The Best of Road Signs

[1995hoo]

Passed this yesterday on I-95 (we were in the express lanes, but they weren't moving much better than the regular lanes were) and I liked the "Halloween" feel of the way the characters were deteriorating.

Based on the most recent re-signing project along I-95 in Miami-Dade, that sign can't be more than 2-3 years old.

Not saying that disqualifies it from the thread, but even for Florida, that's some serious deterioration or a manufacturing flaw.

That sign would have looked a lot different if the photo had been taken from behind a clean windshield. 

We were riding with my brother-in-law. Not much I could do about it!

[formulanone]

Found this today at a Cracker Barrel near Winston-Salem, NC:

[steviep24]

Crosspost from the "CT's Defunct I-86" thread.

[freebrickproductions]

Found this old (1950s?) US 31 shield on CR 59 in Verbena, AL recently:
Old US 31 Shield by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
Old US 31 Shield by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
Old US 31 Shield by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
Old US 31 Shield by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

[formulanone]

Found this old (1950s?) US 31 shield on CR 59 in Verbena, AL recently:

I've been trying to get back to that one for about a year now! Saw it when driving in the rain with kids in the car...

[countysigns]

The Exit 209 sign looks excellent, but the other two are quickly losing their "best-of" status (if the peeling means anything to anyone else).

Which reminds me: does a damaged or worn sign, with something like button copy or a unique state-named shield, still count as best-of?

I remember seeing (on another thread) some NJ Turnpike signage where the black paint was fading off, and revealing the green below it. I thought it looked like shit but I was berated heavily for claiming as much.

Unfortunately, these button-copy signs are history.  They were replaced a few months ago on a sign rehab job by ODOT.  Not too many button-copy signs left on the freeways in Toledo anymore

[jakeroot]

The Exit 209 sign looks excellent, but the other two are quickly losing their "best-of" status (if the peeling means anything to anyone else).

Which reminds me: does a damaged or worn sign, with something like button copy or a unique state-named shield, still count as best-of?

I remember seeing (on another thread) some NJ Turnpike signage where the black paint was fading off, and revealing the green below it. I thought it looked like shit but I was berated heavily for claiming as much.

Unfortunately, these button-copy signs are history.  They were replaced a few months ago on a sign rehab job by ODOT.  Not too many button-copy signs left on the freeways in Toledo anymore

I know the pain. WSDOT replaced the last overhead button-copy guide sign about a year ago: https://goo.gl/bqb4ih (this is the old sign).

[formulanone]

This old blue US 11 sign is still standing in Mississippi, as of yesterday:

[formulanone]

Nobody found anything interesting in the past 3 months? Too focused on bad signs?

As of last week, Memphis still has two of these ancient relics side-by-side, though they're almost unreadable:

[US71]

Nobody found anything interesting in the past 3 months? Too focused on bad signs?

As of last week, Memphis still has two of these ancient relics side-by-side, though they're almost unreadable:

I saw those when I went to the Birmingham Meet. TNDOT needs to replace them. I'll even help dispose of the faded ones

[freebrickproductions]

I've got a bit of Button-copy from Gadsden that I have yet to post.

[US 89]

This is one of the last button-copy signs in Utah:



It’s on southbound US-89 right before the Beck Street interchange north of Salt Lake City.

[HTM Duke]

The talk about the difference between DEAD END and NO OUTLET signs in another thread made me recall this sign, located on US-220 Business at the Madison, NC / Mayodan, NC line:
https://goo.gl/maps/PXhCJYaZB8t

And a couple more advisory signs to finish things off:
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w312/NGE1113/Sign%201.png
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w312/NGE1113/Sign%202.png
Pardon the paranoia, but VDOT generally replaces signage before it reaches any type of vintage, and I really don't want to give the locations away.

[ThatTenneseeRoadgeek]

This GEM in Fargo at the I-94 I-94 BUS Interchange. https://www.google.com/maps/@46.8774748,-96.9574591,3a,25.7y,84.51h,102.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssViGdWmFHLyqn1G34s_UUQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[Max Rockatansky]

Revisited some CA 136 photos from last year and thought that this one deserved some merit:

IMG_2029 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[Scott5114]

Excellent photography, but the signs are pretty standard for California. The digits on the 395 are compressed a bit, and that End plate is about half as tall as it should be (both qualifying for the Design Errors thread).

[J N Winkler]

Excellent photography, but the signs are pretty standard for California. The digits on the 395 are compressed a bit, and that End plate is about half as tall as it should be (both qualifying for the Design Errors thread).

I have driven a large chunk of the southern part of US 395 in California and I don't think I have seen an independent-mount US 395 shield that didn't have compressed Series D digits.

The End plate actually used is designed for use with (IIRC) recreational/cultural interest signs; I'm not finding it in a casual search of Caltrans' sign specs and suspect it was jettisoned sometime in the mid-noughties when Caltrans purged all sign specs that were considered duplicative of Standard Highway Signs.  The correct tab for this application, G57, is still considered valid, presumably because Caltrans' letter series and size options allow for longer reading distances.  (Caltrans specifies 9 in or 10 in in Series C; federal M4-6 specifies 6 in or 8 in in Series D; assuming nominal unit legibilities of 50 ft/in for Series D and 42 ft/in for Series C, this gives reading distances of 378 ft and 420 ft for the Caltrans options and 300 ft and 400 ft for the federal options.)

[Max Rockatansky]

Excellent photography, but the signs are pretty standard for California. The digits on the 395 are compressed a bit, and that End plate is about half as tall as it should be (both qualifying for the Design Errors thread).

I have driven a large chunk of the southern part of US 395 in California and I don't think I have seen an independent-mount US 395 shield that didn't have compressed Series D digits.

The End plate actually used is designed for use with (IIRC) recreational/cultural interest signs; I'm not finding it in a casual search of Caltrans' sign specs and suspect it was jettisoned sometime in the mid-noughties when Caltrans purged all sign specs that were considered duplicative of Standard Highway Signs.  The correct tab for this application, G57, is still considered valid, presumably because Caltrans' letter series and size options allow for longer reading distances.  (Caltrans specifies 9 in or 10 in in Series C; federal M4-6 specifies 6 in or 8 in in Series D; assuming nominal unit legibilities of 50 ft/in for Series D and 42 ft/in for Series C, this gives reading distances of 378 ft and 420 ft for the Caltrans options and 300 ft and 400 ft for the federal options.)

Pretty much all the cut-out US Route shields in California have that compressed numeral look.  The 395 I have in my stash in the garage essentially is exactly the same:

395USd by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

As far as End placards go you're guess is probably way more accurate than mine.  The standards for End placards varies wildly through the state and depending on the Caltrans district they might not even be present at all.

[roadfro]

NDOT has also used the "half-height" END (and BEGIN) placards frequently in the past–especially in district 2/northwest Nevada (there's quite a few around Fallon). They also tend to be mounted below the shield instead of the typical spot above.

However I have not seen these on any new installations within the last decade or so.

[kkt]

That looks like a very typical 3dus Caltrans sign, and I give them five stars.  The US highway signs painted on a rectangular panel in other states just make me sad.

[jakeroot]

I don't know when it was installed, but WSDOT has also used that half-height end/begin tab (note that in the example below, the WA-525 shield fell off the sign)...

[formulanone]

Still standing in Chicago, as of last week:

[Eth]

A couple interesting things there: the "65" clearly looks like a patch, though I'm not sure what number that could be covering (especially since it has the INDIANA state name, so presumably it's not, say, 57). Some of the shields also appear to have been moved at some point, as you can see outlines of previous locations behind both the 80 and the 90.

[formulanone]

I tried to get a close-up of the patch, but it was blurry; this one sort of shows it in better detail. I couldn't tell by looking at it in person. I'm convinced the I-65 shield was a complete afterthought.

[Mergingtraffic]

This is, to my knowledge, the last button-copy sign in Utah:



It's on southbound US-89 right before the Beck Street interchange north of Salt Lake City.

Wasn't there a button copy sign still hanging on near the I-80?
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7143002,-111.785947,3a,75y,230.65h,106.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFFxQxssOpXg0-PkYCDZpCQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656