This is probably good to know, especially for winter driving.
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New Markers Are a Sign of the Times
Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 ; 09:52 PM
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Mile signs spring up in West Virginia to help improve highway safety.
Story by Gabe Gutierrez Email | Bio
CLARKSBURG -- The West Virginia Division of Highways is touting the recent addition of more accurate mile marker signs on four-lane highways as major step for homeland security.
"It's been in the works for about six years now. It's been brought on by the way the world is today," said Greg Phillips, DOH District 4 director.
He said the markers will help improve highway safety overall.
"It's a GPS reference," Phillips said. "When an accident's called in, a pedestrian might say, 'I'm at (mile marker) .126,' and the fire department and EMS will know exactly where they are because they have maps with those locations on them."
Phillips said he was not sure how much the signs cost. But he said the cost was minimized because DOH workers made the sign themselves.
Over the past year, the signs have been popping up all over the state.
Locally, Interstate 68, I-79, Route 33 and Route 50 all have new blue signs. They're broken up into corridors: Corridor H is Route 33; Corridor D is Route 50; Corridor L is I-79; and so on.
But not everyone knows about them, including Harrison County EMS director Rick Rock.
"Actually, we just heard," Rock said. "We're not fully aware of the capabilities the new project the DOH has."
But Rock said once the communication bugs are worked out, the project should improve safety.
"Every second is critical," he said. "It's well-known in EMS and emergency service in general that seconds and minutes are critical in the positive outcome of an injured person."
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