Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
A vandalized stop sign at South Roosevelt Road 3 and South Roosevelt Road U in Roosevelt County shows an empty bracket at the top where a street sign is missing.
Roosevelt and Curry counties are used to replacing road signs.
Whether they're being stolen, spray painted, or shot, vandalism to road signs is common and can be a problem, officials said.
Pam Wortham, a Roosevelt County resident, said she and her husband like to cruise the countryside and listen to audio books regularly.
"We've noticed over the past couple of years, and not just in Portales, but the roadsides all over the county and all over Curry County are disappearing," Wortham said.
Wortham thinks there are hundreds of signs missing.
"This includes the occasional stop sign," she said.
Wortham said she knows they're being stolen, because she said you can see the empty brackets at the top posts where a sign was once displayed.
Wortham said when she has reported a missing sign, the Roosevelt County Road Department has been quick to respond with a replacement.
"It's just the nature of it," Curry County Road Supervisor Walon Jones said. "It's routine maintenance you have to deal with."
Jones said that roughly it costs $60 to replace a stop sign, and for a road sign marking streets, the cost is roughly $40 to replace.
Wortham said it can be hard to tell exactly where the signs are missing, for obvious reasons -- there is no sign there to tell where she's at.
To report a missing road sign, call the Roosevelt County Road Department at 575-356-5942 or Curry County Road Department at 575-762-1501.
