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

[jakeroot]

I just drove by this one on Saturday.  I suspect it's not heavily enforced... 

Translation:  37 mph IN PRESENCE OF BUTTERFLIES

Fixed for those who refuse to go metric . I don't need translation.

When did you go imperial? I thought you lived in España? 

[national highway 1]

This button copy sign in Idaho has an interesting shape, due in part by the omission of the horizontal line that delineates the exit tab from the main signface.

[briantroutman]

^ Up until roughly the '80s, that style of centered, non-separated exit tab was standard issue in Pennsylvania.

From a PAHighways.com gallery image archived via archive.org:

[national highway 1]

^ Up until roughly the '80s, that style of centered, non-separated exit tab was standard issue in Pennsylvania.

From a PAHighways.com gallery image archived via archive.org:

I legitimately misread the control city on the Exit 44 sign as 'Scrotum!'

[national highway 1]

Interesting how this particular sign spells out the word 'Seventeenth', which would usually be shortened to '17th' to save space.
This sign is on CA 55 northbound on the border between Tustin and Santa Ana.

[bzakharin]

Interesting how this particular sign spells out the word 'Seventeenth', which would usually be shortened to '17th' to save space.
This sign is on CA 55 northbound on the border between Tustin and Santa Ana.

In this case, I suspect they wanted to fill out all of that space so the sign would extend over the lanes it was indicating. The placement of "Exit Only" is confusing, though. Also, what's up with "22 Freeway"? Since CA 22 starts at 55 and the non-freeway portion is at the other end of it, what is it trying to say? I've never seen anything like that. We have the "42 Freeway" in NJ, but it's never signed like that anywhere that I know of. It's just the NJ 42 shield with a real destination.

[thenetwork]

^ Up until roughly the '80s, that style of centered, non-separated exit tab was standard issue in Pennsylvania.

From a PAHighways.com gallery image archived via archive.org:

As was Colorado...

[ekt8750]

^ Up until roughly the '80s, that style of centered, non-separated exit tab was standard issue in Pennsylvania.

From a PAHighways.com gallery image archived via archive.org:

Yep. Those were some beautiful signs. Some lasted well into the 2000s. There was one on the north end of the free portion of I-476 SB that was a casualty of the reconstruction project a couple years ago and PA 378's freeway section in Bethlehem was nothing but those signs til they all were replaced like 5 years ago. Dunno if there are any survivors left in the Commonwealth though.

[myosh_tino]

Interesting how this particular sign spells out the word 'Seventeenth', which would usually be shortened to '17th' to save space.
This sign is on CA 55 northbound on the border between Tustin and Santa Ana.

In this case, I suspect they wanted to fill out all of that space so the sign would extend over the lanes it was indicating.

That was my thinking exactly although once that sign is replaced with a reflective one, I could see it being changed to "17th Street" to accommodate the exit "tab".

The placement of "Exit Only" is confusing, though.

How so?  The far right lane is an exit-only lane so I see nothing wrong with the placement of the Exit Only plaque.

Also, what's up with "22 Freeway"? Since CA 22 starts at 55 and the non-freeway portion is at the other end of it, what is it trying to say? I've never seen anything like that. We have the "42 Freeway" in NJ, but it's never signed like that anywhere that I know of. It's just the NJ 42 shield with a real destination.

It's pretty much an L.A. thing.  The obvious control point for westbound CA-22 is Long Beach but I don't think it fits within the existing sign.

[7/8]

I took this photo today and posted it for the "take-it-yourself route number challenge", and I thought it was kind of funny. The welcome sign says "please drive at 50 km/h speed limit", while the speed limit sign behind says 60. The speed limit does go down to 50 not too far after, but it still looks funny

[freebrickproductions]

Found this rare "No Thru Traffic" sign near Gallatin, TN yesterday:
No Left Turns, No Thru Traffic, Right Turn Only by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
No Left Turns, No Thru Traffic by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
No Thru Traffic by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

The intersection configuration looked to have been recently changed, which is probably why it was there.

[7/8]

This sign on is my way to work every morning. Someone spray painted graffiti on the sign that says "Second Right"



The sign is located around 471 Bridgeport Rd E (see below) heading west, and I guess some people accidently make the first right onto Lang Cres instead of the second right to get onto 85 North.

[Bruce]

Spotted on a bike trail running through the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA (SR 520 and NE 40th Street):

https://twitter.com/SounderBruce/status/764221212201320448

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.645493,-122.1354801,3a,75y,355.28h,84.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOiMvdlgys6MeU2PZJY_uYg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[jay8g]

Spotted on a bike trail running through the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA (SR 520 and NE 40th Street):

https://twitter.com/SounderBruce/status/764221212201320448

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.645493,-122.1354801,3a,75y,355.28h,84.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOiMvdlgys6MeU2PZJY_uYg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Not only is this an unusual design, I can't tell how it's supposed to connect to the physical layout of the intersection (it's here):

[7/8]

I found several of these signs in the small town of Heidelberg, ON. Not only is it a bike lane, but it's also a horse-and-buggy lane

I've been around this area many times, and it's known for it's large Mennonite population, but I don't remember seeing these signs before.

[epzik8]

This is nonstandard for American highway signs. Somebody else already posted a picture of this in "Redesign this!" in Road-Related Illustrations, but here's another picture of it that includes the surrounding area. This is U.S. Route 322 east coming off the Commodore Barry Bridge in Gloucester County, New Jersey, just to the south and west of Philadelphia. Out of curiosity, what country does the font remind all of you of? I mean, once again, it's not a normal font for American signs.

[epzik8]

I've got another one, and this one is a truly unique sign. The same stretch of U.S. 322, a few miles to the east in Swedesboro, New Jersey. I think this one is pretty amusing.

[cappicard]

This is one of my favorite signs and I've seen it in 2012 and 2014, but this afternoon was the first time I had a chance to get a picture. It's near the southern end of Bonaventure Boulevard in Weston, Florida, as you approach Griffin Road. I have no idea what legal authority (statute, city regulation, whatever) supports the sign, and I wonder how many people don't know what "queue" means. But I love the sign.

Well, simply barging your way over into the other lane, regardless of the presence of another vehicle and expecting everyone else to adjust to your maneuver...  That would certainly constitute an illegal lane change.  That's really only an issue in stand-still traffic, though.

K-DOT is trying to implement the zipper merge for the road construction zone along US-69 in southern Overland Park coincidentally.

[cappicard]

From the 'Exit Number Challenge' thread.
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=17867.msg2162445#msg2162445

Interesting that this sign only includes route markers, but with no control cities.
Taken westbound on I-70, west of Topeka, KS.

Not really unusual. I-470 remains almost entirely within the Topeka city limits.

Also, Wanamaker Road interchanges with both I-70 and I-470 a half mile south.

[SignGeek101]

This is nonstandard for American highway signs. Somebody else already posted a picture of this in "Redesign this!" in Road-Related Illustrations, but here's another picture of it that includes the surrounding area. This is U.S. Route 322 east coming off the Commodore Barry Bridge in Gloucester County, New Jersey, just to the south and west of Philadelphia.

In terms of fonts, the only ones wrong are the control cities; that font I have guaranteed you have seen somewhere in your life today (Helvetica). The other items on that sign are the wrong size (centre sign cardinal directions) or the wrong width (shields using Highway Gothic series B instead of series D).

It's almost like they were trying to follow the old MUTCD rules for Clearview, but messed up and put in Helvetica instead.

Out of curiosity, what country does the font remind all of you of? I mean, once again, it's not a normal font for American signs.

https://goo.gl/maps/PpWpJGz5vJB2 - Closest thing that comes to mind, but kind of a long shot

What about this? https://goo.gl/maps/K96juyENDVR2 

[thenetwork]

What about this? https://goo.gl/maps/K96juyENDVR2 

If any one of those signs was ground mounted, they would easily pass for a bad sign made exclusively for a movie or TV show.  A video/movie production would never foot the cost for a full gantry for a few seconds of Panavision.

[national highway 1]

This is nonstandard for American highway signs. Somebody else already posted a picture of this in "Redesign this!" in Road-Related Illustrations, but here's another picture of it that includes the surrounding area. This is U.S. Route 322 east coming off the Commodore Barry Bridge in Gloucester County, New Jersey, just to the south and west of Philadelphia. Out of curiosity, what country does the font remind all of you of? I mean, once again, it's not a normal font for American signs.

Is 2000ft a commonly used distance on guide signs? 2000ft equals 0.38 mile, which in metric is roughly 610m.

[formulanone]

Is 2000ft a commonly used distance on guide signs? 2000ft equals 0.38 mile, which in metric is roughly 610m.

Not really, but 500-feet and 1000-feet warnings are quite common, although usually on warning signs (not as much on guide signs).

[jeffandnicole]

This is nonstandard for American highway signs. Somebody else already posted a picture of this in "Redesign this!" in Road-Related Illustrations, but here's another picture of it that includes the surrounding area. This is U.S. Route 322 east coming off the Commodore Barry Bridge in Gloucester County, New Jersey, just to the south and west of Philadelphia.

In terms of fonts, the only ones wrong are the control cities; that font I have guaranteed you have seen somewhere in your life today (Helvetica). The other items on that sign are the wrong size (centre sign cardinal directions) or the wrong width (shields using Highway Gothic series B instead of series D).

It's almost like they were trying to follow the old MUTCD rules for Clearview, but messed up and put in Helvetica instead.

Those signs were around long before Clearview was experimented with.  The DRPA does its own thing without regard to pesky manuals of uniform traffic control guidelines.

Here's another DRPA goodie, next to some normal looking NJDOT signage. https://goo.gl/maps/NqHtJq3rqVR2

[tckma]

I took this photo today and posted it for the "take-it-yourself route number challenge", and I thought it was kind of funny. The welcome sign says "please drive at 50 km/h speed limit", while the speed limit sign behind says 60. The speed limit does go down to 50 not too far after, but it still looks funny

But that's why it's in quotes.  (A pet peeve of mine -- QUOTATION MARKS ARE *NOT* USED FOR EMPHASIS!!!)