Weird US-212 Signage in Belle Fourche and other South Dakota curiosities

[corco]

I was up in South Dakota today to do some work for a school project and ended up cruising around the backroads of Belle Fourche when I thought I saw a cutout US-212 shield in the distance.



And it was that, which was weird. There were about 10 more of these, and I combed the area to try to find every single one. All signage along the marked 212 business loop had those shields.
Here's another one by the 85 junction.


What are those shields? Are they some sort of old off-spec and erroneous SD-212 shields? Is Belle Fourche actually in Massachusetts? My guess is that when the loop got turned back to the city they decided the US-212 shields were outdated for some reason, and they replaced them with those. But was that ever an SD shield spec? I've never seen that style without S.D. or something similar written on the shields, so I'm doubtful on that.

Also, just west of the US-85 junction after the old 212 split into town on current 212 is this beauty:


Also, every single crossblade I noticed along a numbered highway in Custer county had inverted shields on it. Not much to say about that, just thought it was interesting:

[bugo]

I'll bet they were placed there by the city. 

Thumbs down on the US 212 sign, thumbs up on the US 385/SD 89 blade.

[usends]

When I was last in Belle Fourche (2004), there were hardly any Business 212 signs.  So I agree, these were probably placed by the city - not because the old signs were outdated, but rather because they were mostly non-existent.

[agentsteel53]

this is by far the coolest sign in South Dakota:

[agentsteel53]

When I was last in Belle Fourche (2004), there were hardly any Business 212 signs.  So I agree, these were probably placed by the city - not because the old signs were outdated, but rather because they were mostly non-existent.

were there empty spots on the gantry?  It seems like the gantries are all sized to hold 24" shields, but the 212 squares are 16" or 18".

[usends]

were there empty spots on the gantry?

Alas, I do not remember.  Based on what I wrote shortly after that visit (about halfway down this page)...
http://usends.com/10-19/212/212.html
...there must've been at least one Business 212 sign, but not many more (if any).  It was standard signage at the time; otherwise I would've noticed.  Anyone know when (or if) Business 212 was decommissioned?  I see Chris Geelhart added this business route to his site in 2005, so it must've been on an official map or route log at the time:
http://www.dm.net/~chris-g/sd200up.html

It seems like the gantries are all sized to hold 24" shields, but the 212 squares are 16" or 18".

I would hazard a guess that the new 212 signs were made in a city sign shop, by people who had very little knowledge of highway sign specs.  I doubt SDDOT was involved at all.

[Brandon]

this is by far the coolest sign in South Dakota:
(Green BL-US-14 sign)

I like it.  It would be great if all US business routes were signed this way.  It's consistent with the signage used for the interstate business routes.

[Hellfighter]

Maybe it's the same contractor from Oregon! 

[Alps]

this is by far the coolest sign in South Dakota:
(Green BL-US-14 sign)

I like it.  It would be great if all US business routes were signed this way.  It's consistent with the signage used for the interstate business routes.

It would be great if all US routes were signed the California way, too.  And if all state routes used outlined cutouts.

[agentsteel53]

It would be great if all US routes were signed the California way, too.  And if all state routes used outlined cutouts.

I'd even like the state named US shield brought back for non-freeway routes.  The 1961 federal specification that brought the black square into existence stated that the California-style cutout for freeway reassurance, and the old style 16" shield for surface-street reassurance.  The black squares were to be used only for junctions, where the white squares were used in the 1948 specification, except that black gave better contrast from a distance.

[yakra]

this is by far the coolest sign in South Dakota:
(Green BL-US-14 sign)

I like it.  It would be great if all US business routes were signed this way.  It's consistent with the signage used for the interstate business routes.

Including 74 in North Carolina!

[agentsteel53]

Including 74 in North Carolina!

I like this one example of NC business loop signage:



but that is not on the I-74 corridor...

[corco]

The weirdly pointy US-212 signage made its way to US-385, just north of the Nebraska line. Other weirdness is that SD-79 is posted from the state line. It seems like a newish decision too, since

it's signed like an afterthought or not at all in most places.

I wonder what brought that on.

Other fun in that immediate area:

Metric speed limit sign as you enter Oelrichs metro

Standard gas station sign- it looks like they still sell gas but it's debranded- I wonder how the good people at BP would feel about that

[froggie]

Other weirdness is that SD-79 is posted from the state line. It seems like a newish decision too, since

It's newer than 2005.

[Quillz]

I've seen those very pointy 3dus shields in a few other states, too. Is it a stretched-out '61 spec? Because stretching out the current spec shield produces something that looks quite different.

[agentsteel53]

I've seen those very pointy 3dus shields in a few other states, too. Is it a stretched-out '61 spec? Because stretching out the current spec shield produces something that looks quite different.

no, it most certainly is not.  stretched '61 is a bit goofy-looking but nowhere near as eyebrow-raising as that one.

[Quillz]

I've seen those very pointy 3dus shields in a few other states, too. Is it a stretched-out '61 spec? Because stretching out the current spec shield produces something that looks quite different.

no, it most certainly is not.  stretched '61 is a bit goofy-looking but nowhere near as eyebrow-raising as that one.

So, it's just a totally custom 3dus shield, then? I've seen a couple on US-220 in New York, and they all seem to hail from the 1970s or so.

[Scott5114]

Arkansas has their own 3dus shield which is designed to coexist with the '61 spec which something like this...