Sign Lighting

[Alex]

Any other states besides Florida and Maryland actively still installing and maintaining overhead sign lighting?

North Carolina and Virginia used to be good about it, but more recent sign replacements in both states include the removal of lighting fixtures.

Georgia wholesale did away with their signing lighting on their Interstates when they renumbered the exits system wide in 1999.

Delaware dropped sign lighting around 2000.

Alabama generally stopped lighting signs sometime in the 1990s, though some signs in the Birmingham area remain with lights.

I know of a number of other states that dropped sign lighting a long time ago or never really used it. Any light fixtures remaining in Louisiana date back to the early Interstate years and the only lit signs I ever saw in Mississippi were on I-110 in Biloxi.

[Roadrunner75]

New Jersey still has lights on some of its overhead BGSs, although I'm not sure if they are actually still maintained and working (have to look next time). 
Examples:
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=39.775817,-75.34173&spn=0.000004,0.00327&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.775737,-75.342349&panoid=2DPOaHyMNOfycE8spgfl4A&cbp=12,50.74,,0,-0.11
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=40.1679,-74.105192&spn=0.000004,0.00327&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.167836,-74.105156&panoid=iuMmpDOTWTR4ioPo5tYRQw&cbp=12,340.56,,0,-6.05

I always liked the lighting over the LGSs at some of the circles on NJ 70 - for example:
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=39.886953,-74.739832&spn=0.000004,0.00327&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.88682,-74.740363&panoid=N0x7rI87by-7mWI-mfrhJQ&cbp=12,41.23,,0,8.16

[route17fan]

I absolutely love overhead sign lighting! However, they - like button copy - seem to be going the way of the dinosaur. Ohio is eliminating overhead lighting - as is New York City. Especially eliminating non-reflective button copy, to me anyway, seems to make the sign stand out at night.

Granted, in times of snow maybe not so much, but for all other times and again just one man's opinion, it looks great! 

[hbelkins]

West Virginia still uses it.

Kentucky has abandoned it, but there are some vestiges of lighting remaining in some spots, most notably on I-64 in Louisville.

[Jim920]

Signs are still lit in Milwaukee; it's also the only place in Wisconsin that has lighted signs (that I can recall.) I do wish more signs were lit, in certain weather conditions the reflective signs don't work well.

[DaBigE]

Signs are still lit in Milwaukee; it's also the only place in Wisconsin that has lighted signs (that I can recall.) I do wish more signs were lit, in certain weather conditions the reflective signs don't work well.

IIRC, the Marquette Interchange was the last project to actually install new lighted guide signs in Wisconsin.

[SSOWorld]

Iowa and Illinois use them.  For IL some districts actually use the sulfur lighting for them, which is fugly.

Arizona also installs them - and points them downward from above.

California has not gotten rid of any - and they seem to be poorly maintained along with the signs.

[jakeroot]

I-705 near Tacoma has a couple of BGSs that have under-mount lighting. Until recently, the left of the two lights was burnt out. They replaced both signs recently (with the new reflective style of course), but kept the lighting and replaced the burnt out light. I would have just removed both the lights to save money, given that new signs don't need lighting.

[SignGeek101]

There are a few signs here in Winnipeg that have lighting, but most do not.

Here's a couple

http://goo.gl/maps/qH8em

http://goo.gl/maps/UNo1T

[roadfro]

Nevada is still maintaining overhead sign lighting.

District 1 (Southern Nevada) has continued to install overhead sign lighting on recent projects in the Las Vegas area.

District 2 (Northwest Nevada) did some removals of overhead sign lighting in select Reno locations, in conjunction with sign replacements in what appeared to be a test of new reflective sheeting. Then, all new signs on the I-80 rebuild through Reno-Sparks left off lighting, except for a few signs on curves and the massive APL signs near US 395 which use LED lighting from above (basically at any location where vehicle lights won't adequately illuminate the whole sign). However, other projects like I-580 installed NDOT standard overhead lighting with signs.

[Mr_Northside]

PennDOT does, though not all the time.  (And the percentage of use might vary from district to district.)
Sometimes it even varies within the project.  Most of the new overheads for the PA-28 project DO have lighting, but there's at least one sign for the 31st St. Bridge exit + arrow sign that doesn't.

The PTC on the other hand pretty much doesn't.  Right now the only ones I can think of they inherited on the PennDOT built section of TPK-43 south of I-70 to California.

[Alex]

Iowa and Illinois use them.  For IL some districts actually use the sulfur lighting for them, which is fugly.

Arizona also installs them - and points them downward from above.

California has not gotten rid of any - and they seem to be poorly maintained along with the signs.

From what I have seen, new sign installations in Illinois tend to not include highway lighting, or if replacement signs are adding to older sign bridges, light fixtures are often times removed.

I have noted those orange lights in Illinois. Only other places I saw those in place of the white/blue lights was NC, VA and the DRBA maintained stretch of I-295.

[jakeroot]

Is there a general consensus in regards to whether or not sign lighting is still necessary? I would think with the new reflection guidelines, the answer would be "no", but seeing as a couple states still do it, perhaps it's just a monetary restriction?

[Pete from Boston]

The older I get, the more I appreciate it, but I think it's steadily disappearing.

[mtantillo]

Is there a general consensus in regards to whether or not sign lighting is still necessary? I would think with the new reflection guidelines, the answer would be "no", but seeing as a couple states still do it, perhaps it's just a monetary restriction?

It is one of those "nice to have" things that costs a lot of money. So most states don't really feel the need, now that signs are much more reflective than they used to be, and can be illuminated adequately by vehicle headlights.

[roadman65]

What is up with FDOT having lighting on top and bottom simultaneously on the newly widened I-4 through Tampa? 

Also the Florida Turnpike Enterprise with its latest overheads having lights on top and bottom?

For decades it was one or the other.  The old tube lighting had them on the top and the later mercury lights were placed on the bottom.  I think this is overkill a bit https://flic.kr/p/pMU19u on I-4 Eastbound near Exit 2.

[roadman]

Massachusetts mostly did away with sign lighting by the early 1980s, although the overhead warning signs on Route 2 for the Hairpin Turn remained illuminated until the early 2000s, when the signs and structures were replaced (minus the lighting).  The two exceptions are signing approaching and within the Big Dig tunnels, and overhead exit signing on the Mass. Pike.  Lighting on the Pike signing will disappear once the signs and structures are replaced beginning late next year, but lighting on the outdoor signing approaching the Big Dig tunnels will likely remain in place for many years to come.

[Pink Jazz]

I have noted those orange lights in Illinois. Only other places I saw those in place of the white/blue lights was NC, VA and the DRBA maintained stretch of I-295.

Are you sure that is sulfur lighting?  According to Wikipedia sulfur lighting is greenish in color.  Orange would either be high-pressure sodium or low-pressure sodium.

[CANALLER]

They aren't overhead signs, but a few exit signs in the gores on the western end of the N.Y.S. Throughway have had them installed in recent weeks.  This comes as a real surprise, as lighting has never been used in Upstate N.Y. in my lifetime, and Diamond-Grade sheeting really does show up well at night without additional illumination.  The only overhead structure in the Rochester area that has them is a private sign for Market Place Mall, and the lights haven't been on once in the 20 years I've been here.

The 4 over head sign structure contracts I've worked on in recent years haven't installed a single light, and in many cases actually removed conduits for lighting that were installed decades ago but never used.  Next year's contract has no lights either.

[jeffandnicole]

New Jersey still has lights on some of its overhead BGSs, although I'm not sure if they are actually still maintained and working (have to look next time). 
Examples:
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=39.775817,-75.34173&spn=0.000004,0.00327&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.775737,-75.342349&panoid=2DPOaHyMNOfycE8spgfl4A&cbp=12,50.74,,0,-0.11
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=40.1679,-74.105192&spn=0.000004,0.00327&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.167836,-74.105156&panoid=iuMmpDOTWTR4ioPo5tYRQw&cbp=12,340.56,,0,-6.05

More or less, if the lighting is there, it's still maintained by NJDOT.  Having said that, they don't rush out to replace the bulbs...many signs, when you look carefully, many have one or more lights not working.  For almost all new overhead signage, there is no lighting.

In one unusual example, lighting was added to a new overhead gantry approaching the 295/42/76 interchange:  http://goo.gl/maps/gwhGW  This was part of the NJ 168 overpass reconstruction, where the signs were removed from the overpass.

[seicer]

West Virginia is replacing all of their older lighting with new LED fixtures. Kentucky long ago abandoned sign lighting, with as HB noted, still exists in some downtrodden fashion in Louisville. I can't think of any place that still has the gantries with the fixtures intact. Ohio is removing the fixtures on sign replacements.

[Alex]

Is there a general consensus in regards to whether or not sign lighting is still necessary? I would think with the new reflection guidelines, the answer would be "no", but seeing as a couple states still do it, perhaps it's just a monetary restriction?

Is the cost savings apparent when so many DOT's replace signs seemingly every 5-10 years (less in some cases, I am looking at you Delaware)? Lit signs should result in a longer service life, given the reflectivity degradation should be offset by the illumination (thinking of lit button copy signs in California).

Yes, the higher reflectivity standards negate the need for lighting, but in instances of fog or where the temp and dewpoint are close that it results in condensation on the sign, I find the lighting to be helpful.

[myosh_tino]

I agree that lighting is still helpful, especially when condensation forms on the sign.  I've run across some situations where unlit reflective signs were rendered unreadable because of condensation on the panel.

Caltrans recently issued a new memo that requires the use of Type IX sheeting on both ground-mounted and overhead signs.  When Type IX sheeting is used, sign lighting may be either turned off or removed.  I suspect this is because of the rampant theft of copper wiring and the associated costs of repairing the lighting systems.

www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/policy/retroreflective-sheeting-for-guide-sign-policy-signed-7-2-2014.pdf

[hbelkins]

West Virginia is replacing all of their older lighting with new LED fixtures. Kentucky long ago abandoned sign lighting, with as HB noted, still exists in some downtrodden fashion in Louisville. I can't think of any place that still has the gantries with the fixtures intact. Ohio is removing the fixtures on sign replacements.

Been awhile since I have been on the Cumberland Parkway's western terminus at I-65, but I believe it had lighting fixtures last time I photographed it.

What about I-71 northbound at I-75? Seems like I remember some there too.

I agree that lighting is still helpful, especially when condensation forms on the sign.  I've run across some situations where unlit reflective signs were rendered unreadable because of condensation on the panel.

Frost can cause problems, too. Several years ago I drove from Texarkana to Dallas, leaving out before dawn. Some of the signs along I-30 were very hard to read because of a heavy frost.

[route17fan]

What about I-71 northbound at I-75? Seems like I remember some there too.

As of nine days ago, the illuminated signs at 75 are still there.

The button copy at exit 2 and north to about US 22-OH 3 is still there too. Exit 19 (Mason-Montgomery Rd/Fields Ertel Rd) was button copy southbound and clearview northbound and you can tell that Exit 24 for Western Row Rd/Kings Island was next to go (clearview most likely)/.