Here’s something I didn’t know (until today). Almost every state in the US has stopped using Exit numbers on Highway signs. They’ve replaced them miles from some defined point (like a border). I thought borders were racist?
Do you see what I did there?
Seriously, this is a thing.
New Hampshire is one of only four states that still number exits 1, 2, 3 and so on rather than by mileage from a set point, usually the state border. The federal government has long requested, and more recently urged, states to change their numbering so it’s uniform coast to coast.
Maine switched four years ago, Rhode Island switched two years ago, and last week Massachusetts said it would be making the change over the next two years.
This Concord Monitor story, which I found in the Valley News (both have limited free article and paywalls), notes that the four holdouts are New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware, and Massachusetts – and Mass is considering the change. What should we do?
Well, if this helps, the highway of withheld transportation dollars has been raised. There’s no actual threat of that, but it’s there. My response to this has always been, end the redistribution of Federal gas tax dollars to DC and leave them here.
Senator Shaheen had the opportunity to vote to let us keep almost all of our federal gas tax money – sometimes referred to as transportation dollars. At which point, there could be no threat or holding our money over our heads to do what other states or the Feds demanded.
Shaheen, naturally, opted to keep the money in DC to make her presence there appear relevant.
Can’t trust your own state to manage federal highways within its borders. Illegal criminal aliens, Yes! States need to be allowed to decide what federal crimes are real crimes (like hopping the fence and marching up to exit 0.5 miles (instead of exit one), but not roads and bridges.
It will cost New Hampshire about a million dollars to change every sign (and some unknown sum for businesses that use exit numbers in marketing or advertising to replace all that.
I predict there will be a movement to make the change and that our all-in on Sanctuary congressional delegation will take credit for convincing some bureaucrat to give us some of our money back to pay for it.
