Wordiest Signs?

[webny99]

I did a search and didn't come up with anything, but I'm looking for examples of really wordy signs. I'll start, inspired by this beast on the Niagara Scenic Parkway with 23 total words on a single panel.

We're looking mostly for BGS's here; this can include diagrammatics like this one, and route shields, etc. being present on the sign are fine, but it should be guide signage only, nothing regulatory. And it's the total word count that matters here, not necessarily "could this have been expressed in fewer words without omitting information?" as in most cases, the answer is no (although I'm sure there will be examples where we can debate that as well).

Looking forward to seeing other examples and finding out if anything can top 23 words!

[IowaTraveler]

This abomniation has a measly 18 words, but the words are much more compact. The compactness combined with the small font size make this nearly impossible to read while driving past at highway speed.

[JoePCool14]

I've always thought this sign coming into the Rockford area on I-90 westbound was too wordy. It's a sign advertising points of interest, but they manage to put too much on here that isn't very useful while driving 70 mph. Worse still, it gives effectively no guidance as to where to find any of these POIs. It just says "Rockford Region". If you include all exits on I-90 and US-20, you're looking at almost a dozen different exits they could be accessed from. If you include all the ampersands/ands, this sign ties OP's with 23 words!

https://goo.gl/maps/6vRqRtVqa8exBtKF7

Here's an older version of that sign, which is worse because of the custom font used for the subscripts:
https://goo.gl/maps/f2kXUCvWw8n46Y3c8

This second sign is posted a bit before albeit, isn't nearly as wordy. Still rather useless and has no reason to be brown either.
https://goo.gl/maps/hebiYEmpWDvBDW1K7

[webny99]

This second sign is posted a bit before albeit, isn't nearly as wordy. Still rather useless and has no reason to be brown either.
https://goo.gl/maps/hebiYEmpWDvBDW1K7

Is this sign saying that you can use any of the next four exits to reach those destinations?

[roadman65]

Airport signs for one.

However that's way to obvious, but WDW in Florida in their purple universe signs has many with info overload.

[JoePCool14]

This second sign is posted a bit before albeit, isn't nearly as wordy. Still rather useless and has no reason to be brown either.
https://goo.gl/maps/hebiYEmpWDvBDW1K7

Is this sign saying that you can use any of the next four exits to reach those destinations?

I don't think so. Belvidere and Machesney Park are about 10 miles apart from each other, so you wouldn't want to exit at Belvidere-Genoa Rd to get to Machesney Park.

I also counted the exits on I-90 in the area, and excluding the I-39 interchange, there are actually 5 exits that cover the region. Another strike against this sign.

[Scott5114]

This sign in Johnson County, KS is pretty wordy, even before you get to the useless sports placard underneath it. ("I wasn't gonna visit the MidAmerica Nazarene University campus, but you mean to tell me they were NAIA Division II men's basketball champions 15 years ago?! Holy cow, hang on, Carol, I've got two lane changes to do!")

[CardInLex]

No good Streetview, but this sign on Walter Reed Drive in Burgin, KY has a 50 words on it!

https://maps.app.goo.gl/SVnjf9W2PKdnuoWu5?g_st=ic

It reads:

"THIS IS A TOBACCO FREE FACILITY
Absolutely NO TOBACCO PRODUCTS are allowed to be used inside your vehicle or taken outside of your vehicle beyond this point.
TOBACCO PRODUCTS are considered CONTRABAND.
Any person who knowingly introduces contraband into this institution shall be prosecuted as provided in KRS 520.050 & 520.060."

[kphoger]

They're all over the place around here:  https://goo.gl/maps/a4ebyThwWwGTnHpe7

[JoePCool14]

They're all over the place around here:  https://goo.gl/maps/a4ebyThwWwGTnHpe7

OP is looking for non-regulatory signage. I think signs like this are a given.

[Scott5114]

They're all over the place around here:  https://goo.gl/maps/a4ebyThwWwGTnHpe7

OP is looking for non-regulatory signage. I think signs like this are a given.

Yeah, but that's a Kansas standard sign (it's basically the Kansas equivalent of the Caltrans-style FREEWAY ENTRANCE assembly). There's one of those on every entrance ramp in Kansas.

Impossible stat to calculate: what percentage of words on road signs in Kansas are represented by the "Pedestrians - Bicycles / Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers and Blue Moons / Dasher Donder Comet and Blitzen / Crosby Stills Nash and Young / PROHIBITED" signs. (I've never actually been bored enough to read the entire thing, but I'm guessing it's something like that)

[JoePCool14]

They're all over the place around here:  https://goo.gl/maps/a4ebyThwWwGTnHpe7

OP is looking for non-regulatory signage. I think signs like this are a given.

Yeah, but that's a Kansas standard sign (it's basically the Kansas equivalent of the Caltrans-style FREEWAY ENTRANCE assembly). There's one of those on every entrance ramp in Kansas.

Impossible stat to calculate: what percentage of words on road signs in Kansas are represented by the "Pedestrians - Bicycles / Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers and Blue Moons / Dasher Donder Comet and Blitzen / Crosby Stills Nash and Young / PROHIBITED" signs. (I've never actually been bored enough to read the entire thing, but I'm guessing it's something like that)

Here's Illinois' version of that sign: https://goo.gl/maps/iZCVhxoKeBCPCFQS8

It's only posted on IDOT expressways, not tollway entrances. Same number of words here too.

[SectorZ]

They're all over the place around here:  https://goo.gl/maps/a4ebyThwWwGTnHpe7

OP is looking for non-regulatory signage. I think signs like this are a given.

Yeah, but that's a Kansas standard sign (it's basically the Kansas equivalent of the Caltrans-style FREEWAY ENTRANCE assembly). There's one of those on every entrance ramp in Kansas.

Impossible stat to calculate: what percentage of words on road signs in Kansas are represented by the "Pedestrians - Bicycles / Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers and Blue Moons / Dasher Donder Comet and Blitzen / Crosby Stills Nash and Young / PROHIBITED" signs. (I've never actually been bored enough to read the entire thing, but I'm guessing it's something like that)

I thought CSNY was just banned on Ohio freeways.

[Big John]

Wisconsin used to have a very wordy sign in small print but now uses a simplified sign.

[webny99]

They're all over the place around here:  https://goo.gl/maps/a4ebyThwWwGTnHpe7

OP is looking for non-regulatory signage. I think signs like this are a given.

Yeah, but that's a Kansas standard sign (it's basically the Kansas equivalent of the Caltrans-style FREEWAY ENTRANCE assembly). There's one of those on every entrance ramp in Kansas.

Yes, but it is still a regulatory sign even though it's standard one.

Impossible stat to calculate: what percentage of words on road signs in Kansas are represented by the "Pedestrians - Bicycles / Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers and Blue Moons / Dasher Donder Comet and Blitzen / Crosby Stills Nash and Young / PROHIBITED" signs. (I've never actually been bored enough to read the entire thing, but I'm guessing it's something like that)

Got to be 25% or more. 

But I think the bigger issue is that you'd never have time to read it since you'd be past it before you finished reading, no matter how slowly you approached.

[GaryV]

In Michigan, I don't remember seeing the signs lately, but we had some that said, roughly:

Limited Access Highway
Prohibited
List of things ...

These were posted on the fence lines bordering the freeway, facing toward the pavement. No way you could read them as you were zooming past and looking out the passenger side window. Maybe if you were on one of those slow-moving farm implements you'd be able to see that you weren't supposed to be there.

[kphoger]

But I think the bigger issue is that you'd never have time to read it since you'd be past it before you finished reading, no matter how slowly you approached.

Maybe if you were on a motor scooter.  Maybe.  But, if you were walking or riding a horse, you'd have to be a pretty slow reader to not make it through all that text.

[webny99]

But I think the bigger issue is that you'd never have time to read it since you'd be past it before you finished reading, no matter how slowly you approached.

Maybe if you were on a motor scooter.  Maybe.  But, if you were walking or riding a horse, you'd have to be a pretty slow reader to not make it through all that text.

OK, so maybe if the sign actually applies to you, then you would be able to read it. If it doesn't, then you won't. That's pretty smart!

[hotdogPi]

Except the Kansas one says U-turns prohibited, which is relevant to cars.

[webny99]

Except the Kansas one says U-turns prohibited, which is relevant to cars.

The fact that "U-turns" is at the bottom of a whole list of prohibited means of transport is maybe the funniest thing about the whole sign. To the extent that it's even necessary, it should really be a separate sign.

[LilianaUwU]

The fact that "U-turns" is at the bottom of a whole list of prohibited means of transport is maybe the funniest thing about the whole sign.

I read it as thought a U-turn was also a means of transportation.

"I ride a U-turn everyday to work."

[CtrlAltDel]

It's not what the OP was looking for, but no discussion of wordy signs is complete without the following:

[hobsini2]

This second sign is posted a bit before albeit, isn't nearly as wordy. Still rather useless and has no reason to be brown either.
https://goo.gl/maps/hebiYEmpWDvBDW1K7

Is this sign saying that you can use any of the next four exits to reach those destinations?

It is saying that incorrectly. However, take Belvidere for example. You really would only use Genoa Rd or Irene Rd if you are going westbound to get to Belvidere. And you can't get to Loves Park or Machesney Park via Genoa Rd or Irene Rd.

[J N Winkler]

They're all over the place around here:  https://goo.gl/maps/a4ebyThwWwGTnHpe7

OP is looking for non-regulatory signage. I think signs like this are a given.

Yeah, but that's a Kansas standard sign (it's basically the Kansas equivalent of the Caltrans-style FREEWAY ENTRANCE assembly). There's one of those on every entrance ramp in Kansas.

Not every entrance ramp--only the Interstates and a select few US and state route freeways (US 81, K-10) have these signs.  Others, including ones that maintain freeway standard for a considerable distance (US 54-400 in Wichita, US 69 in the eastern part of the state), do not have them.  In the past we've tried to use their presence or otherwise to judge to which non-Interstate freeways KDOT is likely to add exit numbers.



If regulatory signs weren't excluded, I'd nominate Illinois' cigarette bootlegging signs.  They aren't just wordy--20 total, counting phone numbers and dollar amounts as one word each--but also hilariously officious.

[kirbykart]

This sign from Unique, Odd, or Interesting:

Holy cow that's a lot of small text. Seriously, the only way you could possibly read that is walking by, and while there's technically a sidewalk there, it ends just past the sign and the road ends at I-5 not much further, so there's absolutely no reason anyone would be walking here unless they really wanted to read the sign for some reason. And even the full-size text looks awful.

Thanks to jay8g for finding and contributing this sign, and to JoePCool14 for suggesting it be placed here.