the scenic nature of the Route 6 corridor and will be as unobtrusive as possible while still doing the job of guiding drivers to the exits," MassDOT communications director Jacquelyn Goddard wrote in an email. "More about the new sign options will be discussed by Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin when he personally meets with officials to start a public process.”

Goddard said Tinlin is still evaluating the mileage-based exit numbering program but no decision has been made to renumber Route 6 exits.

“I think it’s a great solution. We don’t want to lose our rural character with the over road signs, in fact they (MassDOT) need to do more for us to retain the rural feel which brings in the economic tourist base,” said Barnstable Town Councilor and state Senate candidate James Crocker, who attended the meeting. “I also hadn’t heard a public outcry to change the exit numbers, so I’m glad they will leave them alone.”