Almost $200,000 in funding has been sought to conduct safety studies on roadways in the county.

The funding is available from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, according to County Engineer Doug Cade.

“It helps replace our signage — stop signs and speed limits and curve warning signs,” Cade said. “It is to meet the new federal rules for January 2015.”

Those regulations focus on the degree of reflectivity from signage. Right now ODOT signs meet the latest standard.

“They will reflect in the daylight, even a mirror image, and reflect better in nighttime,” he said.

The studies will also allow the county to inventory all their signs to determine if they are in the appropriate places along roadways.

The funds will also pay for a curve study to determine if curves in roads are marked with signs for the correct speed limit.

“They put an instrument in the vehicle called a ball-bank indicator and will drive along the road and based on the slope of the road determine the proper speed,” Cade said.

If it is funded, a consultant will conduct the studies, which are expected to take about a year. County crews will take care of putting up new signs.

“We have applied for guardrail projects in the past, but this is the first time for a safety study,” Cade said.