http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/herb-jaffe/graffiti-taggers-pose-freeway-risk-cost-public-millions
QuoteWhat kind of people would shimmy up a metal pole, crawl along a narrow ledge some 40 to 50 feet above steadily moving traffic on a major freeway and risk their lives just to pull spray cans from their pockets and deface two large, green traffic signs, with the ultimate purpose of creating havoc for drivers?
And yet it happens all the time. Recently motorists along heavily traveled northbound U.S. Highway 95 found it nearly impossible to determine whether they were exiting onto Summerlin Parkway or Rainbow Boulevard.
QuoteBut there has been "a rash of graffiti incidents along (Highway) 95," Black stated. "It's no challenge for vandals to deface some wall. Their credibility doesn't rise much from that. So, they seek the tough challenges. And, in their minds, climbing high to deface traffic signs gives them an element of status."
QuoteThe annual cost to the state, county and city of cleaning up graffiti has been estimated by officials at $30 million.
Google Street View (https://maps.google.com/maps?q=rainbow+blvd+and+US+95,+las+vegas,+nv&hl=en&ll=36.173747,-115.236068&spn=0.006799,0.011362&sll=36.010968,-114.99229&sspn=0.006813,0.011362&t=h&hnear=N+Rainbow+Blvd+%26+U.S.+95,+Las+Vegas,+Nevada&z=17&layer=c&cbll=36.173749,-115.236197&panoid=t7f0YICw-8mK0_uXAkTQBA&cbp=12,279.82,,1,-3.57) of the sign I think this article is talking about.
That sign, along with the Rainbow Blvd exit sign just downstream from here, seems to get tagged fairly regularly. If you notice in the GSV, the right support pole has a metal collar installed, which is supposed to make it more difficult to climb the pole for vandals to reach the signs. Also, many of the sign structures along this stretch of US 95 don't have catwalks, but thin tracks that hold the lighting, in a further deterrent. I guess the taggers are just too ballsy for all that.
I don't get why NDOT doesn't just remove the lighting and light track supports from these signs, so that way there is no way to walk out to the front of the sign. They might have to install new signs with upgraded reflective sheeting, but that might be worth it long term instead of continually cleaning graffiti from some of the more persistent signs.
There is precedent for this idea: The I-80 rebuild in Reno and US 395 NB widening project both installed new unlit signs. On the few I-80 signs that are too tall or around corners (such that headlights don't adequately light the entire sign), the new lighting (LED fixtures) was installed overhead to avoid lighting supports (these are also new monopole sign structures though).