‘NORTH’ BY SOUTHWEST

Talk about some bad directions.

A sign for exit 76A on northbound U.S. Highway 95 at the Spaghetti Bowl indicated on Wednesday that drivers should follow the offramp to Interstate 15 north, and Los Angeles.

Alerted to the bogus signage by readers, the Review-Journal contacted transportation officials.

Joe Martinez, who oversees the maintenance of such signs as assistant engineer for District 1 of the Nevada Department of Transportation, said he was unaware of any authorized changes to the freeway sign.

State transportation officials speculated that the incorrect direction might be the work of pranksters who had covered up the "Sou" of South with "Nor."

A close-up image shot Wednesday showed a different shade of green behind the word "north" and faint white smudges surrounding the word.

Nearly a year ago, the Web site Google introduced a program offering a 360-degree, street-level view of roads in Las Vegas. The year-old image of the sign correctly indicated the offramp would carry motorists onto southbound I-15 heading to Los Angeles.

Pranksters have targeted traffic signs before, Martinez said. But "that's the first major one I've seen."

Officials expected to have the sign fixed before this morning's commute.

It may never be known how many people took the wrong exit or missed the offramp because of the sign, but Transportation Department spokesman Bob McKenzie said he was grateful the problem was brought to the attention of authorities. Anyone who knows valley roads could easily drive by it and never notice it, he said.

"Our guys are out there on the road seven days a week, but very often we won't know about a problem until a citizen brings it to our attention," he said.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904.