CALIFORNIA’S ROAD SIGN LETTER SHORTAGE: 5’s AND 7’S ARE PULLING DOUBLE DUTY

“WE’RE IN BAD SHAPE. WE’RE COMPLETELY OUT OF S’s AND L’s.”

Cookie Dispner, Signage Director, California Department of Transportation

As shown on these highway signs, California has
resorted to using the number 5 to take the place
of the letter S, and an upside-down 7 to replace L

California just can’t seem to catch a break. The drought-baked state has seen lakes dry up and rivers slow to a trickle. And, to make matters worse, the state revealed yesterday that its supply of the letters S and L for its highway signs is completely exhausted.“We use thousands of S’s and quite a few L’s annually here in California,” said Cookie Dispner, Signage Director for Caltrans, the state’s transportation agency.

“Because of supply problems, we’re forced to use the number 5 as an S and upside-down 7’s as L’s. We’re not happy about it, but that’s all we can do until the supply problem is solved,” she said.

According to Plinth University Professor of Transportation Studies Efren Wedgewood, the shortage is a result of letter manufacturers slowing production while they switch from summer to winter letters.

“Whatever the reason, it really 5uck5,” complained Dispner.