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Here Are The 10 Best Rejected Submissions From Austin's Road Sign Contest

Monday, the Austin Department of Transportation released the winners for its contest to write the best caption for dynamic message signs – those blinking road signs along Austin's roads that warn of impending (or ongoing) construction, lane merges and general roadway shenanigans. 

In the end, only 15 were given the satisfaction of having their work seen by throngs of gridlock-bound Austinites, but there were plenty more submissions – 341, to be exact. Most of them were objectively not great, but there were some real gems in there, as well.

The transportation department ended up crowning Jerikay Kyle and Adam C. McHugh winners of the caption contest, which was judged by department employees, with GIFs of their submissions.

Credit Austin Department of Transportation
Jerikay Kyle's winning entry

Credit Austin Department of Transportation
Adam C. McHugh's winning submission

The department will roll out the 13 additional winning submissions in its release announcing the victors, who got GIFs illustrating their work.

But we put some of our favorites (one of which includes Joanna Dziewa's honorable mention) together in GIFs of their own. If you want to see the entire list of submissions, there's an embedded spreadsheet at the bottom of this post. 

Correction: A previous version of this post stated that the department's contest had only two winners, not 15. It also displayed a GIF of one of the 15 winners.

Andrew Weber is a general assignment reporter for KUT, focusing on criminal justice, policing, courts and homelessness in Austin and Travis County. Got a tip? You can email him at aweber@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @England_Weber.