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Traffic signs reported stolen, vandalized in Crossfield

The Town of Crossfield has notice a recent increase in damaged and missing traffic control signs/
StopSign
A stop sign was stolen by the Town of Crossfield baseball diamonds.

The Town of Crossfield has experienced a recent spate of stolen and vandalized traffic signs. 

Although no injuries or accidents have been reported thus far, misleading or missing signs do pose a danger to the community, according to Murray Pollock, the foreman of operations with the Town of Crossfield.

“I’m sure it doesn’t seem like a big deal but when you look at the big picture, it becomes a very serious issue,” he said.

Most recently, a stop sign by the baseball diamond located in northwest Crossfield was stolen on a Saturday evening near the end of May. 

The absent sign presents a safety hazard to motorists, according to Pollock – particularly those who do not regularly drive along that street.

“People that are coming out of town, they aren’t aware of where the stop sign should be,” he said. 

The initial stop sign was stolen along with its post, which is secured in the ground. In order to have removed the sign in its entirety, the thief would have had to dig down more than three feet into the ground to remove it.

“This wasn’t by any stretch an accident, this was willful,” Pollock said. 

Since then, the Town has installed a temporary stop sign, but that was also stolen the day after it was put up. 

The stop sign was permanently replaced on June 6, meaning the intersection was functioning without a stop sign for nearly two weeks. Fortunately, no injuries or accidents were caused by the missing signage. 

Although Crossfield remains a relatively safe community, the stolen and vandalized signs could impact the safety of residents. The Town’s main concern regarding the signs is the potential injury to pedestrians and motor vehicle accidents. 

“There’s a lot of kids crossing over a relatively safe area and lots of kids running around [who] don’t pay attention to pedestrian signs,” Pollock added. 

More commonly, Pollock mentioned a few signs around the community are bent or vandalized. For instance, a four-way stop sign was bent enough so that drivers could not read the sign, which led to confusion as to which driver had the right away. 

Pollock also noted a local speed limit sign that had been vandalized. 

Not only do the damaged signs decrease safety, he said, but it also impacts the Town’s monetary wellbeing, as the Town has to pay for new signs as well as the labour required to install the signs. 

The Town does not currently know who is behind the recent attack on traffic signs. 

“Any time people deface, remove, or damage any traffic control device, it puts a certain scar on everything,” Pollock said. “The danger certainly rises and we don’t need any of that in our small town.”

 

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