Why are the DOT highway signs in Charlotte always under test? (Raleigh: construction, congested)

[DaysofThundr46]

Any reason why the DOT highway signs are always under "test" in the Charlotte area? In South Carolina they always work as they are supposed to, and when ive left the Charlotte area, I know ive seen more then "NC DOT sign under test". Any reason?

[Since72]

No one is there to type anything in because they got cut.

[Native_Son]

Because Raleigh hates us

Do you know how hard it is in the south to find someone who can spell "congested"?

Peter Gorman was put in charge of all the electronic signs

Let's face it... Multisyllable words are a challenge for most charlotteans

Longer messages cause accidents from people scrunching their face to "read better"

There's so many Yankees in Charlotte now the DOT figures all the drivers already know everything

The software only included three words. The other one was "construction", so we don't use that one anymore

[NCproud]

I want to say that I saw something on the news a while back that stated that the company that made these signs had gone out of business. The DOT had been cannibalizing what they could to keep others going. I am guessing that they are in the process of replacing them all and are running them nonstop to check their reliability. JMO

[DaysofThundr46]

Originally Posted by racewire20

I want to say that I saw something on the news a while back that stated that the company that made these signs had gone out of business. The DOT had been cannibalizing what they could to keep others going. I am guessing that they are in the process of replacing them all and are running them nonstop to check their reliability. JMO

Im pretty positive they are made by Daktronics, which is doing great business. I could be wrong though as its hard to stare at them doing 70 on the highway.

[bs13690]

I didn't know that they were. I drive past one every day and it is usually blank. Thank God for small favors because people slam on their brakes to read it.

[bchris02]

Only time I ever see them on is if its like an amber alert or something. Many larger cities use them to report traffic conditions. Have never seen them used for that purpose in Charlotte.

[SunnyKayak]

I also have never seen them use for anything except "Race Traffic expect delays."

I agree with others if there is two parts to the sign you never have enough time to finish reading them kinda like the electronic billboards you have to be going really slow to catch both images.

[NCgirl]

Occasionally I have seen them give travel times to an exit. One morning on 77 I was near exit 18 and a sign said it would take 25 - 30 minutes to get to exit 23. Traffic had been flowing nicely and I chalked it up to an error. Sure enough there was a wreck and it took me almost 30 minutes to get to Huntersville.