El Paso County starts new policy to regulate placement, maintenance of roadside memorials
Scott Harrison
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — We often see makeshift memorials created along local roads, streets and highways where loved ones died in vehicle crashes, and many friends and relatives take pride and find comfort in those creations.
However, El Paso County officials say that the collection of crosses, photos, flowers, stuffed animals and other items, pose a concern because there is no policy to manage them, maintain them and keep them consistent.
The county is in its second week of a new policy approved by commissioners to address that concern — a policy that many local governments already have.
Currently, a citizen is not required to register for creating a memorial, to seek permission to do so, or to pay for establishing and maintaining it.
The new policy requires a citizen to submit an application; if it’s approved by the county’s chief engineer, the applicant must pay a $100 fee and receive a blue, personal sign for the lost loved one that will remain at an approved location for five years.
County employees will make and install the sign, return it if it has to be moved for roadside work, and replace it if it becomes damaged.
The fee covers some — but not all — of the cost of providing signs to replace handmade memorials, the county says.
Officials say that a sign honoring the victim of a crash will include the victim’s name, or be sponsored by anoter person or entity authorized by a family member.
However, a sign remembering an impaired driver will not bear that person’s name, but will be allowed to include a safety message.
There are 15 memorials along county roads, and those memorials are grandfathered in, and not required to follow the new policy.