Campaign signs are not allowed along roads and on bridges, UDOT says

SALT LAKE CITY – Campaign signs are starting to pop up on lawns, fences, and in some places that they shouldn’t be. 

A spokesperson for the Lieutenant Governor’s office said that sign location requirements are covered by city and county ordinances.

One of the places that campaign signs are prohibited is anywhere that the Utah Department of Transportation has the right-of-way, according to spokesperson John Gleason. 

“You see the campaign signs [in] all sorts of different areas places that you wouldn’t necessarily expect. The reason obviously is to attract attention, but it can also create a dangerous situation for the people that are putting the signs out there and for our workers who maybe sometimes have to take those signs down,” Gleason said.

Campaign signs can pose safety hazards

Posting campaign signs on bridges or some other areas is not safe. Sometimes, campaign workers hanging the signs or UDOT employees taking them down are put in harm’s way. 

Gleason said that the signs can also threaten the safety of drivers.

“You also have the distraction or the fact that some of the signs can obscure vision for people as they’re trying to find their line of sight they can get in the way of that as well,” said Gleason. 

Unless a sign is causing a safety issue, UDOT crews will not usually take it down, according to Gleason. 

“You know, our maintenance crews have a lot of responsibilities. And so it’s not something that we’re actively out there pursuing to try to take these signs down. But if they do present a safety concern if they’re blocking the line of sight or creating any type of hazards out there on the road … that’s when we jump in and take the signs down,” said Gleason.

After the signs are removed, they’re taken to UDOT maintenance stations. Then, campaigns are contacted. “Sometimes the campaigns will reach out to us and see if they can pick them,” said Gleason. 

“You know campaign signs can be expensive. And so yeah, we want to make sure they get back to their owners,” Gleason added. 

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