You may have noticed something different in work zones on major roadways. The color of the orange construction signs has changed, slightly. WCBS-TV in New York City uncovered a new reason for critics of wasteful spending in New York to be upset. It's a decision by a state bureaucrat that's costing taxpayers a lot of green.
For years, New York required contractors to use constructions signs with a shade of orange known as "Type 7." Then the Department of Transportation decided that "Type 7" was not good enough. The DOT ordered road builders to buy millions of new signs in a slightly different shade of orange - "Type 9" - a change that cost the industry $27 million. A new report from a government efficiency task force points out contractors simply "are now passing [that cost] back onto the state in the form of higher contract prices."
WCBS-TV says the federal government is not responsible for this costly color change, that credit belongs to James F. Tynan, the the top official in the DOT's Construction Division, and his order claimed the new shade of orange improved safety - but the feds say there's no evidence the new shade of orange is any better than the old one. A state task force has ordered the DOT to appear at a hearing next week to explain these and other examples of apparently wasteful spending.
