On the sidewalk, people walked slowly while cars zoomed by. Two police policemen on horseback were chatting as they wandered down Polk Street nearby. On a quiet Houston neighborhood road, everything was going according to plan for everyone.
Except for one obvious error: the speed limit was 60 mph, according to a posted sign between St. Emanuel and Hutchins streets.
The real speed limit, which is 30 mph, is displayed on another speed restriction sign across the street.
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One Reddit user was the first to spot the 60 mph sign. On Monday morning, the user uploaded a picture of the incorrect speed limit down the street from 8th Wonder Brewery to the r/houston subreddit.
There were no cars speeding on the section of road Monday afternoon, according to a Houston Landing reporter. The majority of drivers actually didn’t appear to notice the error. Perhaps we should talk about what that says about driving in Houston at a later date.
From where did the enigmatic sign originate? Was it an urban vandal act or an error?
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Posting speed restrictions on state highways and major thoroughfares is the responsibility of the Texas Department of Transportation, according to Erin Jones, interim director of communications for Houston Public Works. Public Works is responsible for neighborhood surface streets, such as this 2100 block of Polk.
But as of Monday afternoon, Public Works had no idea who had put up the sign. Jones was certain of only one thing: it wasn’t the city.
The contractor may occasionally post warning signs in areas where contractual work is being done.
A sign on the opposite side of the roadway that marked Polk as a 30 mph zone is one of the several signs on Polk that indicate the area is a work zone. Jones reduced the speed restriction from its customary 35 mph and stated that a contractor was working nearby.
But a contractor wouldn’t have posted the wrong speed limit sign. According to Jones, Public Works has no means of identifying who actually posted the 60 mph sign, thus the offender will remain a mystery.
Jones added, “I wouldn’t be able to tell you who put it there.” I am unable to determine whether it was a practical joke or something else entirely.
A Public Works team will be out shortly to fix the sign, according to Jones.
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