Road Signs Become Shrines For Believers

A traffic sign where people see an image of the Virgin Mary has drawn thousands of believers, forcing temporary closure of a state highway in the lower Yakima Valley.

Chico Rodriquez, a police officer in Sunnyside, said he saw Madonna images on a road sign just east of the city limit and north on Washington 241.

“It shows like the figure of the Virgin Mary,” Rodriquez said Sunday. “It’s the full figure.”

The Washington State Patrol closed Washington 241 from Interstate 82 to Factory Road for three hours Saturday night after about 1,000 people gathered.

“It was really the crowd that closed the road,” said state patrol Sgt. Curt Hattell on Sunday. “There were so many of them walking around out there, we decided to barricade it and set down some flares just to be safe.”

Hattell said the crowd of 1,000 kept rotating throughout the night. Many lit candles, hung wreaths and danced to the beat of a drum, he said.

“They were looking behind the sign, on the shiny aluminum part,” Hattell said. “That’s where they said they saw something.”

The sighting was reported around 4 p.m. Saturday on the sign at the intersection of Washington 241 and the Yakima Valley Highway.

Within hours, thousands were arriving as the report spread by word of mouth among the predominantly Hispanic communities in the area.

“It was kind of a religious, in-the-church type of atmosphere,” said Grandview Mayor Jesse Palacios, who helped the patrol with traffic control.

“I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation,” Palacios said. “It really did create a lot of interest.”

Blanca Rodriguez of Grandview said she came to see the Madonna’s silhouette about 6:15 p.m.

“We wanted to see if it was true,” she said.

When she got there, Rodriguez said, people were placing candles, throwing flowers and taking pictures of the Madonna shadow on the green road sign.

“She had her hands put together,” Rodriguez said, “and she was looking straight forward.”

At least three other sightings had been reported at nearby road signs, but had drawn much smaller crowds.

A state patrol dispatcher said people were checking signs on the Interstate 82 freeway in the Sunnyside area.

“At this point they’re stopping at every sign just about to see if they can see something,” the dispatcher said.