County seeks stolen sign help

The Coun­ty’s Pub­lic Works team requests the pub­lic’s help deal­ing with an increase in stolen street signs.

San Juan Coun­ty is expe­ri­enc­ing a slew of street sign thefts, leav­ing inter­sec­tions and many pop­u­lar roads unmarked. Coun­ty offi­cials are call­ing for the public’s help in find­ing and return­ing miss­ing street signs.

In the last two months, 13 signs were stolen, bring­ing 2022’s total to 35 stolen signs. Used for more than nav­i­ga­tion by locals and vis­i­tors, street signs are imper­a­tive for the Sher­if­f’s Office, EMS, fire­fight­ers, and oth­er emer­gency and util­i­ty ser­vices who rely on accu­rate signage.

Each road sign costs around $250 to replace if the post and brack­et can be sal­vaged. These replace­ments are paid for by tax­pay­er dollars.

Pub­lic Works crews are work­ing quick­ly to replace the miss­ing signs, but in doing so are being pulled away from oth­er impor­tant duties like mow­ing, road repair, and main­te­nance projects. That’s why the depart­ment is ask­ing for the public’s help in track­ing down and return­ing stolen signs or urg­ing friends and fam­i­ly to leave signs in place.

The depart­ment would like to thank the anony­mous cit­i­zen who brought back sev­en of the stolen signs to the Guard St. office. Oth­ers wish­ing to pro­vide the same ser­vice are encour­aged to return signs – no ques­tions asked – to 1000 Guard St. in Fri­day Harbor.

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