The Street Artist Who Secretly Fixed a Confusing Los Angeles Freeway Sign

Kyle Kecheroma, Editor-in-Chief of The Drive told the story of Richard Ankrom, a street artist who was tired of the local government not taking any action about a confusing highway sign on a Los Angeles freeway that was missing crucial information about northbound Interstate 5, so he took matters into his own hands in 2001. A sign maker by trade, Ankrom very carefully crafted a clarification that matched the existing signage and surreptitiously installed it so that CalTrans wouldn’t realize it was changed.

Back in 2001, tired of government inaction, an artist in Los Angeles crafted and installed a perfect fake sign to fix a confusing highway interchange, helping millions of drivers before state officials caught on.

When officials realized Ankrom’s handiwork, they felt that he was actually correct and it became part of the official signage when the original had to be replaced.

It took months for state officials to catch on—but impressed with his work, they left it in place, eventually immortalizing his work when the whole sign had to be replaced.