SALEM — It didn't take long for graffiti artists to spray their work on a recently completed bridge and a new sound barrier along Interstate 93.
State Department of Transportation officials say it is a nuisance and financial burden to remove the images and lettering.
"When these kids start paying for things out of their own pocket, they'll appreciate the disservice they are doing," said Pete Stamnas, I-93 widening manager.
Graffiti appeared on the southbound on-ramp bridge abutment at Exit 1 about six weeks ago, said Mark Caesar, construction supervisor for the Exit 1 project.
Two weeks later, large black lettering appeared on the sound barrier by Cross Street bridge at the Exit 1 northbound off-ramp.
The DOT subsequently hired a contractor to power-wash the graffiti, then apply weatherproofing to the cleaned surface, Caesar said.
On Tuesday morning, workers were removing remnants of the large lettering on the sound barrier, which muffles highway traffic for dozens of households on and near MacGregor Avenue.
Caesar said removing graffiti is a nuisance.
But the spray-painting persists, he said. It pops up more frequently the closer you get to metropolitan areas.
"It's hard to imagine when kids are going to stop painting graffiti," he said. "It's part of the culture."
The last time he remembers seeing spray-painted items at Exit 1 was about a year ago. DOT engineer Pamela Mitchell said graffiti is a big problem in Manchester.
Last month, on Interstate 293 between Exits 1 and 2, the problem reoccurred over two weeks, she said.
"We'd take it down, and it would go back up the next night," she said.
Mitchell said she didn't know how much money DOT spends to remove graffiti, but she said a partial crew spent two weeks removing the I-293 graffiti.
While some people consider graffiti art, Mitchell thinks it detracts from the highway.
"We don't call them graffiti artists, we call them graffiti criminals," she said.
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