As the vast majority of them went into storage at States Works Department headquarters at La Hure Mare this week, the States counted up how often they had been used.
The answer up to the end of November was 18,196 times – an average of more than 1,650 per month or over 400 a week.
By the end of today there will only be five small roads closed across the island, all of them long-term closures of more than six months, caused by structural issues or scaffolding.
Signs and lines supervisor Andy Brown takes charge of the estimated 3,500 signs regularly placed around the island and said it had been a busy year for road closures.
‘The signs do take a bit of a battering,’ he said. ‘The problem we have is that the roads are so narrow and we are not supposed to put them on the pavements,’ he said. ‘It’s a catch-22 situation.’
Mr Brown has been in the role for 17 years and regularly works a shift between 4.30am and noon, when the majority of signs are put out and collected.
‘When I started you hardly saw another car on the roads in the early hours, but now there are lots of people out and about even that early in the morning,’ he said.
‘There’s no doubt our roads have got busier and busier which in turns makes the job of taking the signs in and out safely much more difficult too.’
The team works 363 days of the year, only having Christmas Day and Boxing Day off.
‘Even on those days someone has to be on call just in case there is an emergency road closure such as a burst water main or electricity fault,’ he said.
The signs are currently being moved to a new location, with a number of them being replaced.
Old signs were made of aluminium, which although repairable were sometimes stolen to be sold as scrap metal.
‘The new ones are a composite plastic with an aluminium front, they are much lighter and cheaper but they break more easily,’ said Mr Brown.
‘Thankfully we don’t actually get many signs or cones stolen.’