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

[D-Dey65]

^I do not remember seeing this sign when I was in the area back in March, but the exhibit itself just popped up so I was not looking for a sign at that point.

They've had these signs there for years. I also have one from 2011, but I'll have to show it off later, because I have a different pic from there on my cursor.


UPDATE: Here it is.

[wanderer2575]

"Get Into Correct Lane" approaching a multi-lane roundabout in Sterling Heights, MI:

[jakeroot]

Ahh yes, the infamous 18 1/2 Mile - Van Dyke Ave - M53 roundabout. First three lane roundabout I ever knew of.

[74/171FAN]

Ahh yes, the infamous 18 1/2 Mile - Van Dyke Ave - M53 roundabout. First three lane roundabout I ever knew of.

This seems to be a sign that I would expect on NC 53.   

[Shedingtonian]

While exploring the area around the latest "Redesign this!" proposal, I bumped into this sign, which very clearly uses SNV Becker (an originally Swiss typeface now used in Belgium and the Balkans).


Google Street View screenshot

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/Dv8JFDxX2H9fuCKT8
The supplemental guide over the ramp is odd as well as the billboard over the through lanes appearing as a guide sign.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/YXvFvpwmKRoorMAs7
A traditional interstate shield for a BL interstate in Victorville, CA.

[74/171FAN]

Hard to see, but US 119 is in text on the right-turn lane assignment signs:  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10217818730940470&set=a.10217819107389881

[ClassicHasClass]

https://goo.gl/maps/YXvFvpwmKRoorMAs7
A traditional interstate shield for a BL interstate in Victorville, CA.

Blame the city of Victorville for that. I don't think that's Caltrans-erected.

[CoreySamson]

This sign that was put up in the last year is an ugly mess. Weird arrows, no shield, and the random incursion of Freeport as a control city that looks awfully misplaced are just some of the highlights. The worst part is that this sign is an "improvement" over the sign that was there before (which had the exact same ugly layout!). There was a recent repaving of SH 288 Business in town, and lots of signs were replaced with subpar variants like this one. I might get more pictures.


S Velasco St SB, Angleton, TX, 6/8/23

Location with the old sign:
https://goo.gl/maps/aCS8zFTFs1b31DYRA

[LilianaUwU]

This sign that was put up in the last year is an ugly mess. Weird arrows, no shield, and the random incursion of Freeport as a control city that looks awfully misplaced are just some of the highlights. The worst part is that this sign is an "improvement" over the sign that was there before (which had the exact same ugly layout!). There was a recent repaving of SH 288 Business in town, and lots of signs were replaced with subpar variants like this one. I might get more pictures.

(sign)

Business BS288B?! How did they mess it up so bad not only once, but twice?!

[Big John]

So 2888 is BS?

[hotdogPi]

Texas marks their business routes with a letter so that they're not identical, e.g. Business US 59H. (I don't know if that's actually one of them.) The B at the end might be indicating that it's the second Business 288 rather than being B for Business.

[CoreySamson]

Texas marks their business routes with a letter so that they're not identical, e.g. Business US 59H. (I don't know if that's actually one of them.) The B at the end might be indicating that it's the second Business 288 rather than being B for Business.

The first part is correct. Texas affixes letters to their US and state business routes for identification purposes. I believe all business routes are in the same pool of letters, so each route gets a random letter. It just so happens that SH 288 Business was assigned the letter "B" as its "suffix", which often leads to clunky signage in my experience. Examples of other routes with suffixes:

SH 35 Business C:
https://goo.gl/maps/CCk2BT5MSwAhrtVr7

US 287 Business V:
https://goo.gl/maps/3WYggo7X9GGRiuzPA

[Amaury]

Interesting "Y" here for Chelan County at the Chelan and Okanogan County borders. It's a bit bigger than the rest of the letters. Either that or the alignment is just off a little bit. This on US 97 heading south.

https://goo.gl/maps/AHgEoBNiExeH9mhv8

[J N Winkler]

Interesting "Y" here for Chelan County at the Chelan and Okanogan County borders. It's a bit bigger than the rest of the letters. Either that or the alignment is just off a little bit. This on US 97 heading south.

https://goo.gl/maps/N6TkudD7Pe2zWYo58

The y here appears to be the correct size, but the sign lacks the space padding for it to be put on the same baseline as the rest of the letters without the descender touching the border.

Texas marks their business routes with a letter so that they're not identical, e.g. Business US 59H. (I don't know if that's actually one of them.) The B at the end might be indicating that it's the second Business 288 rather than being B for Business.

The first part is correct. Texas affixes letters to their US and state business routes for identification purposes. I believe all business routes are in the same pool of letters, so each route gets a random letter. It just so happens that SH 288 Business was assigned the letter "B" as its "suffix", which often leads to clunky signage in my experience. Examples of other routes with suffixes:

SH 35 Business C:
https://goo.gl/maps/CCk2BT5MSwAhrtVr7

US 287 Business V:
https://goo.gl/maps/3WYggo7X9GGRiuzPA

(I'm following up partly on the related discussion of TxDOT's treatment of business routes in the Redesign This thread.)

TxDOT has separate identifiers for business routes for Interstate, US, and state highways.  These are BI, BU, and BS respectively (yes, really, BS).  The suffix letter is also used when the route is referenced on a sign in text.  So where route nomenclature is concerned, the problem with this sign is the missing space between the identifier and the number--it should be "BS 288B" and not "BS288B" if text is used.

Though I suspect it is long gone (I spotted it around 2003), I recall a distance sign way out in west Texas with "BI 20G 2" (I-20 business route G, two miles) as the top line.

Although the suffix letter is omitted on guide-sign shields, Standard Highway Sign Designs for Texas (SHSD) still calls for it to be used on independent-mount shields, even though these now have the word "Business" moved out to a separate tab.  I will believe TxDOT is phasing out the suffixes altogether when SHSD is updated to that effect.

[CoreySamson]

There was a recent repaving of SH 288 Business in town, and lots of signs were replaced with subpar variants like this one. I might get more pictures.

I happened to be in the area again earlier today, so I got some pictures of some of the interesting signage.

First off, I don't think I've ever seen TADD on a warning sign:

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/5QAGcLor8ZuSD47s7

Kinda small "STOP FOR PEDESTRIANS" sign:

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/n2ptG5zQv8QYGx8S8

In the same vein, a kinda small speed limit sign (these are plastered around the area like cancer):

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/ZSazVkLHj9d2MFs86

The arrow on this shield assembly is messed up. It should be a 45 degree upwards arrow, as 288 Business follows the exit ramp, not Dwyer St:

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/qU3qCYtpm82SavDZ8

Probably the worst sign of the bunch, a street blade mounted on a shield assembly. The shield in the last photo should be mounted here in its place:

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/tGcHZaUnnhehcjk47

Finally, another squished speed limit sign and a shield assembly (compare with the GSV link):

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/oGh6uDoSVg8tHn1NA

I also wanted to get a picture of an erroneous "Loop 247" street blade, but it was removed in the past 2 days or so.

[Big John]

^^ The small stop for pedestrians sign is supposed be ground mounted in the road.

[D-Dey65]

https://goo.gl/maps/YXvFvpwmKRoorMAs7
A traditional interstate shield for a BL interstate in Victorville, CA.

Now I like the green and white Interstate Business Route shields even more.

[Scott5114]

In the same vein, a kinda small speed limit sign (these are plastered around the area like cancer):

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/ZSazVkLHj9d2MFs86

Series D stretched to E width. Blech!

The arrow on this shield assembly is messed up. It should be a 45 degree upwards arrow, as 288 Business follows the exit ramp, not Dwyer St:

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/qU3qCYtpm82SavDZ8

The shield is messed up too. In order for rounded corners of rectangles nested inside each other to "match", the radius of rounding of the inner rectangle must be that of the outer rectangle minus the distance between the two of them. Of course, if the distance between the two rectangles is greater than the radius of rounding of the outer rectangle, the inner rectangle cannot be rounded at all. This is why the inner white square on a proper Texas shield has sharp corners.

All that to say that this shield sucks.

[PurdueBill]

Interesting "Y" here for Chelan County at the Chelan and Okanogan County borders. It's a bit bigger than the rest of the letters. Either that or the alignment is just off a little bit. This on US 97 heading south.

https://goo.gl/maps/N6TkudD7Pe2zWYo58

This sign in Ohio on US 30 suffers from the same problem--but there seems to have been room for the descender if they wanted to line the letters up correctly.  (The sad part is that the previous button copy sign was laid out perfectly--change the date to 2016 to see it.

[LilianaUwU]

Interesting "Y" here for Chelan County at the Chelan and Okanogan County borders. It's a bit bigger than the rest of the letters. Either that or the alignment is just off a little bit. This on US 97 heading south.

https://goo.gl/maps/N6TkudD7Pe2zWYo58

This sign in Ohio on US 30 suffers from the same problem--but there seems to have been room for the descender if they wanted to line the letters up correctly.  (The sad part is that the previous button copy sign was laid out perfectly--change the date to 2016 to see it.

I feel like this discussion has went on far too long without Craig County.

[Bruce]

Found this sign in Mountlake Terrace, WA the other day:



It's at a split on a residential one-way road, with the branch to the right serving a small cul-de-sac. (Street View link)

There's quite a few signs in the area with arrows and the text "ARTERIAL ROUTE/ROAD" to direct drivers away from residential dead-ends, but this it the first I've seen that has integrated the text into the arrow.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/uuQwzXGXhWiGk7pP6
This exit list sign is odd not to feature mileages to each. Instead it lists the exit numbers with no number for I-287 SB due to it being the unnumbered terminus.

[vdeane]

Blue exit gore sign on I-81: https://goo.gl/maps/j1Uq3pXPb4D1dYDs9