This week's 'Ask Evan' question comes from Taylor L. Taylor asks, "I see those colored detour signs along roads in the area. They are various colors. What are they for?"
Those signs are primarily posted near the exits of major highways and they come in four colors-- blue, red, green and orange. Essentially the purpose of them is to help get people around a problem that closes a highway.
If a highway is closed and drivers are forced to take an alternate route, the signs tell them which way to go. Green means East. Orange means West. Blue indicates North, and red means South.
So, if you are forced to exit the highway, you choose the color that takes you in the direction you wish to go. PennDOT says the color coded system was first developed during the mid 1990s, when major reconstruction projects closed portions of major interstate highways, such as Interstate 81.
The signs take the place of having to use fire police to direct people on the detour. The signs designate the detour route from the exit ramp to the next interchange on-ramp for that particular highway.
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