How many times has Sheffield City Council repainted ‘L’ on Pool Square street sign?
Pool Square is the short street between Balm Green gardens and Lemontown café, close to Sheffield Town Hall.
The road sign for Pool Square has been a consistent victim of vandalism over the last few years, struggling to keep its final letter from being painted over.
Pool Square is the short street between Balm Green gardens and Lemontown café, close to Sheffield Town Hall.
However, passers-by often have to squint to see the ‘L’ of ‘Pool’ on its street sign.
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request submitted to Sheffield City Council revealed highways teams have attended Pool Square eight times since Amey took the contract in 2012 to repair the road name plate due to the missing ‘L’.
It said that Amey teams have also attended a further two times to repair reported damage to the road name plate which “may or may not include damage caused to the ‘L’.”
It is unable to determine from the information it holds whether the graffiti was removed from the sign, or if the letters were repainted.
Amey took the Highway Maintenance Contract contract in 2012, meaning over the last 14 years, each year comes with a 57% change of the ‘L’ needing a freshen up.
Taking an average, statistically the ‘L’ is safe for an average of 639 days or 21 months.
Though the FoI asked for the staff and paint costs to repaint the ‘L’, Sheffield City Council said it does not hold the figure for the costs incurred by Amey for individual operations such as the repainting of name plates.
Richard Eyre, Director of Street Scene and Regulations at Sheffield City Council, said: “We recognise that the altered sign will have raised a smile or two!
“Road signs play an important role in keeping people safe and in helping them navigate the city, so where there is repeated damage, we check signs to make sure that they are safe, legible, and fit for purpose.
“We repair or replace highway sign where necessary and offensive graffiti or other inappropriate markings are removed when they are identified or reported.
“Members of the public can help by reporting road sign issues so that they can be investigated and addressed as quickly as possible.”