MnDOT Responds to Federal Ruling Against Funny Highway Signs

Just last week we learned that the federal government was being a party pooper and said that funny highway signs were no longer going to be allowed. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has been giving us hilarious signs for years, so lots of people were upset about this ruling.

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Sometimes MnDOT's signs on highways were groan-worthy, others referenced pop culture, and some really made you laugh.

But now it's all going away. Or is it?

Federal Government is Banning Funny Highway Signs

If you missed my full story about the federal ruling against funny highway signs, I've got it here:

READ MORE: Federal Government Getting Rid of Funny Highway Signs

The gist of it is that they've decided these funny signs are too distracting and can confuse people. The ruling was in a 1,100-page manual that came out last month. In it, it says that by 2026, the electronic highway signs must be “'simple, direct, brief, legible and clear'”.

MnDOT's Message Monday

I'll be honest, I didn't know until now that MnDOT has a special project name for these funny signs. According to KARE 11, it started in 2016 and it's called Message Monday. And you can actually submit your own ideas for what should be displayed on those highway signs.

MnDOT set up Message Monday "to encourage safe driving habits. Messages can be fun and creative, but need to include a clear and easy-to-understand safety message."

MnDOT Responds to Federal Ruling

But could all of those witty messages be going away? It doesn't appear that way. KARE 11 reached out to MnDOT about the ruling and they replied saying, "'We believe these messages are an important part of improving the culture of traffic safety in Minnesota, and why we will continue our Message Monday campaign'".

So it sounds like MnDOT is almost fighting back in a way saying no, this works and gets people talking about road safety, we're not getting rid of it.

I can see them being a little more picky about the Message Monday submissions but I'm just happy that we should continue to see some hilarious signs on Minnesota highways.