WEST JORDAN, Utah — Every city, town and neighborhood is unique in its own way. But there’s always one thing that's universal across any place in Utah: Road signs.
But who’s in charge of making those signs?
FOX 13 News visited the place where it all happens: the Salt Lake County Sign Shop in West Jordan.
This shop produces, installs and maintains road safety signs for cities in Salt Lake County and beyond.
“In a way, they are so common so they can really blend in and people don’t really notice how many signs are out there — until they need information and they start looking for them," said Doug Swain, the sign shop supervisor.
Swain and his team keep track of more than 15,000 standard signs like stop signs, speed limits, and school zone signs. That number doesn’t include specialty signs like bike signs, no fireworks signs or trail signs that residents would find in places like the Jordan River Trail.
Depending on size, each city’s sign needs are different. Copperton has a few hundred, Swain noted, while cities like Kearns have thousands. Each sign has a life span of at least 15 years, depending on certain variables like weather, sun exposure, and accident-related damages.
So, how does the sign shop keep track of which signs are theirs?
“If you’ve been here long enough, you would know," Swain quipped.
Swain has worked at the Salt Lake County Sign Shop for 38 years.
“UDOT — they have certain roads. We tend to know what roads theirs are, and we are very aware within each city we work for," he said.
Each sign is printed from their database, which contains the correct sizes, colors, shapes and approved symbols. The signs are made of aluminum and reflective vinyl.
Curt Jemison, who has worked in sign production for Salt Lake County for 25 years, says there’s more than meets the eye when making one.
“When somebody sees how one is made, it's more detailed than they would think,” Jemison said.
After the sign is printed, it gets pressed onto an aluminum plate and then laminated for protection. Once the sign is ready to go, it gets installed.
“We are very serious about it [making signs] because we realize that a lot of safety depends on them,” Swain added.
