"Vestigial" street signs

Started by DTComposer, February 03, 2022, 08:00:55 PM

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DTComposer

Do you have examples of street signs (or other traffic control) that remain after their purpose has gone away? For example:

This sign is located in San Jose:

IMG_7095 by DTComposer, on Flickr

The streetscape, though, has no intersection:

IMG_7097 by DTComposer, on Flickr

Originally, Hillsdale Avenue connected to Almaden Road (now Old Almaden Road) with a bridge over the Guadalupe River:

Overhead-1 by DTComposer, on Flickr (original image from Historic Aerials)

Subsequent development meant Foxworthy Avenue was extended over the river to accommodate thru traffic, and the old Hillsdale bridge was removed:

Overhead-12 by DTComposer, on Flickr (original image from Historic Aerials)

Overhead-13 by DTComposer, on Flickr (original image from Apple Maps)

So the bridge and intersection have been gone for 20 years, but the street sign remains.

Any other examples?


Ned Weasel

This barely-visible Kansas Turnpike shield on northbound K-7/Harrison Street: https://goo.gl/maps/RTNButSr1hHbqSMK6

TBH, I'm not sure why they even bothered pointing people to the Turnpike from that far away in the first place.  And these days, it would be highly debatable as to whether turning left or right here would be the best route to the Turnpike (right turn takes you to the all-freeway route, left turn keeps you on K-7 to the Turnpike but puts you through a lot of traffic signals).
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NWI_Irish96

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4142119,-87.3546806,3a,75y,9.25h,84.8t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sATWGyx7PkHNd3_BmOpos-Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

NB IN 55 approaching US 231. The Indiana Toll Road was built before I-65, so for a short while, the fastest way to the ITR was to turn left and continue following NB IN 55. The sign never got changed when I-65 was built and turning right on US 231 became the faster way to get to the ITR.
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odditude

sorry for the pedantry, but the word is "vestigial" - interesting topic, though!

1995hoo

#4
I assume something like this is not really the sort of thing you have in mind? The sign is totally illegible–the words and the arrow are not visible at all–but the street to which the sign used to point is still there (pan the image to the right) and you can still make a left turn there onto to that street–if you're coming from the direction opposite the camera angle I linked, of course. The sign is not any more legible on the other side, either, unless you're on foot and you get really close to it to make out the outline of the letters. It seems almost like the sign was painted over in plain green for no apparent reason.




Edited to add: This one here might be a better example. If you click out into map view, you'll see there is a Lake Village Drive nearby that's not a stub. It's a street that goes west off Van Dorn Street and has no vehicular outlet (pedestrians and cyclists can use that path to the left of the barricade as well as a couple of paths through the woods). Originally, Lake Village was planned to continue through and to emerge at the spot seen in this Street View image, but the property owner who is building that fence seen in the Street View refused to sell his land, as did four other property owners, so the street was never connected through their property. (In the map view, the grey portion labelled as Lake Village Drive is sort of misleading because it's more of a driveway that has a fence with "Private Property" and "Keep Out" signs.) It would make more sense to rename the stub end there as Brindle Heath Way, which is the name of the street that runs through the condo development visible to the left if you pan the camera.
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DTComposer

Quote from: odditude on February 04, 2022, 10:10:29 AM
sorry for the pedantry, but the word is "vestigial" - interesting topic, though!

Shoot - thank you for catching that! I've updated the original topic.

plain

Kimberly Ave in Hampton, VA nowadays is nothing more than someone's driveway. Then again, looking at Historical Aerials, it looked like it wasn't much more than that to begin with.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gMWZD8fbUy7ck5JX8
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DTComposer

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 04, 2022, 10:25:33 AM
I assume something like this is not really the sort of thing you have in mind? The sign is totally illegible–the words and the arrow are not visible at all–but the street to which the sign used to point is still there (pan the image to the right) and you can still make a left turn there onto to that street–if you're coming from the direction opposite the camera angle I linked, of course. The sign is not any more legible on the other side, either, unless you're on foot and you get really close to it to make out the outline of the letters. It seems almost like the sign was painted over in plain green for no apparent reason.

But this is interesting from the standpoint that it seems to be left over from a previous street blade design, and whenever the new blades were put in (like across the street), it was decided this sign wasn't necessary to replace, but not worth the effort to pull out, either.

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 04, 2022, 10:25:33 AM
Edited to add: This one here might be a better example. If you click out into map view, you'll see there is a Lake Village Drive nearby that's not a stub. It's a street that goes west off Van Dorn Street and has no vehicular outlet (pedestrians and cyclists can use that path to the left of the barricade as well as a couple of paths through the woods). Originally, Lake Village was planned to continue through and to emerge at the spot seen in this Street View image, but the property owner who is building that fence seen in the Street View refused to sell his land, as did four other property owners, so the street was never connected through their property. (In the map view, the grey portion labelled as Lake Village Drive is sort of misleading because it's more of a driveway that has a fence with "Private Property" and "Keep Out" signs.) It would make more sense to rename the stub end there as Brindle Heath Way, which is the name of the street that runs through the condo development visible to the left if you pan the camera.

This also seems like disinterest on the part of the city, I'm guessing since there's no homes or businesses on the stub of Lake Village they don't feel any great compunction to change it. But when I put directions to a home on Brindle Heath Way into Google Maps, it tells me to turn from Kingstowne Village Parkway onto Brindle Heath - confusing since the sign says Village Lake.

Rick1962

This extremely faded old trailblazer for the Muskogee Turnpike is at the tee intersection of Okmulgee Ave. and York St. in Muskogee, OK. Originally, traffic going east from downtown would take Okmulgee to York, then jog north two blocks to Chandler Rd. to continue east to the turnpike. About 20 years ago Chandler was connected directly to Okmulgee Ave. to eliminate the jog, but this sign was left behind.

SM-T580


mrsman

Here is an interesting one.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8972685,-77.0136598,3a,75y,53.61h,80.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sUZUe07NYtqfWD017mhrTQA!2e0!5s20120501T000000!7i13312!8i6656

F St at 2nd St. in Washington DC, NW.  From the vanatage point of the picture, one can see that there is no F Street here, yet the sign remains.  F to the west was obliterated by I-395.  F to the east was converted into a campus plaza for the Georgetown University Law School.

But the saga does not end here.  Thanks to a decking project over I-395 and new development, F St between 2nd and 3rd is coming back!

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8972433,-77.0136196,3a,75y,333.63h,85.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdckiSqlZ7p324LHzUnKVwg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I think there are some streets like this in NYC Lower East Side and Brooklyn, where streets have been obliterated by housing projects but the signs are still up, but I can't find any right now.

mrsman

Here's another similar one.  This is probably pretty common in coastal areas, where cross streets won't go all the way to the ocean, but some form of street signs identify the cross street along the coastal road or boardwalk.

In San Francisco, cross streets don't make it all the way to Upper Great Highway, but the street signs do.  Pedestrians can make the connection though.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7454235,-122.5079038,3a,75y,358.97h,89.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBC-czGUO22W-shBsL2n4ig!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Ocean Front Walk in Venice, CA has similar signs:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9853274,-118.4723315,2a,75y,298.86h,86.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sasAUdH5E8Z1tLBwYPL3iSA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Sandpiper street in Playa Del Rey used to have such signs, but they have since been removed.  A whole neighborhood once existed that got obliterated to give flight clearance for LAX.  It is now a habitat for wild butterflies.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.947772,-118.4440122,3a,37.5y,102.69h,86.18t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWCCD9iHYDZbvtJMymCPuOw!2e0!5s20120801T000000!7i13312!8i6656

Another neighborhood near LAX has gotten destroyed more recently.  The area south and east of Aviation/Arbor Vitae was once a regular residential neighborhood with single family houses.  The whole neighborhood got destroyed for a rental car facility to be built to keep all rental car agencies in one place (and to be connected to LAX via a new people mover) that is still being constructed.  A quick GSV though doesn't show old streets signs in place when they removed the streets, although you'd think that a couple of signs could have been forgotten, like OP's example.

Forgotten-Ny mentions the legacy of an old sign that once marked Willoughby/Hudson intersection in Brooklyn.  Hudson no longer crosses Willoughby.

https://forgotten-ny.com/2015/10/r-i-p-willoughby-humpback-sign/

Here's a sign for E.100th at Madison.  E. 100th is now blocked by a housing project and Mt. Sinai Hospital.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.789837,-73.9522844,3a,60y,88.25h,91.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqE3wrZZpGig_87iTTqNYvQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192



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