Cranston Rhode Island sprouts hundreds of mystery "Stop" signs

[CalMeacham]

CRANSTON, R.I. – Officials in a Rhode Island city are trying to figure out what to do about hundreds of illegal stop signs on city streets.

Officials in Cranston last week said they could not figure out who put up nearly 700 of the city’s 2,600 stop signs because proper legal procedure had not been followed and there was no record of them. That led to judges throwing out some tickets police had given out for running the stop signs.

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But Mayor Allan Fung says that still only accounts for about one-third of the mystery signs.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_re_us/us_mystery_stop_signs

Bureaucratic snafu, or the most labor-intensive, determined prank ever?

[ralph124c]

I know RI very well. I see the signs as a way for the local cops to raise money-by writing tickets.
RI is bankrupt-it has high sales, income, and property taxes-and most of the industry is gone.
This is a trend you will see in many NE cities-as the recession grinds on, local governments will make efforts to get more revenue by writing tickets.
Plus, RI has a very corrupt governent-the police are politicized, and told to “make some money”.

[Ace309]

So, to be clear, your theory is “bureaucratic snafu”?

[CalMeacham]

So, to be clear, your theory is “bureaucratic snafu”?

I never said so. Nor are those the only two possibilities, as ralph suggests. It was just a cute and catchy phrase to tag the OP with.

[Count_Blucher]

@Ace309

So, to be clear, your theory is “bureaucratic snafu”?

…the buck stops there?

[Phlosphr]

I think I’m with Ralph on this one - having just moved out of RI I think his theory is pretty accurate. Cranston is not the most economically diverse town, it’s actually quite run down. Move closer to the water - what a few miles? - and towns are different. Wickford\North Kingstown for instance, is rather wealthy…doubt you’d see pseudo- stop signs there.

[Markxxx]

The Washington Post says:

It turns out the state Transportation Department put up stop signs at intersections between state and local roads in line with state law.

But Mayor Allan Fung says that still only accounts for about one-third of the mystery signs.

Full article

Sounds like someone decided to pull a swifty

[Mr_Downtown]

The article is frustratingly vague. It doesn’t explain whether the city had failed to have engineers properly document a warrant for the stop signs, had failed to have city council approve them, or had not played any rôle in their erection at all.

Reading between the lines, I would guess that Cranston still had a lot of uncontrolled intersections, and in the last two decades the public works guys took it on themselves to put up stop signs—perhaps at the behest of city council members—because Americans no longer understand uncontrolled intersections. Now a lawyer is getting tickets dismissed because no one thought to have city council pass an ordinance specifying the location of the signs.

[CalMeacham]

The Washington Post says:

That’s identical to the story linked in the OP. They’re both from the AP.

[ShibbOleth]

@CalMeacham

I never said so. Nor are those the only two possibilities, as ralph suggests. It was just a cute and catchy phrase to tag the OP with.

True, it could also be an alien pre-invasion force sent to scout the area. Who knows what shape aliens could take? Rhode Island is rich in the nutrients they might require and no one would really miss it.

[CalMeacham]

True, it could also be an alien pre-invasion force sent to scout the area. Who knows what shape aliens could take?

I think they’d be more likely to take the shape of Vicious Keep Left signs.

Rhode Island is rich in the nutrients they might require and no one would really miss it.

I’m not sure Rhode Islanders are rich in nutrients anyone needs.

[Skywatcher]

@ShibbOleth

True, it could also be an alien pre-invasion force sent to scout the area.

No, they’re in Maine.

[Caricci]

The answer to this mystery is really very dull - they are all at intersections of state and city roads and the state put them up. Zzzz.

Now stop being mean about my poor little Rhode Island.

[CalMeacham]

The answer to this mystery is really very dull - they are all at intersections of state and city roads and the state put them up. Zzzz.

Cite?
I mean, I was really getting into the Alien hypothesis.

[Caricci]

@CalMeacham

Cite?
I mean, I was really getting into the Alien hypothesis.

“I think I heard it on the Channel 10 news this morning while I was doing my Farmville” is my cite.

[mhendo]

Longer article here:

Some signs have been in place for decades, possibly installed at the direction of past mayors or by residents without city council approval.

<snip>

On Monday, though, Mayor Allan Fung’s administration announced that about one-third of the signs were put up by the state Department of Transportation.

Those follow state law requiring drivers to stop before entering a state roadway, but they may have to be codified by the city, Muksian-Schutt said.

That still leaves the issue of how the other 462 signs came to be.

“That’s probably the question of the day,” Muksian-Schutt said. “Most of these signs have probably been up for decades.”

She said it’s likely past mayors ordered them up, which could have occurred before council approval was required, or in a few cases, residents may have taken matters into their own hands.

As the story also notes, simply pulling down the unauthorized signs poses a safety issue, because some have been in place for years or decades, and people are accustomed to the traffic and driving patterns created by the signs.

[lieu]

But Mayor Allan Fung says…

Ah ha! It’s an episode of Candid Camera.

[dhkendall]

@lieu

Ah ha! It’s an episode of Candid Camera.

No, that’s Allen Funt. Allan Fung hosts Candid Camela.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@CalMeacham

I think they’d be more likely to take the shape of Vicious Keep Left signs…

Kudos for the Python reference.