Blue/Black Signs on Nevada Highways

[SSR_317]

Does anyone know the official explanation/designation for the Blue and Black signs seen at or near divided highway median crossovers in the State of Nevada? Here is an example along State Road 160 between Mountain Springs and Pahrump: https://www.google.com/maps/@36.0100279,-115.5804336,3a,59.2y,245.89h,76.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHXYfDQfoCIfq2WAkPBoi4w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Appreciate any information you may have on these signs/markers.

[cl94]

That's exactly it: they're placed to mark median crossovers.

[SSR_317]

That's exactly it: they're placed to mark median crossovers.

Thanks! Do you happen to know their NV designation? NDOT seems to use "GNV" as a prefix on most of their state-specific signs, but I could not find these particular markers anywhere on their website.

Also, I seem to remember California having some "secret" type of sign marking crossover locations back in 1966, when my parents & I were returning home from a vacation to see family in Ventura, CA. We overheated on what is now I-15 east of Barstow, and a guy at the repair shop we limped back to there mentioned something about signage that marked applicable crossover locations along the desert freeway.

Do any other states have such crossover markings in addition to the MUTCD standard ones (D13-1 and D13-2)?

[Big John]

Recent thread in Traffic Control: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=33496.0

[US 89]

Colorado uses those exact same markers to mark median crossovers. I’ve seen them occasionally in parts of Utah also.

[SSR_317]

Recent thread in Traffic Control: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=33496.0

Many thanks for the "head's up"!

[roadfro]

That's exactly it: they're placed to mark median crossovers.

Thanks! Do you happen to know their NV designation? NDOT seems to use "GNV" as a prefix on most of their state-specific signs, but I could not find these particular markers anywhere on their website.

These crossover marking signs do not appear in NDOT's supplemental sign manual. However, that document was last updated in 2006 (or at least that's the latest version on their website), and many Nevada-specific signs therein are now standard signs in the 2009 MUTCD or are of a type that don't really need a separate sign designation (e.g. all the county line signs), so I don't know if we'll see a new version of this document. I don't believe that the black/blue crossover signs were in use that far back.

BTW: The NDOT-specific sign designations start with different letters corresponding to the type of sign it is. "GNV" for guide signs, "RNV" for regulatory signs, etc.

Also BTW: I have seen very limited use of the crossover signs in another application in Nevada... either as an advance warning of, or an object marker adjacent to, a cattle guard. I don't care for this second use, as it mixes interpretations and there are other better ways to mark a cattle guard.

[SSR_317]

That's exactly it: they're placed to mark median crossovers.

Thanks! Do you happen to know their NV designation? NDOT seems to use "GNV" as a prefix on most of their state-specific signs, but I could not find these particular markers anywhere on their website.

These crossover marking signs do not appear in NDOT's supplemental sign manual. However, that document was last updated in 2006 (or at least that's the latest version on their website), and many Nevada-specific signs therein are now standard signs in the 2009 MUTCD or are of a type that don't really need a separate sign designation (e.g. all the county line signs), so I don't know if we'll see a new version of this document. I don't believe that the black/blue crossover signs were in use that far back.

BTW: The NDOT-specific sign designations start with different letters corresponding to the type of sign it is. "GNV" for guide signs, "RNV" for regulatory signs, etc.

Also BTW: I have seen very limited use of the crossover signs in another application in Nevada... either as an advance warning of, or an object marker adjacent to, a cattle guard. I don't care for this second use, as it mixes interpretations and there are other better ways to mark a cattle guard.

Many thanks for the information! I agree that there are better ways to mark a cattle guard.

It would be nice if the Federal MUTCD had some sort of common guide for the designation of state-specific signs or state variants incorporating the 2-letter postal code, but given the stubbornness of certain state DOTs, that may be a pipe dream. And with their seeming reluctance in recent years to even break down designations for many E-series signs (e.g., Advance Guide signs), I sincerely doubt that they would even make such a suggestion for a common state designation ID formula now.

As for the median crossover markings, I seem to remember that California had SOMETHING way back as far as 1967, when my parents & I did a cross-country journey to visit relatives there. We overheated along what is now I-15 just east of Barstow and had to cross the median to return to that town for repairs. While there, someone in the garage told us about a "secret" sign that marked locations where it was safe to cross the median in an emergency. I don't recall exactly what those signs were, but it may have been the precursor of today's blue/black markers.

[ClassicHasClass]

There's a reflector pattern which appears prior to turnoffs. Not sure if that's what you mean.