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State-named interstate shields

Started by Mergingtraffic, May 06, 2014, 09:02:15 PM

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Mergingtraffic

What states are the best or worst for finding old state-named interstate shields still in the wild?   Go...
I only take pics of good looking signs. Long live non-reflective button copy!
MergingTraffic https://www.flickr.com/photos/98731835@N05/


getemngo

#1
It might be helpful first to list all the states that still post new state name shields, so we don't have to think about them.

Exceedingly rare in Michigan. I don't think I've seen any outside of Detroit (a treasure trove of old signs), except for backroads in the Upper Peninsula, in over 10 years. Definitely none in Grand Rapids or Lansing. Maybe there's old I-94, I-69, or even I-196 shields I don't know about somewhere...

EDIT: This topic may be useful in figuring it out.
~ Sam from Michigan

bassoon1986

Louisiana has recently added state names back to some interstate shields, at least in central LA for some I-49 interchanges. As far as old ones? Good luck. New Orleans may have the last of those.

myosh_tino

#3
Quote from: doofy103 on May 06, 2014, 09:02:15 PM
What states are the best or worst for finding old state-named interstate shields still in the wild?   Go...

State-named Interstate shields are quite common in California due to the fact that we're still using the 1957-spec shields.  There are a few neutered shields here and there but the vast majority are state-named.  IIRC, we're one of the few states that does not use the current Interstate shield spec in the SHSM (I believe Iowa is another state using the older spec).



Note: California also uses an oddly shaped "angular" Interstate shield.  They're limited to 1-2 digit routes and they primarily appear as reassurance markers.  Freeway Entrance assemblies still use the proper shield.
Quote from: golden eagle
If I owned a dam and decided to donate it to charity, would I be giving a dam? I'm sure that might be a first because no one really gives a dam.

Scott5114

Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri still post state name shields, although neutered shields are also found in all three states.

Until very recently, Arkansas was still using the 1957 spec with state name. As of the I-540 to I-49 redesignation, they are using 1970-spec neutered shields with oversized numbers.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

Alex

States that use the state name:

Alabama
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Georgia (though neutered shields are used quite often too on the mainlines)
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky (newer installs have appeared in the eastern half of the state)
Louisiana (thanks to Jeff)
Maine
Mississippi
Missouri
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Texas (thanks to Jeff)
Utah (recently started using them again)
West Virginia
Wyoming

States that do not use the state name:

Arkansas (as of very recently)
D.C.
Delaware
Florida
Hawaii (a few state name installs exist in urban Honolulu)
Idaho
Indiana
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Vermont (old state named shields remain in towns)
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin

The worst for finding state named shields in the wild are Oregon (just the one or two Jake has cited), Tennessee (none are known to exist, unless you count the recent STATE find of formulanone's), Massachusetts (maybe 3 or 4 left?), New Hampshire (save for the one assembly in Concord and city installs in Manchester), and Ohio (just a handful remain statewide, one in Columbus a few in Lockland). Trailing those are New York (fairly rare), Maryland (Baltimore mostly), Delaware (four left in Wilmington), Indiana (sparingly), Wisconsin (scattered statewide), Idaho (a couple of local installs in Boise), Florida (only newer contractor based installs can be found).

Vermont's towns used to be a treasure trove of old signs. I have not been back there in far too long, so others can attest to what is remaining. The Interstate mainlines used to have 1957 spec based shields, but resigning to Clearview included the replacement of all those. Baltimore used to have several, but those numbers have dwindled over the years.

Indianapolis still has a good number of state-named shields, including a replacement of this one to the exact same specs.

Detroit has a lot of city-installed signs with state-named shields. Livonia too, though the rebuilding of I-96 through there may kill those. There are two others outside of Detroit, one for I-275 and another for I-496 in Lansing.

Chicago has a few original state-named shields in use, and a few newer state named installs on the Illinois Tollway system. Outside of Chicago or the toll roads, forget about it.

Urban areas in Seattle still retain signs for I-5 and I-90 with WASHINGTON in them, but generally the rest of the state is neutered.

In 2005, there were only a few signs for I-80 with Nebraska in them observed across the state. I-129, I-480 and I-680 were all neutered.

South Dakota was all neutered as well from what I saw along I-29, and in Sioux Falls, with the exception of one interchange for I-229.

North Carolina, one was still posted for I-95 southbound, and maybe one or two for I-40 along the mainline. Everything else is neutered across the state.

Pennsylvania, still a few here and there across the state, mostly the 1970 spec based shields.

SD Mapman

Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
South Dakota was all neutered as well from what I saw along I-29, and in Sioux Falls, with the exception of one interchange for I-229.
There's still a lot of state-name shields West River. I'm not entirely sure if SDDOT has a policy for this (I suspect they don't really care), though.
The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see. - G.K. Chesterton

hbelkins

Only Kentucky interstate for which I have not seen a state-named shield is I-24.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

getemngo

Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
Detroit has a lot of city-installed signs with state-named shields. Livonia too, though the rebuilding of I-96 through there may kill those. There are two others outside of Detroit, one for I-275 and another for I-496 in Lansing.

Whoops, and I said there's none in Lansing. :banghead: We visited that one at the Lansing 2008 meet!

There's more than 2 outside of Detroit. There's a ton of state-name I-75 shields in Sault Ste. Marie if you know where to look (mostly directing traffic leaving the casino), as well as 3-4 on Mackinac Trail (old US 2). Here's one of them, along with a cutout M!

~ Sam from Michigan

DandyDan

Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
In 2005, there were only a few signs for I-80 with Nebraska in them observed across the state. I-129, I-480 and I-680 were all neutered.

On the interstates themselves, there are none, but I have seen one I-80 Nebraska shield on 26th St. in Omaha, of all places.  This is the street immediately west of the Kennedy Freeway (US 75).  There are also 2 I-480 Nebraska shields, one eastbound on Leavenworth and one westbound on St. Marys.  I've also seen Nebraska I-80 shields between Grand Island and Kearney.  Don't know about west of Kearney.  I suspect roads which lead to I-80 west of Lincoln may have some Nebraska I-80 shields, but OTOH, those are NDOR link roads, so maybe they put up a new shield at some point.
MORE FUN THAN HUMANLY THOUGHT POSSIBLE

corco

#10
he rogue state named shields in Eagle, ID are gone as of December 2012- I'm nearly certain there are no state named shields left in Idaho.

If somebody knows of others in the Boise area beyond the ones on Eagle Rd and Overland Rd, which are gone now, I'll be down there this weekend and happy to check.

rickmastfan67

#11
Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
Pennsylvania, still a few here and there across the state, mostly the 1970 spec based shields.

I-579 use to be the last remaining Interstate in PA that had it's entire route posted with State Named shields.  However, with all the new BGS's installed, every last mainline state named shield bit the dust.  Only good thing that came out of that was that we now have a Southern 'END' shield that we didn't have before.  We once had a Northern 'END' shield, but it disappeared ages ago, and has never been replaced, even though the 'END' banner still remains.  Only one state named I-579 remains, and it's the one shown in the Shield Gallery, unless there's one hidden somewhere else that I don't know about.

I-279 state named shields are easier to find if you know where to look, but, none are posted along the mainline itself, but there are less of them because of I-376 taking over part of it's route a few years ago.

As for I-79, only one state named shield on the mainline comes to mind at this time, and it's on the Neville Island Bridge.  In fact, I think the 'SOUTH' banner that it has is original to when the bridge opened.  Too bad the shield isn't, but still, a state named on the mainline in PA is a rare sight nowadays. http://goo.gl/maps/Oqcc7

DevalDragon

When did LA go back to using state shields? I drove the entire length of I-10, I-20 and I-55 in Louisiana in January of 2013 and did not see a single one.

Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
States that use the state name:

Louisiana (thanks to Jeff)


formulanone

I only saw one in Louisiana for I-10, and it wasn't on the mainline.

I have seen a lot more popping up in Florida recently.

mcdonaat

Quote from: DevalDragon on May 10, 2014, 02:01:48 PM
When did LA go back to using state shields? I drove the entire length of I-10, I-20 and I-55 in Louisiana in January of 2013 and did not see a single one.

Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
States that use the state name:

Louisiana (thanks to Jeff)

I-49 in central LA uses the state named shields. We also use green and white 1958-spec state shields, just because they've held up so well.

We also apparently sign every frontage road along I-49 in Natchitoches Parish as a parish highway, with shields and all.

Nexus 7


Bobby5280

I simply can't stand neutered Interstate shields. I understand why various states are making Interstate shields like this: making the numerals bigger and hopefully easier to read.

Unfortunately the folks pushing for neutered Interstate shields haven't thought through the process well enough. There is more to legibility than simply making a character larger. Legibility isn't necessarily improved if letters are being enlarged on the same size sign panel. Enlarged characters need more white space around them and between them to make any actual improvement in legibility. If the characters are cramped within the sign panel and cramped in terms of spacing then actual legibility may actually be decreased.

Let's also not leave out the very obvious fact enlarged numerals on neutered shields don't line up worth a damn on the panel. When set in Series Gothic D and set at the usual, too damned big, neutered shield numeral size it's very difficult or just plain impossible to make certain numeral combinations appear centered on the panel. If having a taller numeral is so freaking important to these guys they might as well set the two digit numerals in Series C Gothic instead.
:rolleyes:

While the original 1957 spec of Interstate highway shields seem a whole lot more balanced, the numerals are pretty small. Neutered shields with overly large numerals are going to the other extreme, a very ugly, unprofessional looking extreme. I don't know how many people work in the FHWA, but it would seem like at least one or two people there knew how to arrive at an attractive, happy medium with these signs.

Anyway, I got on this rant because I've seen some neutered I-44 signs popping up in my area of Oklahoma. Normally ODOT is pretty good about putting up state named shields. But lately new, neutered I-44 markers have been getting installed and they don't look so good.

countysigns

#16
Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
The worst for finding state named shields in the wild...Ohio (just a handful remain statewide, one in Columbus a few in Lockland). <snip>

This is probably the only one around the Toledo area, as far as I know.  Trying to remember if it survived the new signage being put up in the area.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.669199,-83.567378,3a,20.4y,219.8h,106.18t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sXbkNHVgYalUyOPYNeqBLNA!2e0

EDIT: It is gone, falling victim to the new signage that was recently added to the area.  Long live the state named shield that was.

DevalDragon

#17
Quote from: countysigns on May 16, 2014, 06:37:29 PM
Quote from: Alex on May 07, 2014, 07:11:18 AM
The worst for finding state named shields in the wild...Ohio (just a handful remain statewide, one in Columbus a few in Lockland). <snip>

This is probably the only one around the Toledo area, as far as I know.  Trying to remember if it survived the new signage being put up in the area.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.669199,-83.567378,3a,20.4y,219.8h,106.18t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sXbkNHVgYalUyOPYNeqBLNA!2e0

Damn that's a neat old sign. If it's still there I need to go see it!

Fixed quote. - rmf67

Beeper1

Rhode Island, whose signing standards in general are terrible, is a mixed bag of state-named and neutered shields.  Most new installs are neutered but occasionally a new state-name will show up, usually for I-295 shields. Only 2 or 3 original state-name I-95 ones exist, in the urban areas of Providence/Pawtucket, and I don't know of any remaining state named I-195 shields.

JoePCool14

Alaska was missing on that list (Are there any Interstates in Alaska)?

:) Needs more... :sombrero: Not quite... :bigass: Perfect.
JDOT: We make the world a better place to drive.
Travel Mapping | 60+ Clinches | 260+ Traveled | 8000+ Miles Logged

PHLBOS

Quote from: countysigns on May 16, 2014, 06:37:29 PMThis is probably the only one around the Toledo area, as far as I know.  Trying to remember if it survived the new signage being put up in the area.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.669199,-83.567378,3a,20.4y,219.8h,106.18t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sXbkNHVgYalUyOPYNeqBLNA!2e0
What's even more interesting about that particular BGS is that it sports both state-named and neutered I-75 shields that appear to be of the same vintage (based on the level of fade).
GPS does NOT equal GOD

DevalDragon

Nope. Interstates are reserved for the lower 49 states.

Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 20, 2014, 05:57:39 PM
Alaska was missing on that list (Are there any Interstates in Alaska)?

rickmastfan67

Quote from: DevalDragon on May 23, 2014, 02:26:25 AM
Nope. Interstates are reserved for the lower 49 states.

Quote from: JoePCool14 on May 20, 2014, 05:57:39 PM
Alaska was missing on that list (Are there any Interstates in Alaska)?

Alaska does have Interstates, but they are just hidden.  Same thing happens in Puerto Rico.

agentsteel53

that Toledo find is awesome!  I had no idea that was around.

as for which states are hardest to find 57/61 spec?  apart from what Alex mentioned:

Arizona: two in Yuma, recent installs made to California spec.

Colorado: none that I know of; an I-25 pair in Trinidad is recently gone.  Colo stopped '57 spec in 1971 so ...

Florida has two: a 95 in Miami, and a 275 in Tampa.  a 4 is recently gone.

Georgia: as far as I know, only two or three business loop shields.

Idaho: hasn't used '57 spec since ~1963.  I've never seen one.

Kentucky: one left in Covington.  ask Tim where it bips.

Louisiana: there was one left in New Orleans as of 2010 - Katrina got rid of about six or seven.

Maine: two left - one 95 just barely over the NH line on one of the US-1 bannered routes; and one seemingly random brand new 295 that's even 18x18.

Minnesota: one 35 left in Geneva.  the mainline one in Duluth is gone.

Missouri: the 229s in St. Joseph are long gone; those are the only ones I knew of that survived past the early 2000s.  there is one triple shield (44/55/70) in St. Louis that's on a 57 spec template, but has no state name.

Nebraska: one 80 left.  a 480 is recently gone.

Nevada: about 3 or 4 float around Sparks.

North Carolina: went with larger numbers in the mid-60s and thus I don't know of any.

North Dakota: one in Beach was not quite '57 spec ('70 spec thin white margins) and that's the closest I've ever seen.

Pennsylvania: they invented '70 spec in 1965, and therefore there's only three that I know of.  a 76-276 pair in King of Prussia, and an 83 on an abandoned bridge in Harrisburg.

Rhode Island: I don't know of any offhand.

South Dakota: I believe there is only a business loop shield left in Spearfish.

Texas: two 610s in Houston and a 45 near the airport that's airport-made.

Utah: the 70 at Fish Lake is gone.  all new installs are newer spec.

Wisconsin: one 90 left on 53 southbound.



live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

agentsteel53

Quote from: Bobby5280 on May 16, 2014, 04:34:36 PM
While the original 1957 spec of Interstate highway shields seem a whole lot more balanced, the numerals are pretty small. Neutered shields with overly large numerals are going to the other extreme, a very ugly, unprofessional looking extreme. I don't know how many people work in the FHWA, but it would seem like at least one or two people there knew how to arrive at an attractive, happy medium with these signs.

I actually do like the '61 spec neutered.  it's the 70 spec that's garish.

wide margin, balanced number.

live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com



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