Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/MrWcoaRnbxwujyD39
The black on white arrow cover up looks real bad. 

[wanderer2575]

Golf Cart crossing on Salisbury Road at the Brandywine Country Club in Maumee, Ohio:

[Declan127]

Also of note is the "BEAR MOUNTAIN BRIDGE" inside the NY state route shield silhouette.

That's just the Bear Mountain Bridge shield. The SR shield is actually common for the Hudson River bridges.

I know, I'm just saying that it's not usually a black-and-white, plain text design. Most of them look something like this or this instead.

Sorry for the late reply, but you are comparing an older BGS shield to newer trailblazers. I might be wrong, but I do believe that black-on-white was the old BGS standard, although really I don't know if there is a new standard, because I can't find any other BGSs with bridge shields, which may be related to the fact that there are no BGS shields for Parkways up that way (granted the BMB sign could be newer than the removal of Parkway shields, but who knows?)

[TBKS1]

Welcome to our 51st state -- the Commonwealth of Turnpike.

2018 Ohio River bridges-US 522 trip Day 2 - 098 by H.B. Elkins, on Flickr

Just want to ask but what is the brown detour?

[interstatefan990]

Also of note is the "BEAR MOUNTAIN BRIDGE" inside the NY state route shield silhouette.

That's just the Bear Mountain Bridge shield. The SR shield is actually common for the Hudson River bridges.

I know, I'm just saying that it's not usually a black-and-white, plain text design. Most of them look something like this or this instead.

Sorry for the late reply, but you are comparing an older BGS shield to newer trailblazers. I might be wrong, but I do believe that black-on-white was the old BGS standard, although really I don't know if there is a new standard, because I can't find any other BGSs with bridge shields, which may be related to the fact that there are no BGS shields for Parkways up that way (granted the BMB sign could be newer than the removal of Parkway shields, but who knows?)

For parkways on BGS who have shields in the same shape as the state route marker, it's usually just spelled out like any other word on the sign. This is a pretty good 4-in-1 example. You'd mostly only really see those parkway's shields on surface roads that lead to them or are near the entrance to/intersection with them, and on a signpost. As for bridges, yes that's why I found it interesting: I can't recall any other examples where there was a black-and-white bridge shield on a BGS, or even a bridge shield on one at all.

there are no BGS shields for Parkways up that way

I'm not sure if you were only referring to state-route-marker-shaped parkway shields, but don't forget there are other parkways in NY with BGS shields.

[J N Winkler]

Just want to ask but what is the brown detour?

Pennsylvania has a system of color-coded detours for freeway closures (explainer, plus a mention in the Wikipedia article dealing with permanent detour signing).  The colors are coordinated as to direction.

[Declan127]

Also of note is the "BEAR MOUNTAIN BRIDGE" inside the NY state route shield silhouette.

That's just the Bear Mountain Bridge shield. The SR shield is actually common for the Hudson River bridges.

I know, I'm just saying that it's not usually a black-and-white, plain text design. Most of them look something like this or this instead.

Sorry for the late reply, but you are comparing an older BGS shield to newer trailblazers. I might be wrong, but I do believe that black-on-white was the old BGS standard, although really I don't know if there is a new standard, because I can't find any other BGSs with bridge shields, which may be related to the fact that there are no BGS shields for Parkways up that way (granted the BMB sign could be newer than the removal of Parkway shields, but who knows?)

For parkways on BGS who have shields in the same shape as the state route marker, it's usually just spelled out like any other word on the sign. This is a pretty good 4-in-1 example. You'd mostly only really see those parkway's shields on surface roads that lead to them or are near the entrance to/intersection with them, and on a signpost. As for bridges, yes that's why I found it interesting: I can't recall any other examples where there was a black-and-white bridge shield on a BGS, or even a bridge shield on one at all.

there are no BGS shields for Parkways up that way

I'm not sure if you were only referring to state-route-marker-shaped parkway shields, but don't forget there are other parkways in NY with BGS shields.

Yeah I was only referring to the SR-shaped Parkways. As for the bridge shield thing, I'd say it could be unique either to the time period the signs went up (I know the BGSs by the mid-hudson are/were all-text, but they're also all-caps so probably older than the ones by Bear Mtn) or to the circle itself (there are no shields at Rt. 9, let alone a mention of the bridge).

[J N Winkler]

I think we need to have a meeting.

[ErmineNotyours]

I saw this one last week.  A red, white and blue business loop shield.

Moses Lake, Washington has them too.

[jakeroot]

I saw this one last week.  A red, white and blue business loop shield.

Moses Lake, Washington has them too.

Right around the corner: Speed Limit 20 on an overhead signal mast arm.

(More of a unique placement than sign)

[PurdueBill]

I saw this one last week.  A red, white and blue business loop shield.

Moses Lake, Washington has them too.

Right around the corner: Speed Limit 20 on an overhead signal mast arm.

(More of a unique placement than sign)

The "PhotoSAFE Moses Lake" red light photo camera signs on the masts are special too.  I'm sure it's all about the safety.  Is 20 the speed limit while you go through the red light?   

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/QgBWZBfeczjQbKz46
Unusual text for both an interstate and US Route both to be signed as routes instead of by designation.

[ClassicHasClass]

I saw this one last week.  A red, white and blue business loop shield.

Moses Lake, Washington has them too.

Right around the corner: Speed Limit 20 on an overhead signal mast arm.

(More of a unique placement than sign)

The "PhotoSAFE Moses Lake" red light photo camera signs on the masts are special too.  I'm sure it's all about the safety.  Is 20 the speed limit while you go through the red light? 

Also not sure what to make of the Inca Mexican restaurant.

[J N Winkler]

Number 7 on Wikipedia's list of longest road tunnels under construction.

[Scott5114]

Doing some bizarre stuff with the English text on that sign. It would seem that the lowercase "m" is specified to be half the height of the number next to it, rather than the intended 3/4, and because the native width of 600 m tall '15227' in E(M) is 2628.5 mm, this officially specifies horizontal compression of the text.

[J N Winkler]

Doing some bizarre stuff with the English text on that sign. It would seem that the lowercase "m" is specified to be half the height of the number next to it, rather than the intended 3/4, and because the native width of 600 m tall '15227' in E(M) is 2628.5 mm, this officially specifies horizontal compression of the text.

Yup.  This is all pretty normal for China.  I don't think I've ever seen a case where the unit matches the size of the integer part of the expression, though sometimes it is capital letter height rather than lowercase loop height that is half integer height.  (Fractional parts of expressions are smaller but on the same baseline:  "1.5 km.")  There is a tendency to coordinate the width of the Pinyin transliteration of a destination name to the width of the Chinese characters in that name, even if this means horizontally compressing the Series E Modified.  When the destination is wide but, for whatever reason, must appear on the sign on just one line, the Chinese characters are sometimes compressed too.

China does use FHWA series other than E Modified on signs, but typically only for legend that does not include lowercase characters, such as designations in route shields, exit numbers, and so on.

I've long been curious as to how the Chinese handle transliterations other than in Latin characters--Arabic is used in Xinjiang, for example--but I have not been able to source construction drawings on a consistent basis from any provinces other than Gansu.  Where there is online availability, typically through a public resource trading platform, there is usually also a requirement to register for access and it is difficult to complete registration without being set up to do business in China.

[machias]

I think we need to have a meeting.

In some regions of NYSDOT, GuidSIGN calls the shots, not the other way around.

[hbelkins]

A few I've seen lately:



This one's been around awhile. It's on KY 89 in Estill County. If you think some of the 9's on interstate signage in Pennsylvania look funky, this one tops them.



Quite a few of these in Natural Bridge State Resort Park.



Not sure what's supposed to be prohibited here, but if you look close enough, you can see enough of a faded up-and-left arrow to ascertain that this is a No Left Turn sign. It's on Business US 68 in Paris, Ky., where a one-way split begins (if you're traveling eastbound, as I was) or ends (if you're traveling westbound toward Lexington).

[interstatefan990]

Incorrect use of a W1-7 Two-Directional Road sign to indicate the end of a road.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/bFySqhgioHDYHg4L8
If this were Virginia I would say it's not so unusual, but for New Jersey getting even two shields together is uncommon as the Garden State even fails to keep up reassurance shields.

This is got to be rare in NJ to post this many shields in one place.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/wRTzPN9wANYRo9m57
Interesting I-69 EAST detour signs along an I-37 frontage road near Corpus Christi, TX.  Considering I-69 is no where near here and in Texas I-69 is N-S anyway.

[LilianaUwU]

https://goo.gl/maps/wRTzPN9wANYRo9m57
Interesting I-69 EAST detour signs along an I-37 frontage road near Corpus Christi, TX.  Considering I-69 is no where near here and in Texas I-69 is N-S anyway.

Maybe the contractor is from Michigan.

[amroad17]

https://goo.gl/maps/wRTzPN9wANYRo9m57
Interesting I-69 EAST detour signs along an I-37 frontage road near Corpus Christi, TX.  Considering I-69 is no where near here and in Texas I-69 is N-S anyway.

It looks like a case of an error between I-69E (the intended sign) and I-69 EAST.  And yes, I-69E branches off I-37 there in Calallen.

[TBKS1]

Thought it would be interesting to post this, a blue diamond sign. I've personally seen signs similar to this in a yellow color elsewhere. This was on TX 11 west of Pittsburg.

[Amaury]

Mildly interesting, but it looks like the signs for entering Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, and Snohomish County were intentionally removed in 2021 on Interstate 5 northbound when whatever construction project started. Not exactly sure what they're doing:

Pre-2021:

Shoreline, with sign: https://goo.gl/maps/YiXpPxNnL5E4zq3r5
Mountlake Terrace and Snohomish County, with signs: https://goo.gl/maps/m4qhSF9xkDZGnUAM6

Currently:

Shoreline, with no sign: https://goo.gl/maps/t9qMjRBW35GvXpt1A
Mountlake Terrace and Snohomish County, with no signs: https://goo.gl/maps/DDjbptAJGN5VUwwu7

Interesting that in the second one, they kept the SR 104 exit sign.