Q. In Rhode Island, what street signs (parking, stop, speed, handicapped, etc.) are legal and what are not? How can you tell? In surrounding states these signs are “autographed” (lower right corner) by the enforcing town or department. None or very few in Rhode Island have that. These signs are available for purchase over the Internet and can be placed anywhere. Look at the variety of signs. Who put them up and are they enforceable? How about the stop, one way, speed and handicap signs in parking lots?

A. RIDOT can only claim responsibility for signs that are installed on state-owned roads. The state has no jurisdiction over signs that are installed on city or town roads, or on private property such as a store.

According to the General Laws any regulatory sign (i.e., no parking, stop, speed limit, etc.) that is installed on a state-owned roadway must be approved by the State Traffic Commission (STC). According to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), a federal publication that sets the rules and guidelines for traffic control devices, “regulatory signs shall be used to inform road users of selected traffic laws or regulations and indicate the applicability of the legal requirements.”

Most regulatory signs are rectangular in shape, with the exception of stop and yield signs. Regulatory signs must be approved by the STC prior to installation on state roads.

The Department keeps a record of all STC approved regulations.

Signs should only be installed if the regulation that it is enforcing is approved by the STC.

If there is any question as to whether a regulatory sign has been approved by the state please contact the Depart-

ment’s Customer Service Office at (401) 222-2450 and we can check on it.

Dana Alexander Nolfe, chief public affairs officer for the state Department of Transportation, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state roads and other state transportation matters. The DOT is responsible for the state’s transportation infrastructure, which includes highways, bridges, traffic signals and bikeways.

To ask a question that would also be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask RIDOT, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902.

You can also e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Question for the DOT” in the subject field. Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DOT directly and will not be answered in this column.