Okay, I have to admit that I have zero footing to be throwing judgment at anyone for misspellings. There are moments when I get fatigued and let errors slip through despite rereading. Though, it should be essential to correctly spell the name of the state that your government agency represents. If you work for Massachusetts or Mississippi, it can be understandable on occasion. If this is happening in Delaware, it’s not.
It happened in Delaware. The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and its contractor Kiewit Infrastructure Company installed an exit sign on I-95 in Wilmington, Delaware for the Delaware Ave. exit spelled “Delware Ave.” People immediately noticed it and took to social media to make jokes about it. On DelDOT’s Facebook post in response to the error, Matthew Weldon Gelber posted, “It’s a small state, I just assumed the name was smaller too.”
DelDOT and Kiewit stated that the sign was meant to be a temporary stopgap until the permanent sign was installed. The “Delware” sign is no longer up and the permanent Delaware Ave. sign is spelled correctly. Allegedly, the error on the temporary sign wasn’t spotted until it was installed. The exit was closed for construction, contractors feared that the exit could reopen without a sign and a placeholder was rushed into place.
This isn’t the first time DelDOT has caught flak for signage on I-95. I also found a Twitter post from two years ago featuring DelDOT signage with “12th Street” spelled correctly but in three different ways. It might sound minor, but inconsistent spelling is difficult to comprehend at highway speeds, especially in poor weather conditions or at night. Consistency on road signs assists drivers in quickly recognizing what they are looking at. I don’t envy those that have to make the country’s interstate highways usable for drivers.
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