In the summer of 2011 the City of Gillette, WY initiated a program to inventory all city owned street signs within its jurisdiction. This project was driven in part by the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) regulations on sign retroreflectivity. Equipped with a Delta GR3 Retroreflectometer and a GeoXH GPS unit a city sign technician and I inventoried nearly 5,000 signs over a four-month period. This presentation is a brief narrative of the sign inventory project. It begins with an outline of the initial data structure that was built to collect the sign data. Then, the field methods used to GPS the signs are covered. Next, the process of restructuring of the data to incorporate it into the GIS SDE database is discussed. Finally, the ongoing data maintenance of the inventory is reviewed. Thanks to hard work and cooperation between departments Gillette has meet the FHWA deadline to implement a management program for street sign retroreflectivity. It is hope this program can prove to be an example to other organizations that have yet to initiate a sign inventory. Investing in the technology, training, and people can bring spectacular results.

1. Reading Retroreflectivity, an Inventory
of Street Signs in Gillette, WY

3. Where in the World is Gillette, WY?

4. Where in the World is Gillette, WY?

5. Old Sign Data

6. Old Sign Data

7. What Sign Data Did We Collect?
Type of Sign
Backing
Barcode
Sheeting
Pole
Source Date
Extra Notes
Photo
Street Name

8. What Sign Data Did We Collect?

9. MUTCD Sign Evaluation and Management Methods

10. MUTCD Sign Evaluation and Management Methods

11. City of Gillette Sign Evaluation Methods

12. City of Gillette Sign Evaluation Methods

13. City of Gillette Sign Evaluation Methods

14. City of Gillette Sign Evaluation Methods

15. City of Gillette Sign Evaluation Methods

16. Street Sign Field Data Management

17. Street Sign Field Data Management

18. Street Sign Field Data Management

19. Street Sign Field Data Management

20. Street Sign Field Data Management

21. Street Sign Field Collection

22. Street Sign Field Collection

23. Street Sign Field Collection

24. Street Sign Field Collection

25. Street Sign Field Collection

26. Results of Street Sign Collection
• 5788 Signs Recorded.
• 1379 Signs Failed.
• 1220 Sings Replaced.
• 4695 Signs Recorded Between March and October 2011.
• 1093 Sings Recorded Since 2012.

27. Designing the Street Sign Data for SDE

28. Designing the Street Sign Data for SDE

29. City of Gillette Street Sign Database