NYCDOT Signage Standard Drawings

[JayWalker]

Hi all,

I've been browsing some of NYCDDC's street improvement bids. I certainly applaud some of the street beautification and design improvement projects the city has been undertaking. However, I've been seeing some signage (warning, regulatory, and street name) listed on the quantities tabs and in the sign tables.

The Standard Highway Specifications Vol. II (https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/ddc/downloads/publications/infrastructure/hwy_std_specs_101101_vol_2.pdf) references numerous "SG" designated drawings related to signage and associated components, but the drawings appear to be tightly held, and not available to the public.

Out of curiosity, I called the Maspeth sign shop and inquired about the drawings. The person who answered the phone was initially under the impression that I was a contractor, and told me that they could provide a quote for the signs I needed.  I explained the situation, and was told that they were privately held by the city. I then emailed a few random addresses I had associated with past lettings, but received no response.

This raised a few questions:

As a publicly funded project, isn't NYCDOT obliged to make all plans and standard drawings public?

Also, being that signs and components are listed as items for the installing contractor to furnish, shouldn't the installing contractor be able to seek competitive pricing for those items?

Am I mistake in my assumption that the city is effectively running a monopoly on furnishing signs to contractors on non-NYSDOT projects in the city by not offering standard drawings, but accepting solicitations for quotes to furnish these items? I would understand this if the city were furnishing and installing the signs on their own, but it seems that the city sort of forces contractors to purchase these items from NYCDOT.

Anyone else run into this?  Seems a little fishy to me.