A few weeks ago I wrote a story about the Seattle Department of Transportation replacing some tradition green street signs with brown ones in the neighborhood. As it turns out, this move is part of a citywide campaign to highlight Seattle’s historic Olmsted Boulevards – like the Queen Anne Parkway and Gilman Avenue.
Paid for by the voter-approved Bridging the Gap Levy, the city has so far replaced 3,645 signs at intersections around town, a move that has been somewhat controversial among many residents who feel the money could be better spent elsewhere. One reader, CutTheString, wrote in the comments to our last story,
This is a giant waste of money. They say that they change them out when the green signs “need’ replacing but it looks like they’re just swapping them out happenstance. We’ve got overcrowded schools and libraries we can’t keep open, but now I know where the oldest streets in Seattle are, Lord knows I couldn’t live with out that knowledge.
Others feel that if they’re going to replace old street signs anyway, they might as well use new ones that indicate some historical relevance – the brown signs cost the same amount to make as the green. However, there have been many noted mistakes in the green-to-brown swap. One reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, noticed that all the new brown signs along 6th Ave W – the ones that first attracted attention on Queen Anne several weeks ago – have now gone back to green.
She wrote,
I noticed that some of the street signs that were changed to brown. (6th W. and W. Crockett is an example) are now all green again? Wonder why? Sort of an expensive experiment for the city, don’t ya think?
I took a look this morning and found that she was right, all the original new brown signs along 6th Ave W – at Blaine, Howe, Crockett and McGraw – have now gone back to green.
“SDOT made a couple of mistakes and our staff has corrected them,” said Dewey Potter with the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation said. “They’re correct now.”
But apparently SDOT has made more than a few labeling errors around town. Benjamin Lukoff, who wrote a piece about the new street signs in Crosscut, also wrote in our comments. Despite that fact that overall he says he is for the changing signs, he wrote,
I’ve seen a lot of mistakes going up on the new green signs, and I’ve also seen new green signs ring Green Lake, even though Green Lake Drive and Green Lake Way are Olmsted roads.
Another reader found this example of how a mislabeling mix-up resulted in a very confusing intersection.
So there it is. The city said 6th Ave W was historic, and then took it back. But don’t worry, there are still plenty of other streets still donned with the brown signs on the Hill. Take a drive around McGraw and Smith to see if you can spot them!
Thanks to our anonymous reader for the tip!
