ST. LOUIS – It’s been nearly three months since we exposed a problem with stop signs falling apart, even being cut in half in the City of St. Louis. We found out the signs were made of cardboard-like material.

We found dozens of damaged signs citywide in August. It’s now November. The issue remains.

Two weeks after we found half of a stop sign near Al’s Restaurant in the North Riverfront neighborhood, it has yet to be replaced. 

“It’s kind of weird. You’ve got half a stop. What’s the purpose? You left half of it,” laughed Zell Marshall of Belleville while driving by St. Louis.

A mile or two away, the St. Louis Blues opened their season at Enterprise Center with a similar half-stop sign on the southwest corner. That one has now been replaced.

If you look closely at the damaged signs, you will see they resemble cardboard.  The reflective lettering tends to peel off. The signs warp after being exposed to St. Louis weather.

The City’s streets department confirms the installation of hundreds (perhaps more than 1,000) of them 2-3 years ago when a supplier of fiberglass stop signs stopped making them.

The department is now using metal signs purchased through MoDOT, like the new one at Enterprise Center, to replace the flimsy signs. With the department’s persistent labor shortage, progress is very slow.