UPDATE: The street sign has been switched out for a green one Friday, according to media reports.
ORIGINAL STORY: Some people in Gainesville are upset over a federal agency's threat involving a street sign that honors local sports legend Deshaun Watson.
A U.S. Department of Transportation agency last week sent the Georgia Department of Transportation an email saying the sign on newly named Deshaun Watson Way doesn’t comply with federal code because it is red, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The code specifies the color of highway signs.
The federal email said “failure to comply with the (code) jeopardizes the future use of federal funding” for the city.
“Please have the City remove the non-compliant signs as soon as possible.”
In February, Gainesville renamed Touchdown Way in honor of Watson, a Gainesville High School alumnus and quarterback of national champion Clemson. The Tigers defeated Alabama in the title game in January.
“The DOT’s decision to respond to a small city’s celebratory act by threatening to withdraw its federal funding is an egregious example of abuse at the hands of federal bureaucrats,” said Ninth District Congressman Doug Collins, whose district includes Gainesville.
“As many sections of our nation’s infrastructure are in disrepair, I am amazed that the DOT has prioritized targeting the entranceway of a local school.”
According to the letter, “Our concern is not with the name of the road, but with the street name signs that were installed to indicate this change. Either to match the STOP signs or in support of the Red Elephants, the street name signs have a red background.”
The federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices “does allow for alternative background colors to be used for street name signs,” the email reads, “however, red is not one of the acceptable colors.”
Gainesville Mayor Danny Dunagan also is not happy.
“A nicer approach would have been to give our city 30 days’ notice to replace the sign before pursuing the nuclear option of federal defunding,” Dunagan said in Collins’ release.
“Deshaun is a fine, upstanding member of our community and one of the greatest football players of our generation. Our intent was simply to honor him at the entry to our school.”
Collins also said, “The DOT’s approach to this issue is inappropriate, and I only hope it was not driven by Crimson Tide sympathies.”
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