SAN ANTONIO – From start to finish, a single sign made by the Public Works Department’s sign-making team could take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. The team produces thousands of signs for the City of San Antonio each year.
“We produce about 8,000 signs here with our staff a year, and then we purchase another 10,000 signs a year,” Marc Jacobsen, the assistant director of Public Works, said.
There is a small team of three people who physically make the signs, and another group who takes the signs to the proper location and assembles them. Jacobsen said the team makes speed limit and stop signs the most.
“Anything that you can imagine, we get requests for,” Jacobsen said. “If you are a citizen that has a request for a particular sign, you can call 311 and request that. … Usually, we produce common signs in batches around here and so that kind of gets spread out over time.”
The department also works on street name signs and has been in the loop on the proposal to rename César E. Chávez Boulevard. However, the sign-making team fully enters the street name change process much later than other entities in the city.
“We’re only prepping in the sense that we know it’s coming,” Jacobsen said.
The process to change the name of César E. Chávez Boulevard begins with a Council Consideration Request, which Councilmember Teri Castillo has already submitted to rename the street from César E. Chávez Boulevard to Durango Boulevard in the wake of abuse allegations against Chávez.
Last week, the Historic and Design Review Commission approved the name change to Durango Boulevard, with only one person voting against the measure.
On June 24, the planning commission will vote on the name change, and in August, City Council will vote on it. While the process is making its way through the commission, the city’s Development Services Department is part of the process. The Development Services Department recently presented to the HDRC that the name change will cost the city just over $300,000.
“Once the final decision is made as to what [the name is] going to change to, then the Development Services Department will work to ensure that those signs can be ordered and installed,” Jacobsen said. “[Public Works will] help to provide technical guidance on what those signs should look like.”
Then the process of building the signs can begin.
The team of three people begins by setting up the file for each sign’s design, then sends it to the vinyl-cutting process. Once the vinyl is cut, the next step is weeding, where they remove the excess vinyl. Then, the team uses transfer tape, cuts off any excess, and places the wording on the sign, then transfers the design to the physical sign.
Lastly, the team removes all air bubbles to ensure the transfer tape is fully in contact with the vinyl. They peel the backing to ensure the vinyl stays stuck to the transfer tape, then use a machine (shown in the video player) to push down the vinyl onto the backing to finalize the sign.
Another process that comes through this team in the Public Works Department is 311 requests. These requests include inquiries about new or updated street or traffic signs, new speed limit signs, and items obstructing the view of signs.
“Property owners should trim their trees and bushes to ensure they don’t obstruct stop signs and other signage,” Jacobsen said. “If you can’t see a sign because something is in the way, it could be a tree, it could be a bush, it could be anything, then you can call 311.”
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