States that have the governor's name on welcome signs

[J N Winkler]

News reports of Alabama DOT changing out welcome signs (at a reported cost of $16,000) to reflect Governor Bentley's recent resignation have prompted me to make a list of states that have the governor's name on their welcome signs.  This does not include any of the states west of the Mississippi, but it does include a handful of Deep South, Old Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England states.

My general sense is that there is a trend away from putting the governor's name on signs, either as part of realignment of resources to better concentrate on tourism promotion (NY, PA) or as an apparent attempt to exorcise bad memories of one or more corrupt and scandal-plagued governors (IL), though not all states are moving in this direction--e.g., GA has recently redesigned its welcome signs but retained the governor's name.

Personally, I think putting the governor's name on highway signs has undertones of a personality cult and should be phased out.  It is one thing for the example welcome sign drawing in the old NYSMUTCD to say "Alfred E. Smith, Governor" well over 50 years after Smith left office, and another for an actual sign to have the name of the sitting governor.

AK N
HI N/A (doesn't appear to have welcome signs even at airport exits)
WA N
OR N
CA N
NV N
ID N
UT N
WY N
CO N
OK N
AZ N
NM N
TX N
KS N
NE N
SD N
ND N
MN N
IA N
WI N
IL N (since Blagojevich)
MO N
AR N
LA N
MS N
AL Y
FL Y
GA Y
SC Y
NC N
VA N
MD Y
DE Y
PA N (but Y at least as recently as Ridge)
NJ Y
NY N (historically Y, but not now with Cuomo signs)
VT N
MA N
NH N
ME N
RI N
CT Y
WV Y
OH Y
IN N
MI N
TN N
KY Y

Edit:  FL changed (in response to post downthread).

[hotdogPi]

FL N

(US 29)

[oscar]

A related question (perhaps worth its own thread) is whether the governor's smiling face is on official state highway maps.

AK used to have that feature, but the latest ones were updated to remove the governor's face, rather than sub in the new guy for the one he defeated for re-election.

WI had a map that made it obvious the governor wanted to be President. I don't know if the map changed after the end of his short-lived presidential bid (he might still try again next time).

For Canada, I don't think I've ever seen a premier's name on a welcome sign. Alberta used to have its premier's face on the official highway map, but after a radical change in government (from Conservative to New Democratic) the new government decided to drop rather than replace the portrait. Manitoba makes do with a portrait of its transportation minister. I don't think any of the other western provinces or the territories have maps promoting the premier or equivalent official.

[jwolfer]

FL N

(US 29)

Florida recently upgraded welcome signs on the interstates... No more governors name. Realistically the cost to change governors name on a sign is insignificant to a states budget.

LGMS428

[J N Winkler]

FL N

(US 29)

Thanks for this.  I checked I-10, which has a welcome monument (as many states, like Colorado and Minnesota, have in lieu of welcome signs), and while that doesn't have the governor's name, I'm counting states as Y if some of the signs have the current governor's name.  (NJ, judging by a Google Image search, is a bit half-and-half on whether signs have the governor's name.)

A related question (perhaps worth its own thread) is whether the governor's smiling face is on official state highway maps.

It's certainly worth a thread in its own right, as well as a check to see whether state DOTs routinely include enough of the cover art on website versions to evaluate whether the governor's picture is included.

In KS, the 2015-2016 official state map has a message over Governor Brownback's name but no picture and no actual signature.  I presume a 2017-2018 map is in the works but have not yet seen it.  Of the rough-condition, everyday-use maps in the stack next to my reading chair, LA, AZ, IL, CO, MI, MN, and FL don't have the governor's picture, while NE, IA, SD, ND, MO, MS, AL, AR, and OK do.  Most of these have been picked up in the last three years.  And yes, I have a WI map too, showing the Walker family next to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle (not just a made-in-the-USA product, but also made-in-Wisconsin), with Governor and Mrs. Walker in Harley logo outfits.  I picked this up from a TIC just off US 8 in St. Croix Falls in late spring 2016, which I don't think is enough time to have picked up any revisions that may have been made after Walker's presidential bid collapsed.

From this rather eccentric sample, I see two trends:

*  More and more states are including advertising in their official state tourism maps, and this is more likely to consist of ads for specific businesses rather than soft-focus promotional copy for regions of the state that are differentiated for tourism purposes according to cultural and topographical factors.  FL is so far the most blatant I have seen; at the Pensacola welcome center it was being distributed (as of a couple of weeks ago) with a stick-on Shutterfly coupon ($29.95 value!).

*  In states that still put the governor's picture on the map, it is common for the governor's spouse and often the governor's children to be shown.  In OK this has resulted in a picture captioned with multiple last names, which is fitting considering the state has the highest percentage of women who have been married three or more times.  In AL the maps foreshadowed Bentley's downfall:  2013-2014 map had both Governor and Mrs. Bentley, while 2015-2016 had Governor Bentley only.  (Again, I presume a 2017-2018 map is in the works, but I did not see anything like it at the I-20 Cuba welcome center when I stopped there about two weeks ago.  Alabama DOT may have dragged its feet on printing to avoid having to pulp an edition with Bentley's face.  If any maps with his picture made it under the wire, they're collector's items.)

[Eth]

A related question (perhaps worth its own thread) is whether the governor's smiling face is on official state highway maps.

Both Gov. and Mrs. Deal appear on Georgia's 2017-18 map, though whether his face is smiling may be up for debate. Hers is, anyway.

[tdindy88]

I think Indiana waited to release their 2017 maps until after they knew who won the governor's election last fall, otherwise the 2017 map would have been out in August or something like that. In any case they released it well after the new year. For Indiana they just have a small portrait of the governor and lieutenant governor in the upper left hand corner. The backside of the map is mainly advertisements now with some supplemental information. The one thing I never liked about Florida's maps with all of its ads was the fact that it seemed that when I opened up the map the page with the ads was first, I had to turn the whole thing to the other side to get to the road map.

I find (like some others here I assume) the whole thing pretentious to have the governor's name on the signs. If for no other reason, why does it matter if the motorist knows who the governor is? And then there are all the municipalities that have the names of their mayors on those signs. Indianapolis does and since the city limits are the same as Marion County that entitles changing numerous signs every time a new mayor is elected. Even New York City has the name of the mayor at the entrance sign to each borough (not sure about Staten Island though.)

[Jim]

NY N (historically Y, but not now with Cuomo signs)

It's been a long time since New York posted the governor's name.  I believe it was Pataki when he took office replacing Cuomo I who had the names covered up but did not have his name added.  Here's an example taken back in 2000 entering New York from Vermont on 346.

[7/8]

I agree with above posters saying it's a waste of money having to update the signs. Who really cares who the governor is of a state they're driving through? And if they do, a quick Google search will tell you their name.

[lordsutch]

I find (like some others here I assume) the whole thing pretentious to have the governor's name on the signs. If for no other reason, why does it matter if the motorist knows who the governor is?

I think there's a certain human quality to being welcomed by a specific individual, as opposed to just the generic government. We see the same thing with things like naturalization certificates; there's no real logical reason why a new citizen needs to be congratulated by the current president rather than generically "the United States," but it does add a personal touch.

That said I tend to think it's unnecessary on welcome signs, even if the marginal expense is tiny (comparable to posting one of those Funded By A TIGER Grant signs on a project). It makes more sense on printed material like tourist information and maps that only have a 1-4 year shelf life anyway.

[jp the roadgeek]

CT's sign:

[jbnv]

Do you really need to know which clown is governing Louisiana this year? (Especially if you're coming in from Texas and live in Texas because you're making a better living there?)

[Bitmapped]

PA N (but Y at least as recently as Ridge)

There are a couple different styles of PA welcome sign in use. The ones the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission uses, at least on PA 43, do have the current governor's name.

In WV, Bob Wise (2001-2005) had his name removed midway through his term but it came back when his successor, Joe Manchin, had the welcome signs redesigned. In WV currently, the governor's name is demountable copy on BGS-style signs and a separate supplemental plate mounted below the main sign on surface roads.

[hbelkins]

Kentucky has the governor's name on the guide signs entering the state on the interstates. It's demountable copy and it's pretty easy to see how we changed from Steve Beshear to Matt Bevin last year. (Not sure offhand if there's a mixture of FHWA and Clearview on the signs or not.)

For signs on surface routes, some points of entry have the governor's name listed and some don't. Those signs are all "silk-screened" (for lack of knowledge of the specific term that should be used) and changing the governor's name out requires either patching over the sign, or replacing the sign entirely.

I'm not a huge fan of the governor's name being on a welcome sign -- I really don't care, to be honest -- but I think for sure it's a waste to have the name on smaller state border crossings, especially on non-major routes. I can see having the the governor's name at the location where US 27 crosses from Tennessee, or even when TN 53 becomes KY 61 (because that's an ARC corridor) but not really where you cross from Moss, Tenn., back toward Tompkinsville, Ky.

[Tonytone]

Funny enough i drive by the welcome sign in Delaware everyday. Our new governor John Carney is on the sign his name replaced jack markell's name I remember the old I-95 Welcome sign years ago as also been updated
1-The new sign is the first picture- its hard to tell that they covered up jack markells name with carneys they did a good job.

2-The second picture is the old I-95 NB Sign that also been replaced with the first picture design.

3-A very old sign that I was probably not born yet when this was around.




iPhone

[TravelingBethelite]

CT's sign:

[jbnv]

This is how you don't do a welcome sign. Three slogans is two too many.

[Tonytone]

This is how you don't do a welcome sign. Three slogans is two too many.

3 Different governors lol.

[machias]

NY N (historically Y, but not now with Cuomo signs)

It's been a long time since New York posted the governor's name.  I believe it was Pataki when he took office replacing Cuomo I who had the names covered up but did not have his name added.  Here's an example taken back in 2000 entering New York from Vermont on 346.

It was Pataki. The NYSMUTCD and the NYSDOT supplement to the MUTCD (used since 2009) show the name "Alfred E Smith" in the spec. 

[US-175]

TX welcome signs used to reference Dubya during his presidency
https://goo.gl/images/buKzB0

But looking around state line crossings now on GSV shows just the welcome signs with no presidential additions.  Other than this, I don't think the welcome signs in TX have ever had anyone's name on them; I think the only regularly-occurring case in TX is on official state maps with the cursory picture and howdy-y'all style message from whoever is the current gov at the time.

[SP Cook]

No matter how tiny a %age of a state's overall budget something like this is, it represents $$ earned by some taxpayer via assbusting hard work.  Every cent of the public's money should be spent responsibably.

It is just an ego thing for politicians. 

My state certainly does put the gov's name on every single sign, no matter how tiny the road, and puts a picture on the maps.  In fact, an ego thing is for the outgoing governor to order like a bazillion maps and then some self-appointed at the newspapers will complain if they just toss them, so the order goes out to get rid of them, they leave cases everywhere. 

We even have welcome signs, with the gov's name as you leave the airport properties.  Since there are no intra-state flights, technically I get it, but really?