Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

[6a]

Buried on a side street of a small west central Ohio town:
P1030553 by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr

Where is that?

[freebrickproductions]

This US 72 shield seems to be a bit off for some reason:
US 231/US 431/ US 72 by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

[vtk]

It's a squished wide shield. But what they squished isn't quite the same as the perfect '70-spec shields next to it.

[Zeffy]

In Hopewell, Virginia:
https://www.google.com/maps/@37.298005,-77.278403,3a,15y,9.04h,93.15t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s04qoWY4i9kaZNNZ20IxMXA!2e0

[Neddyfram]

This US 72 shield seems to be a bit off for some reason:
US 231/US 431/ US 72 by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

For some reason that US72's sign's sticking-out parts at the top of the shield reminds me of the devil...

Ugly fonts in Oklahoma

That US64 sign looks cool with that font.

Just outside Victoria BC. Should be somewhat self explanatory as to what the arrow means (based on the environment visible (HINT: right turn doesn't stop)), I've just never seen it used for a stop sign before (the plaque is supposed to be used under a yield sign, per the BCMOT roundabout signing manual (page 4)).

Another thing I noticed is that's a British styled arrow

[jakeroot]

Just outside Victoria BC. Should be somewhat self explanatory as to what the arrow means (based on the environment visible (HINT: right turn doesn't stop)), I've just never seen it used for a stop sign before (the plaque is supposed to be used under a yield sign, per the BCMOT roundabout signing manual (page 4)).

Another thing I noticed is that's a British styled arrow

Hardly surprising -- about 6-tenths are natives of the British isles (including me).

[jakeroot]

I know the image is utter shit (dashcam footage FTW) but here's a sign I saw that doesn't seem to correspond to any sort of established signing standard, though I still like it:

[dcbjms]

School crossing colors for pedestrian crossings?  Now that's interesting, for sure.

[busman_49]

Buried on a side street of a small west central Ohio town:
<snip>

Where is that?

Arcanum, Ohio

[jbnv]

This US 72 shield seems to be a bit off for some reason:
US 231/US 431/ US 72 by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

Looks like it came from the world of Monsters, Inc.

[roadfro]

I know the image is utter shit (dashcam footage FTW) but here's a sign I saw that doesn't seem to correspond to any sort of established signing standard, though I still like it:

There is a standard sign in the 2009 MUTCD, "turning vehicles yield to pedestrians" sign (R10-15) that is substantially similar to the intent of this sign. Subbing the yield symbol for a stop symbol would exactly duplicate the meaning of this.

[1995hoo]

I can't decide which thread is the right place for this one. Spotted it yesterday on Seminary Road in Alexandria, Virginia, and passed it again today, allowing me to get a picture.

The sign is trying to tell you that the far right lane (the one coming in from my right on the other side of the island) is an option lane at the traffic light up ahead past the dump truck, the left lane is left-only at the same light, and then beyond the light the left thru lane goes straight over the main overpass and the two lanes to the right of that split to the right onto a different overpass to provide access to I-395 northbound (via a left turn further up the road). Going straight through the light in the far right lane puts you in a lane leading to southbound I-395.

How effective the sign is at conveying all that, I don't know, given that I know the area well even with the current construction project. But the sign certainly seems to qualify as a strange one to me given how it appears to depict two right-turn-only lanes slamming into a straight-thru lane.

I posted the above in January. I just passed that sign again today and found it has been modified. The new version, seen below, is more accurate but is still weird-looking. I didn't report the old sign to VDOT or to the City of Alexandria, so I have no idea whether someone complained or whether there was a crash or whatever.

(The sign in this picture is actually in the background of the first picture to the right of the dump truck, but both signs were and are identical. I just had an easier time getting a picture of the second one today while stopped at the red light. There was enough traffic that I couldn't really slow down to get a picture of the first sign.)

[vtk]

And that sign overhangs the sidewalk.  Doesn't look like a problem here, but it seemed worth pointing out as this issue has been discussed in the Poor Placement thread.

Regarding the sign itself, I would make sure the right turn arrow shafts have long straight segments below the curves, and the left turn arrow curves left very near the bottom of the sign, at the same height of the lower branch of the rightmost arrow. Also, the two leftmost right arrows should maybe curve less than the one to their right, if those lanes indeed go to different places.

Or, alternatively, use standard signs that only deal with one intersection at a time, and use small guide signs on span wire before the first intersection for lane assignment beyond that intersection.

[HTM Duke]

I've known for a while about a AAA-installed wayfinding sign in Alexandria, VA, located at the intersection of Prince & Commerce Streets.  What I didn't know about until recently that there were two more remaining (3 in total left of out of the original 21, circa 1930's), located at S Pitt & Wolfe Streets and Cameron & N Columbus Streets.  Here's a short blog article about the history, along with non-street view images of the first and third signs.  Definitely not flashy, but easily some of the oldest wayfinding signage left in Virginia.

[1995hoo]

I've known for a while about a AAA-installed wayfinding sign in Alexandria, VA, located at the intersection of Prince & Commerce Streets.  What I didn't know about until recently that there were two more remaining (3 in total left of out of the original 21, circa 1930's), located at S Pitt & Wolfe Streets and Cameron & N Columbus Streets.  Here's a short blog article about the history, along with non-street view images of the first and third signs.  Definitely not flashy, but easily some of the oldest wayfinding signage left in Virginia.

Damn. All the times I've driven through Old Town and I've never noticed any of these (recognizing when I use Commerce Street it's usually night and I'm looking for a parking space and not paying attention to road signs). Thanks for posting that.

There's a lot of interesting historical stuff to be found in Old Town dating back to colonial times. One I recall from the fourth-grade Virginia history program many years ago was "gossip mirrors" on houses (essentially a mirror hangs from an upstairs window so the resident can see who's outside on the sidewalk). But aside from the cutouts on US-1, this is the first I recall historic road signs, and these are more in keeping with the "historic" theme than the cutouts are.

[PHLBOS]

Something tells me that this sign assembly is not state spec'd.  Interesting-looking US 2 shield & font.

[Zeffy]

Interesting-looking US 2 shield & font.

I disagree - that looks like Helvetica, and the shield itself is nasty looking. Blehhhhhhh!

[SignGeek101]

Interesting-looking US 2 shield & font.

I disagree - that looks like Helvetica, and the shield itself is nasty looking. Blehhhhhhh!

Yup, non-standard for sure. I don't recall a large white border on the edges of US hwy signs either. I don't understand why so many signs use Helvetica. There are many other fonts out there (not including highway fonts) that look waayy better than Helvetica IMO.

[SignGeek101]

http://goo.gl/maps/xUfSt

Definitely a MUTCD violation, but not worst for sure, not a design error of any type, so I'll post it here. Looks like something you'd see out of New Brunswick.

[vtk]

I think a significant deviation from whatever MUTCD was in effect when the sign was designed is automatically a design error.  This is... a poorly designed correction to an erroneous sign?

[freebrickproductions]

I haven't seen a "low clearance" sign with this large of a height anywhere else, so...
23.5 Foot Clearance by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
This is located on one of the supports for the pedestrian bridge behind my school.

[Big John]

^^ So no railroad track there?  23' min from the top of the track is the recommended clearance for a bridge over a railroad.

[freebrickproductions]

^^ So no railroad track there?  23' min from the top of the track is the recommended clearance for a bridge over a railroad.

There is a Norfolk Southern line right next to the school, but I don't see why they had to put a sign for drivers in the school's parking lot warning them about the height though.

[TEG24601]

^^ So no railroad track there?  23' min from the top of the track is the recommended clearance for a bridge over a railroad.

There is a Norfolk Southern line right next to the school, but I don't see why they had to put a sign for drivers in the school's parking lot warning them about the height though.

Perhaps they decided to be cute like MDOT and put one on every bloddy bridge, including the top of a 4 level stack so show how high the top roadway is from the bottom.

[thenetwork]

I haven't seen a "low clearance" sign with this large of a height anywhere else, so...
23.5 Foot Clearance by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
This is located on one of the supports for the pedestrian bridge behind my school.

This goes back 30 years, but I seem to recall many high-low clearance signs along I-40 in Texas.