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ODOT Strikes Again

Started by rte66man, July 25, 2015, 05:11:52 PM

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rte66man

Since I can't get a valid link from Flickr to embed the pic, you can go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/rte66man/19985243625/ to see the new challenger for ODOT's worst sign category.

When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra


Zeffy

Not even the state-named I-44 shield can save that piece of shit from being called what it is - a piece of shit.
Life would be boring if we didn't take an offramp every once in a while

A weird combination of a weather geek, roadgeek, car enthusiast and furry mixed with many anxiety related disorders

Darkchylde

The funny thing is that the atrocious "Okla City" in the sign body isn't even needed, considering it's also in the tab! Without that chicken scratch scrawled in the middle of the sign, it wouldn't look so bad!

I'd say I want some of what ODOT's smoking, but I'd be too worried about getting brain damage.

Brandon

DSC_0020 by rte66man, on Flickr

Like this?  I put it on the Worst of Road Signs thread as well for you.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

DeaconG

Dawnstar: "You're an ape! And you can talk!"
King Solovar: "And you're a human with wings! Reality holds surprises for everyone!"
-Crisis On Infinite Earths #2

J N Winkler

It is bad, but not in quite the same league as the infamous Craig County sign.  Could this be an OTA sign?
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini

rte66man

Quote from: J N Winkler on July 26, 2015, 05:46:27 PM
It is bad, but not in quite the same league as the infamous Craig County sign.  Could this be an OTA sign?

I asked my daughter (who works for ODOT).  She said ODOT does the signing for OTA in most instances.
When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra

Henry

What the hell were they thinking? The sign never needed the tab in the first place, and the fonts look just plain wrong.
Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

SignGeek101

Here, something that can fix it (maybe post in redesign this?)



Arrow is of Quebec design (which I like)

Example: https://goo.gl/maps/NB5ZZ

TXtoNJ

Quote from: Henry on July 30, 2015, 12:08:00 PM
What the hell were they thinking? The sign never needed the tab in the first place, and the fonts look just plain wrong.

Probably fabricated it as a single sign. Emphasized "TURNPIKE" so that people wouldn't drive on the toll road and then complain when they got to the plaza that they didn't know. Started getting complaints that they didn't know which way the road went (the Bailey Turnpike goes N/S here, even though it's signed E/W), so they added the OKC tab. Started getting complaints that no one noticed the tab, so they added "OkLA. CITY" with spare letters the sign fabricator had in the shop.

roadman65

Quote from: Brandon on July 25, 2015, 10:15:10 PM
DSC_0020 by rte66man, on Flickr

Like this?  I put it on the Worst of Road Signs thread as well for you.
Belongs in the Department of Redundancy Department.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Thing 342

Quote from: Darkchylde on July 25, 2015, 07:43:39 PM
The funny thing is that the atrocious "Okla City" in the sign body isn't even needed, considering it's also in the tab! Without that chicken scratch scrawled in the middle of the sign, it wouldn't look so bad!

I'd say I want some of what ODOT's smoking, but I'd be too worried about getting brain damage.
Yeah, without the ridiculous OKLA CITY crammed in the middle, it's not a bad sign:


thenetwork

Quote from: Thing 342 on July 30, 2015, 02:33:38 PM
Quote from: Darkchylde on July 25, 2015, 07:43:39 PM
The funny thing is that the atrocious "Okla City" in the sign body isn't even needed, considering it's also in the tab! Without that chicken scratch scrawled in the middle of the sign, it wouldn't look so bad!

I'd say I want some of what ODOT's smoking, but I'd be too worried about getting brain damage.
Yeah, without the ridiculous OKLA CITY crammed in the middle, it's not a bad sign:



Like TxtoNJ said, this was probably what the sign looked like prior to the 3rd Grader addendum.  It might have worked better if the OK City tab was moved to the lower right side of the sign.

TXtoNJ

Quote from: thenetwork on July 30, 2015, 03:44:41 PM
Quote from: Thing 342 on July 30, 2015, 02:33:38 PM
Quote from: Darkchylde on July 25, 2015, 07:43:39 PM
The funny thing is that the atrocious "Okla City" in the sign body isn't even needed, considering it's also in the tab! Without that chicken scratch scrawled in the middle of the sign, it wouldn't look so bad!

I'd say I want some of what ODOT's smoking, but I'd be too worried about getting brain damage.
Yeah, without the ridiculous OKLA CITY crammed in the middle, it's not a bad sign:



Like TxtoNJ said, this was probably what the sign looked like prior to the 3rd Grader addendum.  It might have worked better if the OK City tab was moved to the lower right side of the sign.

The other direction: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0225473,-97.9347926,3a,15y,35.96h,88.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRsYoLRQikHeBecETYYVeqQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Scott5114

I felt like redesigning it.


"Okla. City" is standard but there was enough room to fit the whole thing so I figured why not spell it out.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef


US71

Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Brandon

"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

Bobby5280

#18
I'm not sure why Oklahoma ends up with some of the poorly designed (and fabricated) traffic signs on its highways. Could it be ODOT jobbing out some sign jobs to subcontractors who don't know or don't care how to follow the MUTCD and SHS manuals? That might explain some of the odd, non-standard Interstate shields, wrong fonts and other garbage I've seen on some green signs in Oklahoma. Penny pinching definitely has to be a factor on some of these signs. Some signs have panels that are way too small for the message being displayed. Some existing signs get additional lettering crammed onto their panels well after they were first installed.

I copied some Google Maps/Street View links to several bad examples.

Here's a few where lowercase letters were reduced to 75% of their normal height. I've seen this sign error in other states. The error comes from a misunderstanding of MUTCD rules regarding approved sign fonts. The typeface has to have lowercase letters with an x-height at least 75% the height of the capital "M" height. For example a font with the capital letter "M" set at 1 inch tall would have a lowercase "x" at least 3/4 inches tall. Some goofball at ODOT decided the lowercase characters had to be scaled down to 75% of their normal height. That would reduce that 3/4 inch tall "x" in my hypothetical example down to just 7/16" tall. Anyway, examples:
I-44: State Line & Wichita Falls mileage sign: goo.gl/y3HJiA
I-44: Lawton & Okla City mileage sign: goo.gl/AKLNuD
I-44: Grandfield exit sign: goo.gl/1s1czt

This might be the most tiny exit sign in the entire Interstate highway system. But it still needed two support posts!
goo.gl/yU3v5t

Check out the I-35 shield on the Wichita sign: goo.gl/z8PC3P
They took a 3di shield and squeezed it into the width of a 2di shield. I'm not sure why they had to do that. The I-44 & I-35 shields on the left side of the sign bridge are normal.

This is one of a few examples along the Rogers Lane fake freeway in Lawton:
goo.gl/gYYMk8
ODOT went with a smaller, cheaper sign panel yet really tried to cram those Clearview letters together. They could have used a more naturally condensed weight like 2W or 3W, but that wouldn't have the same look as a real freeway sign. The problem is this crap they installed along this fake freeway doesn't look like a proper freeway sign either.

ODOT must have had people peeling and sticking the vinyl letters on this sign one at a time:
goo.gl/hA71SQ
Some of the words have mixed letter sizes in the same word. Check out the huge "l" in "Great Plains" or the big "r" in "Auditorium." Some of the letters were applied a bit crooked to give the sign more of a wacky look.

This sign is near Elgin on I-44:
goo.gl/7UaoQV
The sign for the Elgin exit is pretty old. It's one of those Frankenstein jobs where additional lettering for Sterling was added later.

jwolfer

I agree with not using abbreviations when there is room.. I don't like how signs for Philadelphia say Phila.

Z981


Brandon

Quote from: Bobby5280 on June 08, 2018, 03:54:38 PM
This sign is near Elgin on I-44:
goo.gl/7UaoQV
The sign for the Elgin exit is pretty old. It's one of those Frankenstein jobs where additional lettering for Sterling was added later.

The Clearview "2 MILES" on an otherwise fully FHWA sign is just icing on the cake.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

sparker

In regards to the state highway "hatchet" signage, it certainly looks like ODOT simply stocks the raw unnumbered sign and applies the route numbers via adhesive "appliques"; how much care was put into this process (it shouldn't be too difficult for the district shops to cobble up some jigs!) is reflected in the differences in placement, kerning, etc.  In the case of the 165/351 shields on the US 62 approach BGS, it looks like they got lazy on the 165 shield and simply lined up the numbers along the bottom edge; 351 was better centered (vertically) in that regard, but the kerning between the digits is a bit off.  I suppose it depends upon the shop and how the staff is feeling on any particular day! 

Brian556

Quote from: sparker on June 08, 2018, 08:01:07 PM
In regards to the state highway "hatchet" signage, it certainly looks like ODOT simply stocks the raw unnumbered sign and applies the route numbers via adhesive "appliques"; how much care was put into this process (it shouldn't be too difficult for the district shops to cobble up some jigs!) is reflected in the differences in placement, kerning, etc.  In the case of the 165/351 shields on the US 62 approach BGS, it looks like they got lazy on the 165 shield and simply lined up the numbers along the bottom edge; 351 was better centered (vertically) in that regard, but the kerning between the digits is a bit off.  I suppose it depends upon the shop and how the staff is feeling on any particular day! 

On the 165 sign, the shape of OK got elongated vertically. how do you explain that? The route marker design should be standardized with no way to do that

rte66man

Quote from: Brian556 on June 08, 2018, 10:01:50 PM
Quote from: sparker on June 08, 2018, 08:01:07 PM
In regards to the state highway "hatchet" signage, it certainly looks like ODOT simply stocks the raw unnumbered sign and applies the route numbers via adhesive "appliques"; how much care was put into this process (it shouldn't be too difficult for the district shops to cobble up some jigs!) is reflected in the differences in placement, kerning, etc.  In the case of the 165/351 shields on the US 62 approach BGS, it looks like they got lazy on the 165 shield and simply lined up the numbers along the bottom edge; 351 was better centered (vertically) in that regard, but the kerning between the digits is a bit off.  I suppose it depends upon the shop and how the staff is feeling on any particular day! 

On the 165 sign, the shape of OK got elongated vertically. how do you explain that? The route marker design should be standardized with no way to do that

How does this one compare?
When you come to a fork in the road... TAKE IT.

                                                               -Yogi Berra

skluth

I worked for the government for 34 years, including five in the Navy. I can imagine a variety of explanations, though they're not necessarily right. The upside-down L as 7 was they ran out of 7's and needed the sign that day. The double post was two guys who didn't know the answer or were told every sign must have at least two posts. A couple of them are just guys who didn't care or were just bad; in either case, it's hard to get fired from the government. Some could even have been monetary decisions. I think they're bad. I sympathize. I can't think of anything you could do though other than vent here.



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