Jon Campbell

@JonCampbellGAN

ALBANY - High-ranking federal highway officials have tried for more than three years to get Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration to take down the controversial I Love NY highway signs that now dot the state's major roadways.

Mother Nature got the job done in a day. But the signs won't stay down for long.

The major wind storm that ripped through western New York earlier this month knocked down eight of the large, blue I Love NY signs along the state Thruway, largely in the Rochester and Buffalo areas.

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The wind only took a small portion of the 514 signs, which the state spent $8.1 million to print and erect, despite a 2013 federal order explicitly prohibiting it from doing so.

But the damage has set up a game of regulatory chicken.

The state Thruway Authority has already begun replacing or repairing the wind-swept signs. But the Federal Highway Administration opposes the move; the latest disagreement in an ongoing battle over the signs that could threaten New York's share of federal highway funding.

"Any signs that came down in Central and Western NY will be reinstalled as soon as the weather allows," Thruway Authority spokeswoman Jennifer Givner said in an email Monday.

Doug Hecox, a spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration, said the signs do not comply with a federal manual laying out rules for highway signs. He said the state can't use any federal funds to re-erect them.

"Because the existing signs do not comply with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the FHWA actively discourages the installation of more non-compliant signs," Hecox said in an email.

The state began erecting a version of the signs in 2014 at entry points to New York, with each sign promoting the state's tourism programs, including I Love NY and Taste NY.

Last year, the state aggressively expanded the signage, placing groups of five large, blue signs in rapid succession on highways all across the state, with each sign in the group promoting a different tourism program.

The state Department of Transportation paid overtime and used emergency contracts to get the signs up before July 4, with one contractor paying an out-of-state company to print them in order to meet the deadline.

The Federal Highway Administration, however, has repeatedly warned the signs violate federal law and regulations, which include strict rules about what can and cannot go on highway signs to ensure they are uniform regardless of what state the sign is in. The state has contended they're legal.

The federal regulators have warned they could withhold a portion of the state's federal highway funding — which totals more than $1 billion annually — if the signs don't come down.

The state and the federal administration have been in negotiations since late last year about the signs' future, though so far there has been no resolution.

Hecox said the state Department of Transportation is "working on a plan to resolve this issue" and is due to submit it to the federal government for review next month.

Three of the wind-damaged signs were near the westbound Thruway's Batavia exit in Genesee County, where they were knocked down during the storm. Others between Syracuse and Rochester were on posts that were bent, leaving the signs at a downward-facing angle.

At least another three were knocked down on the eastbound Thruway near exit 41 in Seneca County, with only the signs' posts remaining upright as of Sunday afternoon.

The Batavia signs were replaced either Thursday or Friday, according to Assemblyman Stephen Hawley, R-Batavia, who released a photograph that appears to show a crane and a construction crew at work near the signs.

"Only in New York can you use taxpayer money in plain sight to fund illegal activities and no one bats an eye," Hawley said. "This is a clear and reckless abuse of taxpayer-funded resources."