Nearly $5,000 in signs have been stolen from construction sites in Idaho Falls since April, company says
IDAHO FALLS – Construction sites are dealing with a substantial increase in theft of signs and dangerous driving this year, putting workers safety in jeopardy and plans behind schedule.
According to Idaho Traffic Safety, at least $4,719 in construction signage equipment has been reported stolen in Idaho Falls since April 17.
“I know that many people see the name of our company, Idaho Traffic Safety, and they assume that we are a government-funded company. However, we are a privately owned company. We are currently a woman-owned business,” says Dustin Smith, a bid estimator and project manager for Idaho Traffic Safety. “When signs are stolen from a project, there are more costs than just a lost sign.”
Smith says when a sign is stolen, not only do they lose the money it took to make that sign, but if they don’t have a replacement in stock, they have to make a new one to replace it and pay a contractor to go out to the construction site and set up the new equipment.
This process can happen multiple times a day.
“When there are a lot of signs that have been stolen from a project, the contractor and the traffic control company start to take a loss,” says Smith. “That can affect the future of the project as well as any future projects in the area.”
Local construction workers are also seeing increased dangers on the job. According to HK contractors, their employees are seeing a drastic jump in people driving through active work sites and moving road closed signs in order to get through a closed work area.
“I know there’s a lot of frustration about the construction in town just because there are so many projects going on with all of the different companies, but our main concern is