Street Sign Project

BICKNELL, IND. (WTHI) -       A small southern Indiana city is struggling to provide visitors and its own residents with a sense of direction.

     Bicknell is trying to get a new street sign project moving ahead.

     The community is now considering all kinds of options to get the project to fit into the available funds.

     It's been 30 years since Bicknell put in new street signs.

     Some are still standing.

     Many others are long gone making travel around the community confusing.

     City officials thought they had the answer to the problem when they received a $180,000 grant for new signs, but the bids didn't work out.

     "It came in over budget so we had to resubmit," said Bicknell Mayor Jon Flickinger, "and we're re-doing the contract right now."

     Bicknell officials are looking at all kinds of options to try and get the project in under budget.

  One of them is to put up fewer signs.

  Another is to take some of the street names that are long like Freelandville, Pennsylvania and Washington and abbreviate them.

     "We're looking to abbreviate them," said Flickinger.  "I haven't contacted INDOT yet to see if we could do that yet of not, but that what we're looking to do."

     The cash strapped community will not put any extra city funds into the project and that leaves them looking for ways to pare about $15-20,000 out of specifications.

     "It's just a case you've got to do the best that you can with what you've got to do it with," said Flickinger.

    If they can do that perhaps they can put some direction back into Bicknell.

     Officials say they had hoped to get the project done this year, but now say it may be next spring before work begins.