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Erroneous road signs

Started by FLRoads, January 20, 2009, 04:01:44 PM

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Quillz

Wow, talk about massive fail. US-5 in on the wrong side of the country, the never-existed US-39 apparently exists only in Klamath Falls, the 97 shield using Series B, etc. Wow.


agentsteel53

wow, not often that you see a US/interstate mixup error.

I saw the 140 and 39 in Klamath Falls over Memorial Day weekend, but not the previous time I was there in 2008, so that gives a bit of an idea (not much of one!) for when they were installed.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Quillz

This is a really dumb question, but how do such obvious errors go unnoticed? I mean, the people who are contracted to make these signs, don't they at least look at a map and realize Interstate 5 and US Route 5 are different roads and in different corners of the country?

Central Avenue

Quote from: xonhulu on August 29, 2011, 12:22:28 AM

(snip)

On the same trip, I finally got to see this infamous pair of goofs in Medford:





For some reason I find it amusing that they managed to get the "TO" and arrow plates correct, but not the shields themselves.
Routewitches. These children of the moving road gather strength from travel . . . Rather than controlling the road, routewitches choose to work with it, borrowing its strength and using it to make bargains with entities both living and dead. -- Seanan McGuire, Sparrow Hill Road

BigOkie

Quote from: okroads on August 28, 2011, 10:19:21 PM
The sign on the right should say "Sand Springs'...



Is that the southbound Tisdale Interchange at I-244/US412?  Good job, ODOT!  LOL.

okroads

Quote from: BigOkie on August 29, 2011, 10:39:45 AM
Quote from: okroads on August 28, 2011, 10:19:21 PM
The sign on the right should say "Sand Springs'...



Is that the southbound Tisdale Interchange at I-244/US412?  Good job, ODOT!  LOL.

Yep; that's it!

xonhulu

Quote from: Quillz on August 29, 2011, 03:02:04 AM
This is a really dumb question, but how do such obvious errors go unnoticed? I mean, the people who are contracted to make these signs, don't they at least look at a map and realize Interstate 5 and US Route 5 are different roads and in different corners of the country?

A cosmic convergence of incompetence and apathy, methinks.

xonhulu

Quote from: Quillz on August 29, 2011, 12:49:04 AM
Wow, talk about massive fail. US-5 in on the wrong side of the country, the never-existed US-39 apparently exists only in Klamath Falls, the 97 shield using Series B, etc. Wow.

This guy's still around in downtown K-Falls, too:


Quillz

Series B works fine on standard Oregon shields, I think.

And at least they picked the nice '61 spec for "US 140."

agentsteel53

Quote from: Quillz on August 29, 2011, 04:13:08 PM
And at least they picked the nice '61 spec for "US 140."

yes, those are getting tough to find in general in Oregon.  there's a couple actual old '61 spec shields on green signs at the 97/Business 97 split just north of town.

I am pretty sure Oregon did not ever use '61 spec black square shields: they went straight from the state-named cutouts to '70 spec in 1974.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Quillz

Quote from: agentsteel53 on August 29, 2011, 04:14:19 PM
Quote from: Quillz on August 29, 2011, 04:13:08 PM
And at least they picked the nice '61 spec for "US 140."

yes, those are getting tough to find in general in Oregon.  there's a couple actual old '61 spec shields on green signs at the 97/Business 97 split just north of town.

I am pretty sure Oregon did not ever use '61 spec black square shields: they went straight from the state-named cutouts to '70 spec in 1974.
I posted some pics a while back of some '61-era shields on some guide signs in Astoria. That's the only other area I've seen them. I don't recall seeing any in Portland.

xonhulu

I think the US 26 shields mounted above the BGS overheads as you approach the Vista Ridge tunnels from the west are '61 spec, but I'm not 100% sure.  If so, those are standalone shields, and they are on square signs.  Maybe some of our Portland-area colleagues can speak on this.

agentsteel53

Quote from: xonhulu on August 29, 2011, 04:57:58 PM
I think the US 26 shields mounted above the BGS overheads as you approach the Vista Ridge tunnels from the west are '61 spec, but I'm not 100% sure.  If so, those are standalone shields, and they are on square signs.  Maybe some of our Portland-area colleagues can speak on this.

I checked Google Street View and you may very well be right.  tough to tell because of the Series D digits and the distortion of the camera angle, but it's likely to be a '61 spec shield.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

xonhulu

Quote from: agentsteel53 on August 29, 2011, 05:09:23 PM
I checked Google Street View and you may very well be right.  tough to tell because of the Series D digits and the distortion of the camera angle, but it's likely to be a '61 spec shield.

I just did the same, but couldn't really tell.  Those 26 shields had been moved since they used to direct you onto Market Street to access 26's downtown alignment, and you can see the metal posts where they had previously been mounted (the right 405's moved, too).  So it would've been weird if they re-used the old shields.  But whenever I've zipped by on the freeway, they sure look like they're the older spec shields.  But they might look odd because of the digits, now that you mention that.

luokou

The US-26 shields prior to their replacement in the late 90's/early 2000's were both the '48 state-named cutout on the first gantry after the Zoo exit, and '61 cutouts for the rest of the gantries up to I-405 (incidentally, all of these shields were wooden). The US-26 shields now seem to be '61 black squares with comically huge Series D digits (which replaced error OR-26 shields). There were two US-30 shields in the same style, one at the ramp right after the Central Eastside Industrial area exit before merging onto mainline I-84, and the other right next to Providence Medical Center at mile 3. Those were most likely installed by the same contractor, but both of those are nonexistent today.

Quillz

They should have just used the '70 spec shields if they wanted Series D so badly. The '61 shields were designed for Series C and smaller.

luokou

Tell that to the contractor who produced these goofs and to quit using those damn bubble interstate shields! XD those US shields wouldn't look so bad if the digits were a little smaller.

Of course, if all these signs were from an Oregon DOT shop, everything would be up to spec and look 73x better.

Fleetwood Mac Attack

Not going to look through 48 pages of erroneous road signs but here's one for VDOT in Chesapeake - off-ramp from I-64 Exit 297 to US 13/US 460 (Military Highway) incorrectly marks US 460 as a Virginia state route.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=36.771895,-76.368771&spn=0.000001,0.000858&t=h&z=21&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=36.771812,-76.368771&panoid=ogdH1Prlm38hNR98kumXDw&cbp=12,178.29,,0,-2.76

D-Dey65

I've seen this leftover NY 495 shield at the Roslyn Clock Tower, and tried to take a picture of it years ago. It turned out like crap. But this one didn't:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/55016974


mjb2002

This sign could possibly be misspelled:

http://g.co/maps/qw3v

I don't think that I have seen SCDOT spell this town's name correct.

Quillz

There is an old stop sign about a block from my house that has the design of the old black-on-yellow signs (complete with button copy "STOP" legend), but it's the familiar white-on-red. I don't have a pic of it yet (will get one very soon), but I'm wondering if that's technically an error? Because it seems 1954 was when the old design gave way to the current one, with no stopgap in between. (Which this one appears to be.)

agentsteel53

Quote from: Quillz on September 03, 2011, 02:42:24 PM
There is an old stop sign about a block from my house that has the design of the old black-on-yellow signs (complete with button copy "STOP" legend), but it's the familiar white-on-red. I don't have a pic of it yet (will get one very soon), but I'm wondering if that's technically an error? Because it seems 1954 was when the old design gave way to the current one, with no stopgap in between. (Which this one appears to be.)

likely refurbished.  I have seen many block-font red/white stop signs, most of which started life as yellow/black.

a LOT of signs were refurbished back in the day.  Even these days they are, but it usually just involves peeling off the sheeting and putting a new design on.  Back in the day, an embossed sign was repainted over and over again - in some states, until it was so corroded that it fell off the post.

I have a photo somewhere of an Iowa maintenance worker repainting an IOWA US 75 cast iron shield (1926-1934) with a roller.  What's amazing about the photo is that the sign isn't taken off the post.  He's got his truck parked nearby and he's reaching into the sky with his roller with a six-foot handle.

what's even more amazing is that the photo was taken in 1975.

another explanation for your STOP sign, however, is that California was using red and white stop signs as early as 1915.  They did not ever use yellow on black.  They invented the familiar cutout octagon in 1924.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Quillz

Hmm... Well, given the location of the school and the age of the neighborhood (there really wasn't anything here prior to the 1960s), my guess is it's probably a refurbished sign. Next time I go by it, I'll be sure to get a pic.

agentsteel53

Quote from: Quillz on September 03, 2011, 03:21:30 PM
Hmm... Well, given the location of the school and the age of the neighborhood (there really wasn't anything here prior to the 1960s), my guess is it's probably a refurbished sign. Next time I go by it, I'll be sure to get a pic.

get me a picture and I'll see if I can tell you its history
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

nyratk1

Quote from: D-Dey65 on September 02, 2011, 04:25:40 PM
I've seen this leftover NY 495 shield at the Roslyn Clock Tower, and tried to take a picture of it years ago. It turned out like crap. But this one didn't:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/55016974


Two other NY 495 signs still up - one on Nicolls Rd. southbound near Hawkins Rd. in Centereach and one on Mill Rd. in Yaphank



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