# MA's new mile markers



## PAUL1604 (Apr 14, 2009)

Paul1604 sez - Yay for these. Who cares what they cost. These are a dispatchers best friend when fielding a call for help or distress. I know we have to go into a whole spiel to describe what these look like and that they are every fifth of a mile. All in all, they help, and they work. Bravo MA .... from a NJ Troop dispatcher that needs a job in Southeastern MA. :thumbup:

CAPE COD TIMES - 06/18/09

Stranded drivers and crash victims can now be a little more aware of their surroundings, thanks to new signs that have popped up on highways throughout the state.

State officials hope that new mile marker signs installed along Route 6 and other highways in Massachusetts will help emergency responders find motorists faster. But some drivers say the signs, which appear every fifth of a mile, will only help the companies that were paid to install them.

Still, Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Highway Department, defended the program, saying that "generally when drivers are more aware of their location, the roads are safer." He said the mile markers are important not just for emergencies but also for everyday driving, because lost motorists are sometimes distracted while trying to determine their location.

The signs are being installed on both sides of some 776 miles of interstates and other highways in the state. The markers at mile points are 2 feet wide by 4 feet high and feature the route number in addition to the mile number. The markers that appear every two-tenths of a mile are 2 feet wide by 2.5 feet high.

The signs display the distance of a given location from the place where a route begins in Massachusetts. Those distances increase from south to north, or from west to east, depending on the route.

More signs will be installed throughout 2009, at a total cost of $1.72 million for the 7,725 signs. But the money will not come from the state's coffers. Hurtubise said the program is sponsored entirely by federal funds designated for highway safety. The signs are expected to last 12 to 15 years, he said.

Still, the signs are making some drivers scratch their heads. John Shields of Centerville, for one, said he thinks the mile markers are a waste of money in a time when the state is making cuts to other programs and many drivers have GPS systems in their cars.

"I think it's ridiculous," Shields said. "You don't need these signs every two-tenths of a mile or whatever it is."

But Barnstable Fire Chief Robert M. Crosby said it's important that mile markers be posted frequently so drivers always have one in sight if they breakdown. He added that knowing the exact location of an accident can help an ambulance arrive faster by entering the highway closer to the crash.

"If someone tells you, 'I'm between Exits 6 and 7,' you don't have a lot of choice but to go to Exit 6 and head for Exit 7," Crosby said, adding that his ambulances can use crossovers on the highway to respond more quickly if they know the exact location of an accident.

The signs could also be helpful in identifying dangerous road areas, Crosby said. Because crash reports now include the exact location of a crash, investigators can see patterns in accidents more easily.


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## OfficerObie59 (Sep 14, 2007)

Maybe not the best time politically to unveil such a plan, but every other state has them and this is federal highway money, so who gives a shit? They've also been at the north end of I-93 in the Methuen/Andover area for a few years now.

Hell, anything that gets this crazy state in line with the rest of the country is usually not a bad thing. 


Wolfman said:


> I kind of like the new mile markers. Now if they could just unfuck the exit numbers...


Yeah, I'm sick of having to tell a friend, "Use Exit 12½ B to get to such-and-such a place".


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## justanotherparatrooper (Aug 27, 2006)

Are they labeled in every language known to man?


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## SinePari (Aug 15, 2004)

MMs are kind of useless when there are a half-dozen exits every mile. There are particularly useful where there are hundreds of open miles in rural areas, but Mass only has about 750 of highway miles total.


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## Inspector (Nov 13, 2006)

justanotherparatrooper said:


> Are they labeled in every language known to man?


I just passed marker XXVII!

Seriously I did appreciate these markers on long drives as it seemed the miles went by quicker and I could easily tell how far more I had to go.


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