Road signs are slowly but surely changing throughout the county to meet a federal mandate aimed at making signage more visible at night.

The transition, however, is coming at a cost to taxpayers.

When the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) issued the "Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices" in 2008, it set forth burdensome deadlines for municipalities to replace all road signs by 2018.

Before that ruling, there were no specific standards regarding retro reflectivity levels, which describes how light is reflected from a surface and returned to its original source.

The new retro reflectivity standards are an effort to make all street signs bigger and easier to see at night, a decision made especially with the future elderly generation in mind.

According to the American Automobile Association, it’s predicted that by 2020, about one-fifth of the U.S. population will be 65 years old or older.

More than half of all traffic fatalities occur at night, according to the FHA, which said more legible and reflective signs would make driving in the dark safer.

For full story, pick up the Wednesday, Sept. 26 issue of The Mountaineer or click here.