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

Started by mass_citizen, December 04, 2013, 10:46:35 PM

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KEK Inc.

Quote from: freebrickproductions on February 28, 2015, 01:57:19 PM
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.


(from my flickr)
Take the road less traveled.


vtk

Quote from: freebrickproductions on February 28, 2015, 01:57:19 PM
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.

Why are the feet in Series C and the inches in Series D?
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

busman_49

I like the setup of the I-71 pull-through, though some may argue that it isn't quite right.  Also digging the exit 17 sign mounted to the bridge:
I-71 NB at I-275, Cincinnati, OH (05) by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr

hbelkins

Quote from: busman_49 on March 03, 2015, 08:41:15 AM
I like the setup of the I-71 pull-through, though some may argue that it isn't quite right.  Also digging the exit 17 sign mounted to the bridge:
I-71 NB at I-275, Cincinnati, OH (05) by Ryan busman_49, on Flickr

Dancing arrows. The geniuses [/sarcasm] who wrote the current MUTCD think that's confusing to drivers.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

6a

Perhaps this comes from living in Ohio, proud home of dancing arrows, but I don't see a big problem with that sign. Why use one three times wider just to convey the same information?

jakeroot

It just looks lazy to me. Like they accidentally made the sign too narrow and had to accommodate their fuck-up by rotating the arrows.

vtk

Quote from: jakeroot on March 03, 2015, 05:18:20 PM
They accidentally frugally made the sign too narrow no wider than it needed to be and had to accommodate their fuck-up point clearly at the correct lanes by rotating the arrows.

Fixed for you.
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

jakeroot

Crazy Ohioans and your lazily placed arrows. There's a reason they aren't allowed anymore.

:bigass:

hbelkins

Quote from: jakeroot on March 03, 2015, 06:06:58 PM
Crazy Ohioans and your lazily placed arrows. There's a reason they aren't allowed anymore.

:bigass:

Yep. Because somebody, or a group of somebodies, at FHWA is anal-retentive.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

machias

Quote from: hbelkins on March 03, 2015, 07:39:19 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 03, 2015, 06:06:58 PM
Crazy Ohioans and your lazily placed arrows. There's a reason they aren't allowed anymore.

:bigass:

Yep. Because somebody, or a group of somebodies, at FHWA is anal-retentive.

I completely agree with you. Motorists that can't figure out the lanes indicated by dancing arrows probably shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car.  There were some interesting dancing arrows signs in the Oklahoma City area quite a few years ago but I haven't been able to find the signs on Google maps.  The signs indicated the left two lanes, but the sign was over the left shoulder with two dancing arrows pointing downward to the right.

jakeroot

Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 08:22:01 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 03, 2015, 07:39:19 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 03, 2015, 06:06:58 PM
Crazy Ohioans and your lazily placed arrows. There's a reason they aren't allowed anymore.

:bigass:

Yep. Because somebody, or a group of somebodies, at FHWA is anal-retentive.

I completely agree with you. Motorists that can't figure out the lanes indicated by dancing arrows probably shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car.  There were some interesting dancing arrows signs in the Oklahoma City area quite a few years ago but I haven't been able to find the signs on Google maps.  The signs indicated the left two lanes, but the sign was over the left shoulder with two dancing arrows pointing downward to the right.

No argument about roads is complete without somebody claiming "if a driver can't understand **fill in the blank** they shouldn't have a licence". The point is, there's superior alternatives that cost a hair more -- the cost reduction from using dancing arrows is semantics. Be frugal, not cheap.

machias

Here's the dancing arrows sign in Oklahoma I was talking about before. Courtesy of okhighways.com


I believe that there are a lot of projects, not just signing projects, but upkeep of highways in general, that need to be done immediately. Crumbling bridges, poor pavement conditions, bottlenecks from inadequate capacity, all of it. Saving money in signing practices, even if it's reducing the size of signs that span the entire width of the highway just so the arrows are centered over a lane, contributes to making more funds available for other crucial highway projects.




cl94

Quote from: jakeroot on March 03, 2015, 08:38:21 PM
Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 08:22:01 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on March 03, 2015, 07:39:19 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on March 03, 2015, 06:06:58 PM
Crazy Ohioans and your lazily placed arrows. There's a reason they aren't allowed anymore.

:bigass:

Yep. Because somebody, or a group of somebodies, at FHWA is anal-retentive.

I completely agree with you. Motorists that can't figure out the lanes indicated by dancing arrows probably shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car.  There were some interesting dancing arrows signs in the Oklahoma City area quite a few years ago but I haven't been able to find the signs on Google maps.  The signs indicated the left two lanes, but the sign was over the left shoulder with two dancing arrows pointing downward to the right.

No argument about roads is complete without somebody claiming "if a driver can't understand **fill in the blank** they shouldn't have a licence". The point is, there's superior alternatives that cost a hair more -- the cost reduction from using dancing arrows is semantics. Be frugal, not cheap.

The thing with dancing arrows is also that they were rarely (if ever used) in the northeast and other regions. Out here, downward-slanting arrows meant the same thing as upward-slanting arrows, except they were used if the main movement curved. I remember going somewhere with the dancing arrows for the first time and it took my parents (both of whom went to grad school) a while to figure out (as in they had to reach the gore). The decision distance is too short.

That's part of why they were banned altogether: downward-slanting arrows have different meanings in different parts of the country and it's best to limit confusion. Heck, two down arrows over the same lane is probably better than the slants because that notation was used over a larger part of the country and there's less room for interpretation.

The posted OK example should have just used a pull-through or had the other 2 signs shifted 12 feet to the right. From the point of the everyday driver not used to such notation, it may be confusing, especially if they're familiar with the old NYSDOT use of downward slants.
Please note: All posts represent my personal opinions and do not represent those of my employer or any of its partner agencies.

Travel Mapping (updated weekly)

vtk

Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 09:35:33 PM
Here's the dancing arrows sign in Oklahoma I was talking about before. Courtesy of okhighways.com


That exit direction sign is badly placed.  Where's the exit?  Move that sign to wherever the hell exit 2E actually is, and move the other signs to the right a bit.
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

machias

Quote from: vtk on March 03, 2015, 09:48:32 PM
Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 09:35:33 PM
Here's the dancing arrows sign in Oklahoma I was talking about before. Courtesy of okhighways.com


That exit direction sign is badly placed.  Where's the exit?  Move that sign to wherever the hell exit 2E actually is, and move the other signs to the right a bit.

Honestly I don't think that having arrows on the pull-thru is necessary.  That'd be the ideal, no arrows at all.

Personally I think NYSDOT did the dancing arrows the right way: usually at the gore, showing a higher speed ramp or split.

Instead of banning dancing arrows altogether, the MUTCD should specify their use instead of resorting to monstrous signs that span the ever increasing number of lanes in roadways.

NE2

Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 09:55:07 PM
Personally I think NYSDOT did the dancing arrows the right way: usually at the gore, showing a higher speed ramp or split.
I think NYSDOT did dancing arrow avoidance the right way:

from http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/i-787/
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

machias

Quote from: NE2 on March 03, 2015, 09:59:06 PM
Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 09:55:07 PM
Personally I think NYSDOT did the dancing arrows the right way: usually at the gore, showing a higher speed ramp or split.
I think NYSDOT did dancing arrow avoidance the right way:

from http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/i-787/

I agree. I'd much rather see this instead of all that extra green space just to make a rectangular sign.

mrsman

Quote from: 1995hoo on February 27, 2015, 09:12:08 AM
Quote from: HTM Duke on February 27, 2015, 04:12:03 AM
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.

The Prince/Commerce sign is pretty interesting.  Mileage signs to Winchester and New Market (both towns are along the I-81 corridor).  My guess is that the routing tells people to go along Commerce Street which runs into Duke.  Duke Street becomes Little River Turnpike and gets you into Fairfax.  In Fairfax, you can continue straight along what is now US 50 towards Winchester.  Or you can follow what is now "Lee Highway" (pre-Civil War known as Warrenton Road, now the US 29 to US 211) to New Market.   

It's interesting that they chose to highlight relatively far away cities.

jakeroot

Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 10:02:48 PM
Quote from: NE2 on March 03, 2015, 09:59:06 PM
Quote from: upstatenyroads on March 03, 2015, 09:55:07 PM
Personally I think NYSDOT did the dancing arrows the right way: usually at the gore, showing a higher speed ramp or split.

I think NYSDOT did dancing arrow avoidance the right way:

from http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ny/i-787/

I agree. I'd much rather see this instead of all that extra green space just to make a rectangular sign.

Hmm. I don't know what to think about that sign.

Here's an alternative that might shave costs:


SignGeek101

Not a road sign, but might as well be:

http://goo.gl/maps/tHdGA

Looks official to me  :clap:

2 km north of the US border in BC.

HTM Duke

I can't say that I've ever seen an angled wayfinding sign anywhere else in Virginia.

VA-249 near Quntion, VA.
List of routes: Traveled | Clinched

PurdueBill

The top-hat design on the 787 sign (specimens exist(ed) also on I-87 in NY iIrc, and I-95 in MA) is clear and saves metal and wind load.  The ODOT I-71 sign with "dancing" arrows as shown should not be a problem either.  There are no lanes sharing arrows which is the place where dancing arrows are usually (and liberally) used in Ohio.  There really isn't much wrong with that sign at all.  If the MUTCD police were to demand an immediate correction, I'd just take off the arrows for spite and leave it as a pull-through without arrows.  The exit-only lanes are clearly marked and departing already. 

Some of the anal retentive things in the MUTCD are really annoying.  How do they cook? Like this guy?

NE2

Quote from: HTM Duke on March 04, 2015, 01:08:34 AM
I can't say that I've ever seen an angled wayfinding sign anywhere else in Virginia.

VA-249 near Quntion, VA.
This used to be a standard for parks and such.
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

freebrickproductions

Quote from: NE2 on March 04, 2015, 11:08:42 AM
Quote from: HTM Duke on March 04, 2015, 01:08:34 AM
I can't say that I've ever seen an angled wayfinding sign anywhere else in Virginia.

VA-249 near Quntion, VA.
This used to be a standard for parks and such.
Alabama has several of these, and they still use them to an extent.
This one (and another one just up the road) replaced some button-copy ones of the same design:
http://www.instantstreetview.com/@34.588363,-86.980379,-9.97h,11.38p,3z
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)

freebrickproductions

I know this is a double post, but these AL 20 shields seem to be a bit off:
http://www.instantstreetview.com/@34.60905,-86.977785,45.34h,9.19p,2z

To me, it appears that they used a 3di shields.
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)



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