BARNSTABLE – As the state prepares to replace aging road signs across Cape Cod, there are once again reassurances that no changes will be made to the exit numbering on Route 6.
Some states have been renumbering their highway exits as part of a federal initiative to have exit numbers correspond with mile markers. Under those guidelines, Exit 6 in Hyannis would be changed to exit 67 while exit 12 in Orleans would be renumbered exit 88.
That plan was met with opposition on Cape Cod, leading MassDOT to back off the proposal a few months after it was proposed in 2016.
“The new signs will have room just in case we succumb to the federal guidelines and start numbering [the exits] by the mile, but my understanding is that’s not going to happen at this point,” said Sandwich State. Rep Randy Hunt, a member of the House transportation committee.
MassDOT plans to replace roughly 1,800 road signs across Cape Cod, many of which have lost their reflectivity at night. The new signs will be installed in the same places where the current ones stand.
State transportation officials had also floated the possibility of putting up larger overhead, full-span signs, on Route 6, but those plans also changed.