A positive sign for I-5 coffee stalls

The I-5 winds its way from the outskirts of San Diego, California, up along the Pacific coastline before delivering drivers at the Canadian border and onward to Vancouver. For a while there had been a number of rest stops located in Washington.

But their existence was threatened after the state removed advertising signs, citing health and safety – despite them being part-managed by local governments.

These non-profit outposts relied on donations to get by, but these cafes provided a vital service to weary travellers.

Income dried up and, therefore, their existence was brought into question.

Speaking at the time, some believed that there was an attempt to gradually oust these charitable roadside coffee shops and replace them with commercial ventures.

Luckily, there’s been a positive update.

It has been months in the making, but speaking in a public hearing Chris Christopher, of the Department of Transportation, said that the sites will get new or restored signage.

But he defended the decision to clamp down on the original signage by explain that because some of the signs were close to exits from the main road, volunteers would, potentially, be in close proximity to oncoming traffic.

Some, it was alleged, even drove the wrong way on exit ramps in order to change the sign.

The solution that has been proposed by the Department of Transportation is to erect new signs that will cost around $400 each, “a reasonable solution,” in the words of Christopher.

However Senator Kirk Pearson – who sponsored an original bill in order to raise this issue amongst politicians – seemed a little sceptical: “I am going to wait and see,” he said.

“If I feel they are 100 percent genuine then I will take my foot off the bill.”

“You shouldn’t have to write a bill for this to happen,” he added.

Photo: WSDOT (Flickr – Creative Commons)