The 1958 Spec I-25 shields in Colorado

[corco]

In December, agentsteele posted a picture of the last 58 spec I-25 shields in Colorado



with the caption

The very last pair of original (1958 specs) interstate shields in Colorado — most had vanished by the late 1970s, but there are two left, as late as December 10th of this year when I checked on them. And no, I will not reveal where they are. Suffice it to say, they are near interstate 25.

I regret to inform that I figured out where that picture was taken, but what I saw was quite disheartening

[bugo]

I saw dozens of 58 spec I-30 and 40 shields today in the Little Rock area.

[US71]

I saw dozens of 58 spec I-30 and 40 shields today in the Little Rock area.

A lot of them are new. Arkansas seems to be going "retro"

[mightyace]

I regret to inform that I figured out where that picture was taken, but what I saw was quite disheartening

Considering that state named shields are almost extinct in most of the east, I'll take a state name shield of ANY spec!

[Hellfighter]

I regret to inform that I figured out where that picture was taken, but what I saw was quite disheartening

Considering that state named shields are almost extinct in most of the east, I'll take a state name shield of ANY spec!

It's got the state name in it, I'll take it!

[agentsteel53]

how the Hell did you figure out where they were?  I had been hoping to use a tight enough crop that no one could recognize anything past "brick building", "planet earth vegetation", and "place appears to have an atmosphere".

if you figured out where they were, perhaps someone else did too...

[Chris]

Roadgeeks figure that kind of stuff out. I once saw a television show about a guy from Germany who could tell which Autobahn it was just by it's guard rails!

[Alex]

Roadgeeks figure that kind of stuff out. I once saw a television show about a guy from Germany who could tell which Autobahn it was just by it's guard rails!

Mike Ballard has that kind of knowledge base when it comes to California roads.

[agentsteel53]

must ... crop ... tighter.

though I suppose the interchange configuration is fairly distinct, given the way the arrows are pointing. 

[corco]

It was more luck, actually. I wanted to clinch I-25 in Colorado on my way down to Texas, and wanted to buy gas in Colorado because New Mexico is more expensive from what I understand (and wasn't going to have enough to make it to Texas, or even Clayton), so I decided I wanted to buy gas in Trinidad. The only exit in Trinidad where you come back on at the same place where you got off is the exit with the shields. I was scoping the area out in street view before I left, and stumbled upon those shields. I recognized them immediately as the last original spec shields you had posted earlier, and was pretty excited to check them out, and then was pretty bummed to see they were gone.

My guess is that given the major construction on I-25 through Trinidad they just went ahead and did a sign replacement along the I-25 corridor.

[J N Winkler]

must ... crop ... tighter.

That wouldn't help.  And I can almost guarantee you that the shields weren't replaced because a CDOT employee went through the Shield Gallery and tried to track them down.  State agency employees just don't have the time to do that.

Those shields were always in danger of replacement because (1) they are so old the retroreflective sheeting no longer reflects, and (2) the MUTCD now has a minimum retroreflectivity standard.  Also, their locations are easy to guess because we have had consistent standards for Interstate crossroad and approach road signing since the late 1950's.

CDOT tends to do proposal-only sign replacements in bulk on conventional-road state highways.  Essentially, a CDOT region will define a geographical area where all the state highway signs of a certain type (generally non-designable signs fitting into certain defined categories, such as warning, regulatory, and route marker) will be selected for replacement by the contractor and then replaced.  There is an element of contractor design in these contracts because CDOT will not choose the signs to be replaced, and will instead quote estimated quantities based on average densities of signs on state highways in rural and urban areas.  The contractors have an incentive to maximize turnover on the contract, and thus cash profit, by designating for replacement every sign that could possibly meet the criteria.  Contracts of this type are one reason you can drive for dozens of miles on a single state highway and see fluorescent-yellow curve warning signs of the same approximate (and relatively recent) vintage.  It is slash-and-burn for old signs.

Interstates are handled a little differently because most of the sign square footage consists of designable signs.  I have been told that CDOT does sign rehabilitations, which are administered by the regions, but I have never actually seen a CDOT sign rehabilitation contract.

[agentsteel53]

and here I thought CDOT had entirely forgotten that they existed, or they had been relegated to town control and the town simply didn't care.  How else would they have survived for over 40 years?

[Scott5114]

I'm pretty sure the ODOT method of determining sign replacement is:

Is the year 2006?
Yes: REPLACE ALL SIGNS
No: Continue

Is it a circle that's somehow still standing on the state highway system?
Yes: REPLACE (eventually)
No: Continue

Has it been recently mauled by a semi truck, pickup, car, or tiger?
Yes: REPLACE (unless it's nearing 5 o'clock, in which case THROW AWAY AND CALL IT GOOD)
No: Leave up

[CanesFan27]

and here I thought CDOT had entirely forgotten that they existed, or they had been relegated to town control and the town simply didn't care.  How else would they have survived for over 40 years?

good old fashioned oversight perhaps

[AZDude]

How about this one?  I don't remember if the state name is New Mexico, or Colorado and I am unable to make it out.  This is Southbound I-25 at the Colorado/New Mexico state line.  I took this picture on June 10, 2009.



Here is the link for the bigger image...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28983829@N08/4415546237/sizes/o/

[corco]

That's a New Mexico, I drove by it mere minutes after I drove by the Trinidad shields in question. I had the same reaction as you, not realizing I was quite in New Mexico (obviously I knew it was coming up any second) when I saw that sign in the distance. It went something like this

Me: Holy *&^@ its another 1958 spec sign
Me: Wait...if Jake drove were in Trinidad on multiple occasions he has certainly seen this sign
Me: Oh...it's New Mexico

Needless to say, I'd never been less excited to enter a state I'd never been in before in my life

[AZDude]

That's a pretty good closeup picture!

[sandiaman]

Looks like  Trinidad   to me!