Does your state spell the abbreviation word fully on highway signs?

[tolbs17]

Does your state spell the abbreviation word fully such as Rd, Ave, Blvd, St, Ln?

I know California and Colorado do. North Carolina... not really. I see highway signs that are almost exclusively abbreviations.

But there are some fully spelled abbreviations such as this one: https://goo.gl/maps/xgbVbwBYuY7GpZN9A and this https://goo.gl/maps/8498NwD3YTQYGVne7

Don't think Virginia does it either because the times that I was there, new signs usually have abbreviations.

[Max Rockatansky]

Depending on the County in California you don't get anything but the street name.  Observe the nexus of the universe in Fresno County:

https://flic.kr/p/24xDF11

[ran4sh]

For BGSs, Georgia spells out the road designation word whenever it can fit on the sign without making it bigger. For example, on a single line a sign would read "Peachtree St", but if the sign has room for multiple lines (often this is because of Georgia's same-height rule for multiple signs on the same gantry), the word is often spelled out, "Peachtree / Street" .

Here's an example showing single line "Northside Dr" on one sign and two-line "Northside / Drive" on another sign: https://goo.gl/maps/1sUQZvA3Y5Cai4qY8

As for standard street name signage, the large size street name signs used in Gwinnett County usually spell out the full street name: https://goo.gl/maps/8WM3MWeQ7CcAVJPq8

[GaryV]

Does your state spell the abbreviation word fully ...

Um, if it's an abbreviation, by definition it's not spelled fully.

[roadfro]

Does your state spell the abbreviation word fully ...

Um, if it's an abbreviation, by definition it's not spelled fully.

Yeah, better to say the street name suffix...

[andrepoiy]

Ontario does and doesn't...

Here's an image where you see both abbreviated and unabbreviated signs...

[KCRoadFan]

Kansas has a hybrid approach: it abbreviates the suffix on the advance guide signs, but spells it out at the exit itself (except for "Pkwy"  and "Blvd" , which remain abbreviated).

[ran4sh]

Kansas has a hybrid approach: it abbreviates the suffix on the advance guide signs, but spells it out at the exit itself (except for "Pkwy"  and "Blvd" , which remain abbreviated).

Sounds like they do it for layout reasons as well. On an advance sign the top line is a street name and the bottom line is a distance, and then at the exit sign the street name takes up both lines (so they spell out the suffix on the bottom line) and an arrow is on the right.

[Bitmapped]

For West Virginia, it depends on if there is already room on the sign to spell out the full name or not. If they can fit the full version without a larger sign, they'll do that. Otherwise, it gets abbreviated.

[tolbs17]

For West Virginia, it depends on if there is already room on the sign to spell out the full name or not. If they can fit the full version without a larger sign, they'll do that. Otherwise, it gets abbreviated.

Seems like it's very similar to California and Colorado signs.

[Scott5114]

Kansas has a hybrid approach: it abbreviates the suffix on the advance guide signs, but spells it out at the exit itself (except for "Pkwy"  and "Blvd" , which remain abbreviated).

Sounds like they do it for layout reasons as well. On an advance sign the top line is a street name and the bottom line is a distance, and then at the exit sign the street name takes up both lines (so they spell out the suffix on the bottom line) and an arrow is on the right.

This is a very consistent practice in Kansas, and it makes for very nice-looking signs. Practically no space is wasted.

[machias]

I don't like it when it varies between signs for the same interchange. If it says "Jones Road"  on the 1 mile advance sign, it should say "Jones Road"  at the exit ramp. Not a fan of "Jones Road"  and then "Jones Rd" .  The message should be consistent through the entire interchange.

[Henry]

Neither IL nor WA spell it out. I think this is more common in the Northeast, because MD definitely does so.

[US 89]

In Utah, as with several other states mentioned in this thread, you'll often find street suffixes spelled out fully on newer signs that are big enough for them. This is true of both BGS freeway-style signs as well as DOT street blades, and it is a relatively new thing - in general, UDOT signs older than maybe 10 years old almost always use the abbreviated forms no matter what.

Around the same time as that switch, UDOT made a perhaps more interesting switch involving abbreviations for the cardinal directions used to name many streets in Utah. Originally, North and South were always "No." and "So.", while East and West were never abbreviated in any situation. Now, if sign space constraints require abbreviating directionals, the single-letter abbreviations are used (N, S, E, W).

[ran4sh]

I don't like it when it varies between signs for the same interchange. If it says "Jones Road"  on the 1 mile advance sign, it should say "Jones Road"  at the exit ramp. Not a fan of "Jones Road"  and then "Jones Rd" .  The message should be consistent through the entire interchange.

Do you have the same opinion when it's different ramps but to the same street? For example, the Northside Drive signs I posted above. "Northside Dr" (single line) is used for the regular exit and "Northside Drive" (two lines) is used for the HOV exit.

In theory they could also be different in each direction, if, for example, one direction is approaching a major interchange that needs advance signage on the same gantry, so they abbreviate the street name in that direction but not the other direction. I'm not sure if examples of this exist though.

[machias]

I don't like it when it varies between signs for the same interchange. If it says "Jones Road"  on the 1 mile advance sign, it should say "Jones Road"  at the exit ramp. Not a fan of "Jones Road"  and then "Jones Rd" .  The message should be consistent through the entire interchange.

Do you have the same opinion when it's different ramps but to the same street? For example, the Northside Drive signs I posted above. "Northside Dr" (single line) is used for the regular exit and "Northside Drive" (two lines) is used for the HOV exit.

In theory they could also be different in each direction, if, for example, one direction is approaching a major interchange that needs advance signage on the same gantry, so they abbreviate the street name in that direction but not the other direction. I'm not sure if examples of this exist though.

I would consider the HOV and the mainstream exits as two separate entities, so as long as the HOV exit was consistent and the mainstream exit was consistent, both within themselves, it works fine for me.

My thoughts around this is the motorist is basically speed reading at freeway speeds, so if they message is consistent and they're constantly looking for the same shape of the message or the same number of letters, recognition might happen a fraction of a moment faster

[ran4sh]

I don't like it when it varies between signs for the same interchange. If it says "Jones Road"  on the 1 mile advance sign, it should say "Jones Road"  at the exit ramp. Not a fan of "Jones Road"  and then "Jones Rd" .  The message should be consistent through the entire interchange.

Do you have the same opinion when it's different ramps but to the same street? For example, the Northside Drive signs I posted above. "Northside Dr" (single line) is used for the regular exit and "Northside Drive" (two lines) is used for the HOV exit.

In theory they could also be different in each direction, if, for example, one direction is approaching a major interchange that needs advance signage on the same gantry, so they abbreviate the street name in that direction but not the other direction. I'm not sure if examples of this exist though.

I would consider the HOV and the mainstream exits as two separate entities, so as long as the HOV exit was consistent and the mainstream exit was consistent, both within themselves, it works fine for me.

My thoughts around this is the motorist is basically speed reading at freeway speeds, so if they message is consistent and they're constantly looking for the same shape of the message or the same number of letters, recognition might happen a fraction of a moment faster

I mostly agree, but I think in some other countries that standard is different. E.g. in the UK the sequence of signs leading to an exit adds further information with each sign.

[michravera]

Kansas has a hybrid approach: it abbreviates the suffix on the advance guide signs, but spells it out at the exit itself (except for "Pkwy"  and "Blvd" , which remain abbreviated).

Sounds like they do it for layout reasons as well. On an advance sign the top line is a street name and the bottom line is a distance, and then at the exit sign the street name takes up both lines (so they spell out the suffix on the bottom line) and an arrow is on the right.

I'm sure that it happens, but I don't, off hand, know ANY exit sign in California or Nevada that spells out "Boulevard". That isn't to say there are none.

[Scott5114]

Kansas has a hybrid approach: it abbreviates the suffix on the advance guide signs, but spells it out at the exit itself (except for "Pkwy"  and "Blvd" , which remain abbreviated).

Sounds like they do it for layout reasons as well. On an advance sign the top line is a street name and the bottom line is a distance, and then at the exit sign the street name takes up both lines (so they spell out the suffix on the bottom line) and an arrow is on the right.

This is a very consistent practice in Kansas, and it makes for very nice-looking signs. Practically no space is wasted.

Actually, it looks like Kansas will even spell out "Parkway" if the name of the parkway is long enough. See Prairie Star Parkway off of K-7.

[wanderer2575]

Michigan generally abbreviates "Rd," "Ave," etc.  One notable exception that was retained with a recent sign replacement project is I-94's exit 236 in Harrison Township, where the signs fully spell out "Metropolitan Parkway."

Michigan occasionally omitted the suffix altogether, although that seems to have stopped.  For example, I-696 exit 17:  Eastbound the signs were for "Campbell / Hilton" and westbound for "Bermuda / Mohawk."  With a 2017 sign replacement, we now have "Campbell Rd / Hilton Rd" eastbound and "Bermuda St" westbound (Mohawk Avenue was demoted for whatever reason).

Michigan was also big on abbreviating the word "Grand" as "Gd," as in "Gd Rapids" and "Gd River Avenue," but with recent sign replacements the word is being spelled out fully.  Now if they will only do something about the "W Branch" exit on US-10...

[wanderer2575]

To piggyback off my previous post, what bugs me about omitting the "Rd," etc. suffix is that one unfamiliar with the area is confused whether the control refers to a city or a road.  Here's an example near King of Prussia, PA where both uses are on the same sign:  Pottstown is a city while Audubon and Trooper are road names.  This is inexcusably poor sign design, especially since there is plenty of room on the sign to include the road suffixes.

[mrsman]

To piggyback off my previous post, what bugs me about omitting the "Rd," etc. suffix is that one unfamiliar with the area is confused whether the control refers to a city or a road.  Here's an example near King of Prussia, PA where both uses are on the same sign:  Pottstown is a city while Audubon and Trooper are road names.  This is inexcusably poor sign design, especially since there is plenty of room on the sign to include the road suffixes.

Agreed.  This is especially true on BGS signs and other signs where city names are expected.

It is less of a problem on street blades.  San Francisco famously leaves off the suffixes.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7919905,-122.4243583,3a,15y,129.03h,86.9t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0eb5-W_4vz_nUaJchvpgUQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D0eb5-W_4vz_nUaJchvpgUQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D297.73782%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

It is interesting.  New signage for street blades is required to be upper and lower case letters, pursuant to the 2009 MUTCD.  But the MUTCD does not seem to require a suffix on street blades.  (In my view it would be more important to label a street as an avenue or boulevard than using mixed lettering, but what do I know?)

[ran4sh]

To piggyback off my previous post, what bugs me about omitting the "Rd," etc. suffix is that one unfamiliar with the area is confused whether the control refers to a city or a road.  Here's an example near King of Prussia, PA where both uses are on the same sign:  Pottstown is a city while Audubon and Trooper are road names.  This is inexcusably poor sign design, especially since there is plenty of room on the sign to include the road suffixes.

Agreed.  This is especially true on BGS signs and other signs where city names are expected.

It is less of a problem on street blades.  San Francisco famously leaves off the suffixes.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7919905,-122.4243583,3a,15y,129.03h,86.9t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0eb5-W_4vz_nUaJchvpgUQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D0eb5-W_4vz_nUaJchvpgUQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D297.73782%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

It is interesting.  New signage for street blades is required to be upper and lower case letters, pursuant to the 2009 MUTCD.  But the MUTCD does not seem to require a suffix on street blades.  (In my view it would be more important to label a street as an avenue or boulevard than using mixed lettering, but what do I know?)

Some people would interpret such a standard to mean that streets must be named with a suffix, I think.

And I don't see the problem with requiring mixed lettering, several large counties in Georgia have used mixed case street signs for a long time, including the four largest Atlanta area counties ( Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett) as well as Clarke County (Athens).

[Revive 755]

Neither IL nor WA spell it out.

Illinois will do both, though the abbreviation is more common.  Places that are spelled out:

* I-55 at Weber Road
* IL 83 at 55th Street
* IL 83 at 31st Street
* I-55 SB at 6th Street in Springfield
* I-55 NB at IL 29/South Grand Avenue in Springfield
* I-55 NB at former IL 97/Clear Lake Avenue
* I-55 SB at Sagamon Avenue in Springfield
* I-255 NB at State Street in East St. Louis
* I-255 NB at Collinsville Road
* I-255 NB at Horseshoe Lake Road
* IL 255 NB at Gateway Commerce Center Drive
* IL 255 NB at Humbert Road
* I-55 NB/I-70 EB at Black Lane
* I-55 NB at 13th Street in East St. Louis (shared with "Tudor Ave")
* I-64 EB at 25th Street in East St. Louis
* IL 3 SB at Quarry Road and Palmer Road on the north side of Columbia
* I-57 NB at University Avenue in Champaign
* I-74 at Prospect Avenue in Champaign
* I-57 NB at University Parkways (shares the sign with "Stuenkel Rd")
* I-57 NB at Vollmer Road

[Roadsguy]

To piggyback off my previous post, what bugs me about omitting the "Rd," etc. suffix is that one unfamiliar with the area is confused whether the control refers to a city or a road.  Here's an example near King of Prussia, PA where both uses are on the same sign:  Pottstown is a city while Audubon and Trooper are road names.  This is inexcusably poor sign design, especially since there is plenty of room on the sign to include the road suffixes.

This isn't a case of that, though. Audubon and Trooper are the control "cities." It just so happens that the interchange is with Trooper Rd, with Audubon Rd intersecting Trooper Rd immediately to the north. The road names are only used to indicate which lane to use for each road on the northbound off-ramp.