(wish I had pic/graphics capability again, but the PC I'm using is at a library, so only text for now, sorry)
I don't think I've seen this segment of street blade usage in a separate thread before, but anyway...
I have seen several cities and spots where the downtown street blades are different than that used in the rest of town.
Examples I know of.....
Dallas: white-on-blue downtown, white-on-green elsewhere
Arlington, TX: white-on-black downtown, white-on-blue elsewhere
Garland, TX: white-on-black downtown, white-on-green elsewhere
McKinney, TX: white-on-brown downtown, white-on-green elsewhere (except the Stonebridge Ranch part of town, most I've seen there are white-on-blue)
Jacksonville, TX: a strange green-on-white downtown (not easily seen without squinting), white-on-blue elsewhere
Any you all know of where you are?
Trenton has a few different schemes for street blades:
* In downtown, the color of the blade is brown, with a pictogram of the capitol building positioned on the left side of the street name. Example: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.221084,-74.765845,3a,15y,206.66h,94.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOJJhJxRBjHAD-6L-_yUSjQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
* In a few other neighborhoods, the blades are brown as well (Chambersburg, for example) and there are special pictograms associated with the signs. Example:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.210426,-74.748139,3a,15y,121.92h,92.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-_g8amfSWAKsJkg6l64ZbA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
The pictogram here represents the many different restaurants in Chambersburg, which mostly used to be Italian, but are much more Hispanic/Latino now as the demographics of Trenton have changed.
*In most neighborhoods, street signs are a standard green blade. Example:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.223668,-74.739636,3a,23.4y,154.93h,87.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sr4wnWAAhfWTe-Aa1tQ2f8A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Well, New York, but that's because of the coincidence that downtown is a historic district, so it gets white on brown.
iPhone
Green Bay:
most areas: white on green
downtown: white on blue
historic areas: white on brown.
certain districts also have their logo on them left of the street name, or use different fonts.
New Orleans: French Quarter (Vieux Carré) signs are white on black with a Baskerville-ish serif font; outside the FQ, they're white on blue in one of the FHWA series or a reasonable facsimile thereof (C? D?).
For about a couple of years, Fort Scott (Kansas) has had black blades downtown while the rest of city has green ones.
Petersburg, VA has a general blade style different to its standard ones for some of its historic downtown districts, with different colors for the blades in different districts.
Lewisville TX: Green elsewhere, Brown downtown. Downtown was previously maroon; white before that; standard green/white before that.
Allen. Black w/white letters downtown. Green elsewhere.
Grapevine: Maroon downtown; green elsewhere
Tempe, AZ
Standard - Green
Downtown - Blue
Chandler, AZ
Standard - Brown
Downtown - Teal
Nevada:
Las Vegas and Henderson, the standard is white on green. Privately maintained streets are white on brown. (Las Vegas has a section of East Fremont Street downtown that uses white on blue lighted street name signs for the cross streets and specially designed signs to indicate Fremont).
North Las Vegas uses white on blue for normal signs, but blue on white for privately maintained streets.
Everywhere else in Nevada typically uses white on green for all applications.
Reading many of the posts here, it seems that many cities are still using non-compliant color schemes for street blades. The 2009 MUTCD prescribes only the following color schemes:
- White on Green
- White on Blue
- White on Brown
- Black on White
Note that originally White on Black was supposed to be one of the acceptable color schemes in a draft version of the 2009 MUTCD, but it was later replaced by the reverse scheme (Black on White). In this thread there are a few examples of cities using White on Black; I wonder why didn't the final version of the 2009 MUTCD include that color scheme as acceptable.
^ The final rule for the MUTCD states that this option was dropped because black is a non-retroreflective color. It appears there was concern about less legibility of signs of this color scheme at night. Additionally, there was feedback submitted from various DOTs about having black on white as an option (likely because this style was still predominant in some places, such as San Francisco), so this was adopted.
Quote from: Pink Jazz on June 24, 2015, 11:36:15 PM
Reading many of the posts here, it seems that many cities are still using non-compliant color schemes for street blades.
That's likely because for many cities, the "U" in "MUTCD" is not merely a low priority, but downright antithetical.
Quote from: txstateends on June 22, 2015, 12:35:35 PM
(wish I had pic/graphics capability again, but the PC I'm using is at a library, so only text for now, sorry)
I don't think I've seen this segment of street blade usage in a separate thread before, but anyway...
I have seen several cities and spots where the downtown street blades are different than that used in the rest of town.
Examples I know of.....
Dallas: white-on-blue downtown, white-on-green elsewhere
Arlington, TX: white-on-black downtown, white-on-blue elsewhere
Garland, TX: white-on-black downtown, white-on-green elsewhere
McKinney, TX: white-on-brown downtown, white-on-green elsewhere (except the Stonebridge Ranch part of town, most I've seen there are white-on-blue)
Jacksonville, TX: a strange green-on-white downtown (not easily seen without squinting), white-on-blue elsewhere
Any you all know of where you are?
Springfield, MO uses brown/white at several locations:
the old railroad district
Missouri State University
Drury University
southside Financial District
All incorporate a symbol on the signs.
Otherwise, it's white on green.
Fort Smith, AR is primarily White on Blue, except for White on Green for private streets.
My hometown of Amherst does this as well...
Downtown (white text on green, mixed case):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.834486,-64.212373,3a,75y,49.71h,86.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgyvT_tI-ZeGmkqjuQRfTSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 (https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.834486,-64.212373,3a,75y,49.71h,86.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgyvT_tI-ZeGmkqjuQRfTSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1)
Elsewhere in town (black text on white, all caps):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.836594,-64.20967,3a,75y,57.56h,83.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scWn9y0viWmn4UGysZCo-5Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 (https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.836594,-64.20967,3a,75y,57.56h,83.59t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scWn9y0viWmn4UGysZCo-5Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1)
The sign on the bottom (yes, that is Clearview :)) is gradually replacing the one on top for streets outside the downtown area.
Quote from: Bluenoser on June 25, 2015, 02:15:02 PM
My hometown of Amherst does this as well...
Downtown (white text on green, mixed case):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.834486,-64.212373,3a,75y,49.71h,86.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgyvT_tI-ZeGmkqjuQRfTSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 (https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.834486,-64.212373,3a,75y,49.71h,86.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgyvT_tI-ZeGmkqjuQRfTSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1)
Ew, I don't know what font that is on the top, but Clearview is much better. Looks the same as in Winnipeg here, with Black (All caps Clearview) on White signs. I believe for major intersections here, white Helvetica on green is being replaced with Clearview.
Platteville, WI - Black-on-white downtown, orange-on-blue on UW campus, white-on-green elsewhere
Speaking of UW campuses - Some of them have taken to changing their street blades to reflect school colors. The above mentioned and UW-Madison have for sure.
Several cities/villages use Black-on-yellow for truck routes.
Eau Claire, Wi has a few different color schemes for different areas. I'm not sure the defined lines dividing the areas, but here are the different colors I've seen in different areas:
White on Green
White on Blue
White on Brown
Green on White
Brown on White
Black on Yellow(New No Outlet --> Signs are mounted on street name blades)
In Altoona Wi, They have some rally old signs that are:
Black on White
The downtown area of Decatur, GA uses octagonal white-on-blue blades (https://www.google.com/maps/@33.775621,-84.294893,3a,37.5y,283.33h,83.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sz9wzliCKhmjWoO1TcAMLPQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656), which also feature a different font. The rest of the city is standard white-on-green.
Downtown Atlanta does something similar (https://www.google.com/maps/@33.754275,-84.389752,3a,75y,225.93h,91.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slavbCo38dxfr6Jxz7SFUtg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656) along the Peachtree Street corridor.
Quote from: roadfro on June 25, 2015, 12:58:02 AM
^ The final rule for the MUTCD states that this option was dropped because black is a non-retroreflective color. It appears there was concern about less legibility of signs of this color scheme at night. Additionally, there was feedback submitted from various DOTs about having black on white as an option (likely because this style was still predominant in some places, such as San Francisco), so this was adopted.
I can see. Phoenix also uses black on white for non-signalized intersections (signalized intersections on the other hand use white on green).
Quote from: SignGeek101 on June 25, 2015, 02:21:39 PM
Quote from: Bluenoser on June 25, 2015, 02:15:02 PM
My hometown of Amherst does this as well...
Downtown (white text on green, mixed case):
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.834486,-64.212373,3a,75y,49.71h,86.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgyvT_tI-ZeGmkqjuQRfTSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 (https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.834486,-64.212373,3a,75y,49.71h,86.27t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgyvT_tI-ZeGmkqjuQRfTSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1)
Ew, I don't know what font that is on the top, but Clearview is much better. Looks the same as in Winnipeg here, with Black (All caps Clearview) on White signs. I believe for major intersections here, white Helvetica on green is being replaced with Clearview.
There's also a difference in what they are made of...the upper sign was made of wood (I think all Amherst DPW did was use one of those machines that etched letters into wood and painted the "blades"), the lower one is made of metal.
A similar sign is used in the small Saskatchewan community of Tugaske, this font was only used on a few signs in Amherst, but was eventually replaced by the version on the top blade of the E Victoria/S Adelaide post shown in the original post:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@50.874521,-106.285588,3a,28.3y,210.08h,84.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXDhyCiUI0PZbi7BT0-8XqA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 (https://www.google.ca/maps/@50.874521,-106.285588,3a,28.3y,210.08h,84.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXDhyCiUI0PZbi7BT0-8XqA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1)
Quote from: empirestate on June 22, 2015, 12:57:31 PM
Well, New York, but that's because of the coincidence that downtown is a historic district, so it gets white on brown.
iPhone
Don't forget, too, that others exist in the other boroughs outside of Manhattan.
Quote from: M3019C LPS20 on June 26, 2015, 04:03:53 PM
Quote from: empirestate on June 22, 2015, 12:57:31 PM
Well, New York, but that's because of the coincidence that downtown is a historic district, so it gets white on brown.
iPhone
Don't forget, too, that others exist in the other boroughs outside of Manhattan.
I haven't forgotten; indeed, that's why I say it's just a coincidence.
iPhone
In continuation with NYC street signs, in the past, if a street was dedicated to an individual, an additional street sign was located below the one that had the name of the street. The color scheme was white on blue. Some still linger, but, today, the DOT uses the universal white on green for that purpose.
Also, in lower Manhattan, you could find some white on black street signs that represent the financial district.
Huntsville, AL:
Standard street sign for a public road: white on green
Standard street sign for a private road: white on blue
Street sign for historical areas: white on brown
Gurley, AL uses white on black street signs in a certain part of the city.
Quote from: M3019C LPS20 on June 27, 2015, 02:16:51 AM
In continuation with NYC street signs, in the past, if a street was dedicated to an individual, an additional street sign was located below the one that had the name of the street. The color scheme was white on blue. Some still linger, but, today, the DOT uses the universal white on green for that purpose.
Also, in lower Manhattan, you could find some white on black street signs that represent the financial district.
Going back before about 1990, NYC street signs were color-coded by borough:
Manhattan: black on yellow
Brooklyn: white on black
Queens: blue on white
Bronx: white on blue
Staten Island: black on yellow
Fresno CA uses a hodgepodge
Downtown mostly tends to be blue text on a white background, on a rectangular blade. At traffic signals, a larger version is used.
Outside of downtown, it's mostly white text, green background, but I've seen at least four completely different blade styles within the city limits, not including the downtown style. Some are perfect rectangles, some are bulged. Some have lots of information - street directional prefix, street type suffix, address range - and some are just bare naked street names without anything "extra."
In general, there are sorta geographical zones - the north side gets the "naked" signs, the west side has the perfect rectangles with full info, the east side has the bulged blades. Traffic signals usually get signs similar to the west side zone, but larger - but some use "north side" style signs instead.
Two color schemes, but at least 7 distinct blade types.
Though very common to see brown blades in historical areas, to list the official name of the district here denotes the older part of Astoria, OR.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/51350671782/in/album-72157719515990111/
Mesa, AZ uses different colors in different districts. The Fiesta District uses two colors - older signs are red, newer ones are purple. The Power Knowledge Corridor and the Falcon Field district use blue. Eastmark uses brown.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49631613337_5cb331176f_z_d.jpg)
These are used around the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville , as opposed to green/white
NYC used to use different color blades for different boroughs. Though Staten Island and Manhattan both used Black on yellow while Brooklyn used White on Blue. Don't remember what Bronx and Queens used to use.
Then in the Mid Eighties Midtown Manhattan went green with the Statue of Liberty on them. Then later the whole Borough went green, but now I believe different neighborhoods of Manhattan use different colors and different fonts.
Salt Lake City used to do this to an extent. Most were green, but the street blades on some of the traffic lights downtown were black (https://goo.gl/maps/JN1dH7q7fRVoFuPf7), and the ones in the Sugar House neighborhood were blue (https://goo.gl/maps/wykFK91ZqMrnNoQv9).
A good amount of black signs are still up downtown, but it appears this is no longer being done for new installs (example where black signs were replaced with green (https://goo.gl/maps/LkYNonQjL3jnxMct5)). Pretty sure all the blue ones are gone.
Quote from: US 89 on August 16, 2022, 07:17:10 PM
Salt Lake City used to do this to an extent. Most were green, but the street blades on some of the traffic lights downtown were black (https://goo.gl/maps/JN1dH7q7fRVoFuPf7), and the ones in the Sugar House neighborhood were blue (https://goo.gl/maps/wykFK91ZqMrnNoQv9).
A good amount of black signs are still up downtown, but it appears this is no longer being done for new installs (example where black signs were replaced with green (https://goo.gl/maps/LkYNonQjL3jnxMct5)). Pretty sure all the blue ones are gone.
2009 MUTCD was changed to only allow white, green, blue or brown sign blades.
Not quite the same thing, but nearly every street blade in Franklinville, NY has a maple leaf design on it.
In Buffalo, NY, blue street blades are more common than green ones in most parts of the city.
Quote from: kirbykart on August 17, 2022, 08:37:44 PM
In Buffalo, NY, blue street blades are more common than green ones in most parts of the city.
Same with Rochester, and there are also brown street blades in some neighborhoods.
Quote from: Big John on August 16, 2022, 07:40:29 PM
Quote from: US 89 on August 16, 2022, 07:17:10 PM
Salt Lake City used to do this to an extent. Most were green, but the street blades on some of the traffic lights downtown were black (https://goo.gl/maps/JN1dH7q7fRVoFuPf7), and the ones in the Sugar House neighborhood were blue (https://goo.gl/maps/wykFK91ZqMrnNoQv9).
A good amount of black signs are still up downtown, but it appears this is no longer being done for new installs (example where black signs were replaced with green (https://goo.gl/maps/LkYNonQjL3jnxMct5)). Pretty sure all the blue ones are gone.
2009 MUTCD was changed to only allow white, green, blue or brown sign blades.
Looks like Farmers Branch, TX (red blades) and the TCU area of Fort Worth (purple blades) haven't played nice with the MUTCD for a little while then.
Quote from: webny99 on August 17, 2022, 09:47:30 PM
Quote from: kirbykart on August 17, 2022, 08:37:44 PM
In Buffalo, NY, blue street blades are more common than green ones in most parts of the city.
Same with Rochester, and there are also brown street blades in some neighborhoods.
The Charlotte Beach area of Rochester has black street blades.
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2573016,-77.6093163,3a,15y,31.16h,109.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8JMjM6PYeitY-0R1sCSwHQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&authuser=0
Tallahassee has black street blades (https://goo.gl/maps/xQEnUm3DtMRwMDLH9) along West Gaines Street, and green everywhere else.
Like most back-lit street blades in Tallahassee, they omit street suffixes...except when they're used to sign Gaines Street itself (https://goo.gl/maps/5nq2YUdJmxkTR6i78) in most cases.
Speaking of black street blades, when the original 2009 MUTCD was drafted, it was supposed to include white on black as an option instead of black on white. However, this was dropped from the final rule due to visibility concerns due to black being a non-retroreflective sheeting color. It was then added in the final rule to add black on white as an option since this was a fairly common color scheme for street blades.
Kingston, ON has different street blades for the University district as well as Downtown.
Downtown:
(https://i.imgur.com/wzrt5Rt.png)
University District:
(https://i.imgur.com/dJk7qdO.png)
Outside:
(https://i.imgur.com/Y6U1ENT.png)