Via Reddit
D.C. residents traversing the city today are finding that at many intersections crossed by one-way streets, some of the directional signs have been altered in a most festive way. Some time during the night, a group of street artists visited “One Way” signs around town and covered up the second word with stickers reading “LOVE.”
Many who encountered the signs were delighted by the Valentine’s Day message. “Oh D.C., sometimes I love you, too,” tweeted one person who saw one at 17th Street and Massachusetts NW. Others have reported seeing them at the intersections of 21st and M streets NW, 16th and Harvard streets NW, and Connecticut and Rhode Island avenues NW.
The signage appears to be the work of One Love Massive, an events planning company that is hosting a party tonight at the Petworth restaurant Chez Billy in celebration of its new website. In a Reddit discussion about the signs, the company boasted it is tagging 160 signs.
On one hand, it’s Valentine’s Day and kind of cute. On the other hand, defacing directional signs is really illegal and super-dangerous. Drivers around these parts are bad enough, and the last thing this city needs are a bunch of motorists giggling at wheat-pasted street signs offering them cheap aphorisms instead of, you know, directions.
The D.C. Code is also quite clear on the matter:
No person shall place, maintain, or display upon or in view of any highway any unauthorized sign, signal, marking, or device which purports to be, is an imitation of, or resembles an official traffic control device or railroad sign or signal; or which attempts to direct the movement of traffic; or which hides from view or interferes with the effectiveness of any official traffic control device or any railroad sign or signal.
But, whatever, right? It’s February 14, so that makes this kind of stunt totally fine, at least according to the people offering giddy reactions. In an email to DCist, an employee of One Love Massive takes credit for the sticker job, and adds that they are designed to “come off naturally” without any permanent damage to the signs. How long it will take for the “LOVE” stickers to peel away, however, is unknown. And if the company is banking on them washing off, it might not be until Saturday at the earliest, when there is a forecast of possible snow. Barring that, the earliest projection for rain, according to The Weather Channel, isn’t until next Tuesday.
So, happy Valentine’s Day, D.C. One Love Massive loves you so much, it’s trying to give you a car crash.
