Covered signs are for work on bridge

WILMINGTON — As you drive around Wilmington you may have noticed road signs, covered over with black. And you may be wondering what’s hiding underneath.

You can see them as you drive north on Martin Luther King Highway and again as you head back toward town. They’re not just on the highways a few can be spotted on Carolina Beach Road.

So why the cover-up? Some worry the signs are a waste of money.

Citizen David Haney said, “It’s like double jeopardy. They come once and they have to come twice. They’re wasting our money. It’s just plain and simple.”

The State Department of Transportation says these signs do have a purpose.

Citizen April Leluchaiw said, “They don’t know what they’re doing. It’s like one minute they know what they’re doing and the next minute they’re changing something to cover the sign up.”

DOT Resident Engineer Wayne Currie said, “The covered signs you’re seeing around town are the detour route for the night work going on at the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge. We’re in the process of essentially re-wiring the old electrical system of the bridge.”

When crews are working, the memorial bridge is closed off and the DOT takes the covers off the detour signs and puts them over the signs directing traffic towards the bridge.
The project started last august and is expected to end in February.

Repairs are on hold until after Labor Day.