I get signs telling you there’s a bump ahead, or deer might run out in front of you, but I’ve never understood why there are signs telling people not to build unlawful driveways. Are that many people doing it on a daily basis in that area that they need a fully visible sign? Surely it’s just an ordinance, why does it need a road sign?
I’ve been wondering this for years and hope someone has an answer that makes sense.
Others have answered why it is a law. But why does it need a road sign? You haven’t talked about where you live, but I assume it is a rural place that is slowly suburbanizing by people splitting their property into smaller parcels and building on that as the paperwork is generally easier and that form of density is baked into the zoning of the area.
The problem with this type of building over larger subdivisions is that the road network usually isn’t as developed, since a developer isn’t building the internal road system nor possibly paying for improvements to nearby infrastructure. You also have less experienced developers, generally. Many times, these can be the home owners building themselves and sometimes acting as the general contractor. These smaller future home owners may not be aware of all the paperwork required to develop their property.
Yep, it’s the road sign part that gets me confused. I live in Tennessee. I suppose that makes some sense but I still don’t know if I understand why it needs a sign vs just having an ordinance and fining people who don’t follow it. In my brain, road signs are for things you might need to know in the spur of the moment. It’s not like people are going “Whoops I just built an unapproved driveway!”
The MUTCD has signs for “other regulatory” purposes which are to remind drivers on what the law is.
And highway maintenance is such that roads aren’t going to be inspected for years at a time.
Where you live, do you require permits? Is it enforced? Is this some “small government “ idea of enforcing permitting?