Hawaii Sign-O

[shadyjay]

(also posted in the Photos/Videos section on this site)

From October 19 through the 27, I took a vacation to Hawaii.  My dad is out there for work so lodging was already taken care of - I just needed a plane ticket.  It was my first time on a plane since 1989 and my first time ever off the east coast of the U.S.  My dad has a rental car and we drove around exploring the island.  During the trip, I managed to pretty much clinch H-2, plus most of H-1 and the older section of H-3. 

A few things I noticed out there: 

-  The big one right off the bat was the amount of traffic on H-1 through downtown Honolulu.  It's like driving on the Cross Bronx Exp'y in NYC, but with more lanes.  Some
    sections were 10 lanes (5 each way) and there were even some HOV lanes and breakdown lane usage areas. 

-  A lot of Clearview can be seen.  All signage I saw on H-2 and H-3 was Clearview.  A few button-copy signs existed on H-1 in downtown. 

-  H-201 is not signed from H-1 East, but simply as its older designation, HI 78.  Perhaps because H-3 is also on the same sign.  H-201 is signed from H-1 West. 

-  Dashed lane markings are not used at all.  Instead, 4 reflectors spaced out replicate a traditional dashed lane marking.  On sections were passing is permitted on a 2-
    lane road, only reflectors are used.  Paint is only used for solid white and yellow lines.

-  Some elaborate sign bridges and a lot of overhead sign lighting on H-1.


Here's a link to the photo gallery:

http://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/

I'll also be posting pictures I took that are not directly sign-related, but are scenic views taken from the roadway - look for those soon in a separate album on that main page I linked above.

[Alex]

Went out to Hawaii in January for our Honeymoon, visiting the islands of Oahu and Maui. Was our first visit out there, and made a point to drive a lot and clinch the Hawaii Interstate system. Ended up driving to the North Shore, out toward Barber Point for a Luau and up to the Pali Lookout on Oahu among other places and from Laheina to Hana on Maui. Been looking through your photos and recognize a lot of the same roads. Beautiful state, though the traffic (er number of traffic lights) is a bit maddening.

The bot dots in place of lines and some of the older sign bridge styles definitely mirror Caltrans standards. I was on County Route 930 and there was a stretch with six lines of bot dots: two sets next to both side stripes and another two sets next to the center striping..

I have posted some of the photos we took (mainly of state routes so far on Oahu), but have many more to go through for future updates.

Anyway, looking at your photos I noticed some sign changes since January and October:
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079509529967154 - The I-H1 east and Exit 13B panels were button copy but are now Clearview in your photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079741677682930 - The I-H1 pull through panel was button copy in January, but now also Clearview.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079769481689202 - The Clearview you photographed was Highway Gothic in January (carbon copied no less).
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079794936363250 - The Exit 18B panel was reflective Hwy Gothic in January.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079996012847778 - Highway Gothic in January.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669080490057127602 - All Highway Gothic in January, two arrows on the exit only panel, with the left-lane one scraped off.

[oscar]

On photo 41, the "Naval Base" greenout covers the original "Pearl Harbor".  The old signage confused tourists who often tried to enter the base when they meant to go to the Arizona Memorial. 

Tourists still sometimes get confused and take HI 92 west rather than east from H-1 exit 15, not realizing there are only two exits on HI 92 west of that H-1 exit, and both take you to base entrances (one the main Pearl Harbor gate, the other the gate for the old Hickam AFB), with no turnarounds before reaching the sentries.  There's not really space on the overhead sign for a stronger warning, but a separate sign explicitly restricting HI 92 west of H-1 exit 15 to base traffic only would be nice.

[Alex]

Just finished some updates for the Hawaii section of AARoads, including a revamp of the pages for I-H1, H2, and H201.

Here is the comparison of changes between my visit and shadyjay's:
Old: https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii001/i-h001_eb_exit_013_10.jpg
New: https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079509529967154

Old: https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii001/i-h001_eb_exit_015_02.jpg
New: https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079741677682930

The carbon copy retained odd orientation of HI East and Honolulu:
Old: https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii001/i-h001_eb_exit_016_03.jpg
New: https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079769481689202

Old: https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii001/i-h001_eb_exit_020a_02.jpg
New: https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079996012847778

At least with this, they crafted a new "Exit Only" placard:
Old: https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii001/i-h001_wb_exit_015b_03.jpg
New: https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669080490057127602

Carbon copying appears be the case in just about every instance of sign replacements in Hawaii, even in cases where the old sign was obviously adjusted before:
Note the extra space on the right-hand two panels:
https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii001/i-h001_wb_exit_015a_01.jpg to https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii001/i-h001_wb_exit_015a_02.jpg

Furthermore, as Ian once told me, Hawaii does a wretched job with Clearview, and many of the sign replacements done by 2010 and 2011 fit that description.
Note the spacing difference between Stadium and Aiea on the right-hand panel. Anything to accommodate the same sign dimension that was in place before I suppose: https://www.aaroads.com/west/hawaii200/i-h201_wb_exit_001a_03.jpg

And Clearview numbers in route shields, several examples of them are found along H1 for 76/750 and 99.

A future H3 update will show the negative contrast Freeway Ends signs used at the east end point.

Anyway, looking at your photos I noticed some sign changes since January and October:
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079509529967154 - The I-H1 east and Exit 13B panels were button copy but are now Clearview in your photos.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079741677682930 - The I-H1 pull through panel was button copy in January, but now also Clearview.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079769481689202 - The Clearview you photographed was Highway Gothic in January (carbon copied no less).
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079794936363250 - The Exit 18B panel was reflective Hwy Gothic in January.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669079996012847778 - Highway Gothic in January.
https://picasaweb.google.com/shadyjayvt/HawaiiSignO#5669080490057127602 - All Highway Gothic in January, two arrows on the exit only panel, with the left-lane one scraped off.