‘Welcome to Glendale’ sign damaged for a second time, police say
A 78-year-old Sunland man crashed his vehicle into a concrete sign engraved with “Welcome to Glendale” on Wednesday, becoming the second instance where the controversial marker has been damaged, according to authorities.
Glendale police said the man’s vehicle struck the sign, located on Foothill Boulevard near Lowell Avenue, sometime around 3:10 p.m. after he made an unsafe lane change, according to Tahnee Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for the Glendale Police Department.
She said the man was traveling westbound on Foothill and was not impaired at the time of the crash.
While the sign was “completely damaged,” Lightfoot said the man was uninjured.
“There was minor damage to the car, and it had to be towed,” she said. “No other vehicles were involved.”
City officials said this week’s incident was the second time the sign has been damaged since its installation in November, according to Lightfoot.
She said there was also an earlier incident where only the median surrounding the sign was damaged.
The first time the marker was broken involved a hit-and-run driver who crashed their black Toyota Prius into it in December.
Tom Lorenz, a city spokesman, said, at the time, the driver of the Prius was going to be responsible for the costs of repairing the sign.
It’s unknown how much it will cost to repair the sign from this latest crash. Information was also not available about how much the previous repair job cost.
Neither Lorenz nor other city officials could not be reached for comment.
A second sign was installed at the same time as the first on Foothill near Pennsylvania Avenue, but it has never been damaged, Lightfoot said.
Residents in the area have criticized the two signs since 2016 when their designs were first unveiled.
One concern has been that the signs pose a safety hazard to motorists.
Harry Leon, president of the Crescenta Valley Town Council, previously said their placement and muted visibility could lead drivers to hit the markers.
Another criticism has been the signs’ message of welcoming people to Glendale. An online petition called for the signs to welcome people to La Crescenta or Crescenta Highlands instead. While the areas where the signs are located have been officially in Glendale since 1951, the petition states residents still refer to them as La Crescenta.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
