Along Wyoming’s highways, motorists will occasionally see a sign that features a broken heart and a dove.
These signs on a tall, white background over an outline that resembles a memorial marker are symbols of grief and sorrow, and healing and hope. They have been requested by families in honor of their loved ones who lost their lives in traffic crashes on state and federal highways and interstates.
Beginning in 2003, the Wyoming Department of Transportation has offered these specially designed and free memorial signs to families. It’s not uncommon to see memorials to those lost on state roadways, most maintained by friends and families featuring a cross and/or a cache of flowers and other personal items.
It’s not widely known that families also can request an official marker from WYDOT, even though the program has been around for more than 20 years.
“The Roadside Memorial Program was created because we are sympathetic to the families who want to remember their loved ones this way,” WYDOT spokesperson Cody Beers said. “We work with them so that they can place these memorials.”
The goal of the signage program is to remember the victims of traffic crashes and recognize the needs of grieving families, while still maintaining a safe clear zone along the highways.
Highway Safety
Even though people put them up, those independent memorials are discouraged.
“We don't allow private memorials alongside of our roads,” Beers said. “One of the reasons is for safety. We try to try to keep people from stopping along the roadway and then walking across the highway.
“When we go through this memorial program with applicants, we ask them not to decorate the memorial and let the sign speak for itself.”
The sign program was created as a compromise so families could still have their memorials at the area where their loved one died, but without the danger to themselves or breaking the law.
Wyoming law prohibits any encroachment, such as advertising signs or private memorials, on highway rights of way. These private installations, according to WYDOT, can pose a danger to motorists and those who put the memorials up or stop to add to it.
By having WYDOT personnel install and maintain the breakaway signs, they meet federal safety standards. It also eliminates the dangers of family members erecting memorials beside a highway, and of having unregulated obstructions in the clear zone along the road.
Any private memorials placed in highway rights of way will be removed and held at the nearest WYDOT shop for two weeks to give family members an opportunity to retrieve them.
The Roadside Memorial Program was created as a compromise, Beers said.
Requesting A Sign
“If families want us to place a sign by where their loved one died in a car crash, we have an application process on the WYDOT website,” Beers said. “We need a copy of the application, the crash report, and then we can look into it. If it has merit, we put up a sign form at the crash site, or as close to the crash site as we can.”
After receiving the application, WYDOT will install the memorial sign as soon as it is practical, and it will remain in place for ten years. At that time, the family will have the option of having the sign removed so they can claim it, leaving the sign up without maintenance until deterioration requires it be removed or having a new sign installed for a $50 fee to cover the costs of fabrication and installation.
WYDOT makes every effort to locate memorial signs as close as possible to the site of the fatalities, but maintenance personnel have the flexibility to consider safety concerns.
“Families are thankful this program exists,” Cody said. “We only get a few applications each year in my district. I can't speak for the other districts, but we don't get an application for everybody who dies in a car crash. But some people are very adamant that this is the way they want to remember their family member who is important to them. The crash occurred, and we respect that.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
