St. Louis Turns to Cardboard Stop Signs in 'Temporary Fix'

When south city saw intense flooding last June, it didn't just create problems for the neighborhood of Ellendale. It also knocked the St. Louis Street Department's print shop out of service.

And that's the unlikely backstory of a mystery that's gripped some local sleuths this summer — namely, what's been happening to stop signs around the city?

Savvy observers have spotted stop signs that appear sheared in half in Soulard, the Central West End and downtown. But instead of these signs being targeted for vandalism in an orchestrated campaign, it turns out that a change in materials may have left them more vulnerable to elements of all kinds — wind, bad drivers, vandals.

That's because, as a "temporary fix," city spokesman Nick Dunne confirms, the city isn't using metal for the signs. They've instead turned to corrugated cardboard.

As Dunne explains, metal signs are traditionally made off-site and then delivered to the city print shop to be given their iconic STOP messaging. With the shop still offline, the city had to find a new supplier. Et voila .... cardboard. You can find 'em online for as cheap as $6 a pop ... or is that STOP?

Dunne promises the cardboard signs — and, we presume, the random "ST" and "OP" messages appearing around St. Louis — will soon be a thing of the past.

"They've been restoring the Street Department building for the past year," he says. "This was just a temporary fix, and you'll be seeing metal signs again once that's back."

Dunne wasn't able to say how many cardboard signs are out there or whether there have been many damage reports. But once you know the cardboard signs are out there, you can't stop seeing them — we spotted a dozen in the last day or so, their telltale giveaway a corrugated edge instead of one made of smoother material.

And not all of them seem to be standing up to the elements. Beyond the half-signs that started us off on this quest, a few look positively wilted. Knowing the wear and tear St. Louis drivers put on our roads, light poles, fences and even sidewalks, it's safe to assume these cardboard placeholders don't stand a chance.



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