Banners yet wave: Signs can stay up By O’Ryan Johnson Thursday, October 5, 2006

Banners on highway overpasses that welcome soldiers home, mourn their deaths or declare eternal love for a sweetheart are safe for now, the Massachusetts Highway Department said yesterday. A report that the patriotic signs, yellow ribbons, flags and statements of love were to be banned was the result of a “miscommunication,” said Jon Carlisle, spokesman for MassHighway. “If a banner is tied on an outside of a bridge railing and it’s secured or it’s not very well secured, that’s what we’ll look to take down,” he said. Carlisle said the concern is if a large banner came loose, it could fall on a car and cause an wreck. Banners on the inside of the railing are less of a concern. “The vast majority will remain in place since they do not pose a threat,” he said. That was welcome news to Methuen’s James Wareing, who has spent the past five years maintaining as many as 11 bridge-borne messages to troops. He was told that all of his signs were being removed until a new policy was in place. He was then told they would all be banned. “They say that now,” he said of MassHighway’s about-face. “Unfortunately it’s too late because all my bridges are down.” Wareing’s scrupulously maintained banners are among the best known in the state. He spends much of his free time replacing tattered flags on overpasses from Methuen to Boston. But his work has given way to more messages some for the war, some against, and some just celebrating birthdays and anniversaries. Those display are usually put up, then forgotten by the celebrants, Wareing said. Carlisle said, “We are simply looking for a way to allow their patriotism and messages to be displayed in an appropriate way while ensuring public safety.” He added that whatever form it takes, no statement is prohibited by MassHighway as long as it is properly secured to the overpass. Wareing said he too worries about the safety of displays that are not his. “I agree with them,” Wareing said. “You have to be cautious. How do you do that I don’t know. I know in my five years, mine have never had an issue. You can’t say nothing will happen, because accidents happen. But I think more accidents are caused by people talking on cell phones or eating than by a falling flag.”

O'Ryan Johnson-Herald Reporter
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