On 7/26/06, Mike Millet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
It will be quite a large project yes, I was thinking this as well as we took a trip through the Tetons the other day.
Switching the parks and recreation signage wouldn't be as bad as switching every milepost and fraction of a mile to the equivalent SI. To do it all overnight or even in a month or two would require a massive cooperation between state local and federal government that I don't think is possible at this stage in time. I was recently speaking to a member of Caltrans, the California Department of Transportation and we got on the subject of California switching from SI equipment to non SI as soon as the requirement to build roads in metric was rescinded. He mentioned with some pride that it was "good to see one state switching back to normal and coherent USC units" instead of an "European system that isn't accurate or at all useful". He then mentioned that in his opinion full metrication on the roads would not be accomplished within his lifetime because he's sure California would object as well as several other states and until you can get every single one to agree it won't be doable.
It was an interesting conversation :). I don't agree with him but he does make a valid point about every state having to agree on it. Even though measurement is the province of the federal government the fed has no control over state and local highways short of witholding funds, and that's something they wouldn't dare do just becasue the highway departments refuse to use SI. The public outcry would be to great as peope would probably claim that to withold funds because of a measurement distance was silly when the highways need repair etc etc.
Not only would all road signage and distance have to switch, but everyone would have to end up buying new maps and that would take quite some time. Unless the government handed out free road maps at special stations on the highways for the first year or two :). The other thing that would probably have to be done on some older cars is replace those tiny kilometer numbers with a larger version. I have to squint to read the km underneath the miles per hour all the time whenever I'm in Canada.
It'll be a long road but I'm sure it will switch. The only question is when and how.On 7/26/06, King, Mark D. < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:We too just returned from summer vacation, about a 5000 km trip. From
Dallas, to Yellowstone, to south central Colorado, then back home. I
don't think I saw a single metric sign, but it did make me think of the
magnitude of the situation.
When Ireland did their "road sign" conversion, I assume that meant *all*
road signs, both distance and speed. What about off-road, whether it be
in the forest, beach, or on the water?
In the US, I wonder just how many speed and distance signs would have to
updated? Interstate and US higways; state, county, and city roads;
National and State Park roads. In the Grand Tetons, we took a short
hike around Jenny Lake; there are signs at trail intersections showing
the mileage to various spots. And on horse trails on public lands (BLM
or USFS), directional signs with mileage. Even in the US military, the
road signs on base are USC.
If Pat is correct, we're losing money by not switching. I think he's
right, and see the conversion as a matter of "when", rather than "if".
But there's no doubt that changing our road (and off-road?) signs will
be a huge project.
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]] On
Behalf Of Jim Elwell
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 17:44
To: U.S. Metric Association
Subject: [USMA:37143] metric road signs
Just returned from a 4500 km road trip. Found a number of road signs
with metric equivalents where I did not expect to see them:
steamboat.jpg -- all the speed signs in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, had
metric equivalents. Nice conversions too (all to rounded 5 km/h).
rapid.jpg -- some distance and speed signs in Rapid City, South Dakota.
I thought I took a picture of a speed sign there, but apparently I
deleted it. Not all signs had metric equivalents, but some did.
buffalo.jpg -- Buffalo Gap national grassland, east of Rapid City. As
above, not all signs had metric equivalents, but some did.
BTW -- if you ever get to Bozeman, Montana, stop in and see the American
Computer Museum. I was expecting some pretty rinky-dink stuff, given the
location, but it is very impressive. Apparently some wealthy guy likes
living up there, and so that's where he made his museum. Includes
original books and leafs from books hundreds of years old, such as
Newton's Principia, 13th Century bible, etc. Web site has some of the
items on display, as well as why it is in Montana.
www.compustory.com
Jim
Jim Elwell, CAMS
Electrical Engineer
Industrial manufacturing manager
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
www.qsicorp.com
--
"The boy is dangerous, they all sense it why can't you?"
--
"The boy is dangerous, they all sense it why can't you?"
