NECESSARY or Necessary?

It seems that soon New York streets will be feeling a little more understated. Literally.

Picture courtesy of the New York Post

The federal government will be installing new street signs that are mixed case rather than all uppercase as most of them are now. This project is said to cost taxpayers a cool $27 million dollars with over 250,000 sign being changed at a cost of $110 per sign.

The reason for this costly makeover? "Studies have shown that it is harder to read all-caps signs, and those extra milliseconds spent staring away from the road have been shown to increase the likelihood of accidents, particularly among older drivers, federal documents say."

The new font, called Clearview, was developed specifically for this purpose. Ok, so it's not Helvetica, but I'll accept it. The new signs will be phased in over a period of 15 years. So WELCOME TO NEW YORK! Sorry, er, welcome to new york. 

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/million_kuj8X4Z2VolVhXnCymfkvM#ixzz1179TNaWt