Not sure why, but one evening when I was walking along the river in Kiel, WI I just reached out and touched this WI-57 shield: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.9123464,-88.0304684,3a,49.5y,103.13h,81.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYhPMmA3SqWTFPO0FMqwXfw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
It was interesting because I've always thought of road signs as things that are not actually real, almost projected. But if you get close enough you can touch them.
A shield in your backyard collection doesn't count; it has to be in use, or was in use at the time.
I've touched a US 22/OH 3 shield when taking a walk just outside of my neighborhood once.
I don't know why but I've slapped the US 1 Mile Marker 0 shield several times.
Have you ever picked up a route shield? They're aluminum and surprisingly heavy. I just mounted three of them on my garage wall this week! I work with the sign crew director at my job and that leads me to look at the stock in the sign shop occasionally. 36x36 signs are a doozy to lift and carry around.
I have a couple hundred highway shields mounted between my garage and back yard. The aluminum stuff never struck me as heavy but some of the older steel stuff can be. I want to say my steel US 202 Maine shield weights over ten pounds.
I've touched a few, now they're hanging on my wall... wonder how that happened!l :-D
Taking a walk through Windsor, CO, I don't know why but I touched the CO-257 and CO-392 shields. As states go, I have touched the Welcome to Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming signs.
If we're limiting it to active shields, then no, I can't say that I have. But I can vouch for being surprised the first time I actually got one in the mail, which was my Cook County pentagon. That was quite a shocker about the size and weight. Now, they don't seem that bad. Someday I'll pick up a 36" shield and I'll probably be shocked all over again.
I have one shield -- a promotional shield used for I-86 in NY. Made to spec, but then stamped with the "Flying T" of NYSDOT to show that it was not to be installed in the field. Brought it to a meet some years back.
A few, to get detail shots like this:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/4594/38293288885_d5a105de1f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/21kR7EH)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50561593216_d1a73543ea_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2k2Xo8b)
I don't own any route shields. Found a mile marker knocked over and off the mounting along the side of the road last week but left it alone.
Not a shield, but... when they replaced this assembly, they included a left arrow even though (a) GA 92 is straight ahead and (b) there's no road at all to the left. So I stood on tippytoes and turned the offending arrow so it points up. It looks stupid, but not as stupid as directing drivers into an embankment.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6FrHW3pW6MA9gccAA
The assembly was only like this for a few days between its raggedy previous condition (https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6qsvhW7cuxefGw37) and my intervention, so the Streetview car really hit it right.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on September 24, 2021, 10:43:34 PMI don't know why but I've slapped the US 1 Mile Marker 0 shield several times.
That shield is legendary and thus very slap-worthy.
Not shields, but I've moved some signs into view for repairs, as well as straightened up some signs.
Straightening examples include:
This trucks sign on the right before milepost 112 on I-90 eastbound near Ellensburg, Washington, which can be seen as out of alignment in this capture: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6wvxeS4jFrVgoXT26
This milepost 128 on I-90 westbound, climbing Ryegrass, which was leaning, as seen in this capture: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4wAY7Wj4cwNZR8tP7
Quote from: Tom958 on April 23, 2024, 05:15:37 AMNot a shield, but... when they replaced this assembly, they included a left arrow even though (a) GA 92 is straight ahead and (b) there's no road at all to the left. So I stood on tippytoes and turned the offending arrow so it points up. It looks stupid, but not as stupid as directing drivers into an embankment.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6FrHW3pW6MA9gccAA
The assembly was only like this for a few days between its raggedy previous condition (https://maps.app.goo.gl/t6qsvhW7cuxefGw37) and my intervention, so the Streetview car really hit it right.
Incredibly cheap of them to mount the arrow with ONE bolt, so that rotating it is possible to do with no tools...
I once got to touch an I-105 shield when that freeway was completed 30 years ago.
Not a shield, but I've touched this set of milepost 1's (https://maps.app.goo.gl/fdRF9M37Zw1PvkPR6) in the median of the I-580/US 395/US 50 freeway in Carson City, NV, which includes an NDOT standard county milepost and a FHWA enhanced reference panel. This wasn't a daredevil feat of roadgeekery...I did it during the community fun run/walk event held days before the freeway opened to traffic. (So I guess I didn't technically touch an "active" sign, but got to them before they were active.)
I've probably touched a couple US 50 shields in the Ocean City, MD area, plus maybe a couple for DE-1 and DE-54 in Fenwick Island.