Caltrans investigates after Mendocino County highway sign flashes racist message at drivers
Authorities in Mendocino County are investigating after a Caltrans electronic highway sign was tampered with so it displayed a virulently racist message to drivers over the weekend.
Saoirse Byrne was on her way home to Boonville at about 9 p.m. Saturday when she saw a horrifying message just after entering Mendocino County on state Highway 128.
The flashing road sign, which usually says "Expect Delays," no longer warned of ongoing road construction. The message instead read "N------ aren't welcome."
She pulled her car over and set out to disable the vandalized sign.
"It's a not-so-veiled threat and not to be taken lightly," she said.
The door to the sign's control box had been left open. She got out the manual she found inside. But that didn't help her turn it off unless she had the codes needed.
Two other cars pulled over to help.
"We reset it, and it turned it off momentarily, but then it flashed back on again with the same message." They tried that again. The same horrific message came right back.
So the group of people who had stopped tried to turn the sign, which is not on wheels. It is meant to be hard to move for obvious reasons.
"We couldn't move it completely away. We got it so that it wasn't facing traffic head-on anymore. Then I called 911. I also got in touch with the (Anderson Valley) fire chief Andres Avila. And he contacted the head of Caltrans," Byrne said.
Caltrans spokesperson Manny Machado said the sign had been turned off and the case was being investigated.
"Caltrans was made aware Saturday night of a message board that was vandalized along Route 128 in Mendocino County near the Sonoma County line. Staff went to the construction site and the message was removed. The message board is operated by a contractor for a culvert project. The incident is under investigation," Machado said.
A member of the Anderson Valley Unified School District board, Byrne said she has never seen anything like this in her 13 years in the Anderson Valley.
"It does surprise me that somebody would use their creative human monkey brain to do something coming like this from a place of hate. There's so much violence in the world, and those words, the words might not just be words, and so I think it's something that we have to take seriously as a community. We need to figure out; how do we have civil discourse and make sure we are a place where we can all have respect for ourselves and others? This is unacceptable," Byrne said.
A key code must be used to change that message. To Byrne that indicated hackers, or even someone official who did this.
"Something needs to be done. It appears to be too easy for this to happen," she said.
Byrne said she wishes she had thought to go somewhere and buy a tarp, but the sign is quite a ways down Highway 128 from Boonville, along winding roads.
Highway 128 is the primary route to the Anderson Valley and one of two primary ways to get to the Mendocino Coast. She said she was glad to hear it had been dealt with by Caltrans.