Before Gov. Ed Rendell borrows that $240 million for extra road and bridge repair, he should go after the money that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation just wasted on countless, large and unsightly emergency detour signs.

Talk about litter on a stick.

These are the white signs popping up all over the landscape near heavily traveled roadways: Interstate 70, I-79, I-80, I-279 and I-376, plus Routes 19, 51, 22, 28, 30, 60, 65 and 422. The signs say, for example: "I-79 DETOUR" and use a colored arrow to direct drivers in a particular direction. Get used to them; they're now part of your daily commute.

PennDOT says the signs are there and ready to steer motorists around a major incident or emergency that may force vehicles to take a different route. Except those emergencies (thankfully) are rare. The signs are not.

We have several reactions, none of them positive.

1. Signs we don't need today, or sometime soon, are just more roadside clutter.

2. Drivers will become oblivious to signs they see daily and probably ignore them on the fateful day that they need them.

3. What's wrong with posting a police officer or a state trooper to divert traffic in an emergency, or using a road crew to erect directional signs when there's an unexpected shutdown?

4. How does PennDOT know in advance the nature of all these coming emergencies and therefore which stretches of road will be closed and which alternate routes will be necessary?

5. It's safe to say that some uninformed, unsuspecting drivers are already rerouting themselves when they come upon a sign that says "I-279 DETOUR" with an arrow directing them off the ramp. Wonder what that was all about, they must be thinking.

PennDOT, which paid for the signs out of individual county maintenance budgets, hasn't said what the whole program cost. Another pertinent question is, whose outfit got the sweet contract that has posted so much useless information on Pennsylvania's highways?

Drivers should not be opposed to PennDOT planning ahead and working out contingency plans for potential road closings. But please spare us the emergency directions until the emergency arrives.