Welcome to the Graffiti Highway

As a person involved with ground transportation, graffiti is something I come face to face with on an almost constant basis. For some reason, people just seem to be compelled to risk life and limb to hang upside down off of highway overpasses to slither through dark rail yards to make their mark on the world. Some argue it is a nuisance and others argue it is a form of art. Personally, I say it depends. But, to be fair, the graffiti on the freeway system in Los Angeles is seen more than any piece in the Louvre or Getty ever is. While engineers and artists rarely run in the same circles, this is one area where we have common ground. Indeed, it was even immortalized in Harry Partch’s Barstow, whose lyrics were based on eight lines of graffiti found on highway guard rail in Barstow, California.

In my own adventures, perhaps the most intensive exhibition of this relationship is found in Centralia, Pennsylvania. For about a half-century, a coal seam has been on fire under the town of Centralia. While this problem is not unique to Centralia, the fire’s proximity to the surface and previously residential areas is unique.

The state and federal governments have paid dearly to move out residents and businesses since the 1980s. The main route through town was, and still is, Pennsylvania Route 61. In 1994, Route 61 was given a new alignment between Centralia and Ashland, only a few miles away, because the original alignment was no longer safe due to the effects of the fire. This left a blank canvas for spray can-artists, who have happily accepted the challenge.

Graffiti highway in CentraliaCracks in the highway.Large cracks that vent the coal fire smoke from below. Cthulhu himself is represented on the highway.