By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Motorists driving through Sea Isle City will notice some changes on the local roads.
The city is in the process of switching to larger street signs that include a black background and white lettering and are easier to see.
“They will be easier to see when the headlights hit them,” Mayor Leonard Desiderio said in an interview.
The old street signs that have been up for years are smaller and have a green background and white lettering.
“I’ve been looking at our old street signs. I said, ‘You know, it’s really getting difficult to see these signs at night,’” Desiderio said. “They haven’t been upgraded for years.”
Desiderio consulted with the Police Department, the Traffic Maintenance and Safety Department and City Business Administrator George Savastano for new signs that would be more visible to motorists.
The city began installing the new signs this month and it will take until sometime next year to finish the project, Desiderio said.
Altogether, hundreds of new signs will be put up from First Street in the north end of town to 94th Street at the southern end.
As mayor, Desiderio has placed a premium on street signs. In 2019, the city unveiled 78 yellow “Road Flooded When Flashing” signs that are scattered around town to warn motorists of stormwater.
The flashing signs were part of a $226,000 flood warning system considered the largest of its kind for any New Jersey municipality. The sensor-controlled signs act as an early warning system to protect people from flood hazards.
