**Update: Contrary to what the first story linked below says, no agreement has yet been reached on the Catskills signs, Peter Manning of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development tells us. While the Adirondack signage has been resolved, plans for the Catskills are still under discussion, and public meetings will likely be held to get input from stakeholders in the region.
We will be covering this issue as it unfolds. --2.17.2010
Even though their color scheme makes them hard to read, those brown-and-yellow road signs are here to stay, thanks to a valiant stand by the New York State Department of Transportation.
The Federal Highway Administration had been pushing the Adirondack and Catskills state parks to change their sign colors to a more readable "white-on-brown." But the state DOT pushed back, according to the DOT Region 2 Director Michael Shamma. From the Adirondack Daily Enterprise:
He said DOT "pushed" the feds as far as they could to keep the Park's yellow-on-brown signs.
"There was a lot of discussion, debate and sometimes disagreement," Shamma said.
Most of the Park's informational signage - everything from political boundary signs to tourist accommodation signs to snowmobile route signs - will remain yellow-on-brown, Shamma explained. Street signs will also be allowed to stay yellow-on-brown, although federal transportation officials were apparently uncomfortable with that decision.
"We're violating the standard and the feds are going along with us," Shamma said. "They've really gone outside their comfort zone."
Image of the Shaverton sign by dougtone, via Flickr. Some rights reserved.
