Signs With Design Errors

Started by CentralCAroadgeek, June 29, 2012, 08:22:36 PM

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WillWeaverRVA

When you run out of digits, don't use letters.

Will Weaver
WillWeaverRVA Photography | Twitter

"But how will the oxen know where to drown if we renumber the Oregon Trail?" - NE2


PHLBOS

#26
Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on July 05, 2012, 09:31:32 PM
When you run out of digits, don't use letters.


A movie theater in my hometown would frequently use an inverted "L" for a "7" in its marquis marquee signage for the showtimes.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

PurdueBill

Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on July 05, 2012, 09:31:32 PM
When you run out of digits, don't use letters.

There is at least one blue services logo sign on I-71 near Grove City, Ohio in button copy that has an upside-down L standing in for the 7 in "EXIT 97".  Thought I once got a picture, but can't locate it....

Takumi

Quote from: PHLBOS on July 06, 2012, 10:55:24 AM
Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on July 05, 2012, 09:31:32 PM
When you run out of digits, don't use letters.

A movie theater in my hometown would frequently use an inverted "L" for a "7" in its marquis signage for the showtimes.

That used to be a common occurrence on marquees at various local businesses, but I rarely see it on signs.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

Hot Rod Hootenanny

Quote from: roadman on July 04, 2012, 11:13:24 AM
Quote from: Central Avenue on July 03, 2012, 09:06:01 AM
lol backwards OH outline.

I've noticed that, with the adoption of Clearview, ODOT has started putting messages in mixed-case that they would previously have put in all-caps:




It's like someone noticed that all-caps Clearview is dumb but their boss forbids them from using the "old" font. :P



Is ODOT really still testing the pavement they put down 40 years ago?
No. They (and Ohio Univ) are still testing wear on pavement they put down 20 years ago.
As for the outer lanes, they're 50 years old.
Please, don't sue Alex & Andy over what I wrote above

Mr. Matté

Quote from: Mr. Matté on July 03, 2012, 04:25:38 PM
I passed that sign today on my bicycle and I saw something wrong with that sign clearly with my own eyes versus a blurry Streetview shot from 2007. It appears that the Speed Limit 40 part of that warning sign is just a reflective sticker pasted onto the yellow diamond base. I know this because whoever stuck that SL 40 onto the sign didn't do a good job, there were air bubbles and bunching (don't know the exact wording) on the white part of that sign. While this doesn't affect the conveying of the information on the sign especially if you're in a car (or the heavy trucks on that particular road from the concrete factory east of there) driving 55 mph, it's just sloppy workmanship.

Re me: I finally got some close-up pix of that sign and its deformities:



(Bonus off-topic pix: an old-timey warning reflector in Allentown and an older-timey truss bridge)

agentsteel53

I cannot read the date stamp on that bridge.  18xx.  1832?  that seems a bit old for that style of bridge design.  1882?
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Mr. Matté

Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 11, 2012, 02:17:02 PM
I cannot read the date stamp on that bridge.  18xx.  1832?  that seems a bit old for that style of bridge design.  1882?

Looks to be 1891.

agentsteel53

Quote from: Mr. Matté on July 11, 2012, 02:55:44 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 11, 2012, 02:17:02 PM
I cannot read the date stamp on that bridge.  18xx.  1832?  that seems a bit old for that style of bridge design.  1882?

Looks to be 1891.

thanks!  that is logical.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

vtk

Associated with the Alum Creek Dr / Groveport Rd interchange construction near Columbus:


Yes, that's blue legend on an orange background.  I can't tell if the border is blue or black.  All of the "alternate route" signage is like this.  Sorry for the crappy photo, what with the camera phone and dirty windshield, but I was working at the time...

This was probably put up by the contractor that's actually building the interchange.  FCEO probably would have stuck with black legend, put Groveport Rd in mixed-case, and done it all in Clearview.
Wait, it's all Ohio? Always has been.

Central Avenue

Oh, wow...I'd forgotten it until just now, but I'm sure I've seen blue-on-orange detour signs used in Columbus at least once before.

Unfortunately, it was years ago, and I can't for the life of me remember where it was...
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

1995hoo

Overhead sign on I-295 in DC a few months ago. I don't know if it's still there because I can't see it from the ramp where I normally enter that road (going the other way, too), but I know at least one other orange overhead sign is still up nearby.

(edited to add:) Funny, after I submitted this post I noticed for the first time that the sign also uses Clearview, which I do not recall having ever seen anywhere else in the District of Columbia.

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

roadman

Quote from: 1995hoo on July 13, 2012, 01:37:26 PM
Overhead sign on I-295 in DC a few months ago. I don't know if it's still there because I can't see it from the ramp where I normally enter that road (going the other way, too), but I know at least one other orange overhead sign is still up nearby.

(edited to add:) Funny, after I submitted this post I noticed for the first time that the sign also uses Clearview, which I do not recall having ever seen anywhere else in the District of Columbia.



The photo illustrates a pet peeve of mine.  Using black on orange for guide signs in construction areas, even if they're not related to a detour.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

1995hoo

Quote from: roadman on July 13, 2012, 02:55:22 PM
The photo illustrates a pet peeve of mine.  Using black on orange for guide signs in construction areas, even if they're not related to a detour.

Notice also it appears they failed to put a space between the fraction and the word "mile."
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Compulov

Quote from: 1995hoo on July 13, 2012, 01:37:26 PM
Overhead sign on I-295 in DC a few months ago. I don't know if it's still there because I can't see it from the ramp where I normally enter that road (going the other way, too), but I know at least one other orange overhead sign is still up nearby.

(edited to add:) Funny, after I submitted this post I noticed for the first time that the sign also uses Clearview, which I do not recall having ever seen anywhere else in the District of Columbia.



Maybe it's just the picture, but that day-glo orange makes my eyes bleed. It's worse than areas that decide they're going to use day-glo yellow for all of their warning signs.

PurdueBill

A very subtle one that happens from time to time--can you see it?  It really isn't even a design error, more of an assembly error, as the sign was designed correctly and assembled with a minor discrepancy.


from Steve's site, on ramp from I-490


my own, from OH 82

Yes, in both cases, the small caps S traded places with the lowercase larger s on the I-71 sign.

Oddly, the same type of thing happened on at least one MA 3A sign without a pair of letters to swap--maybe they were just short a small caps S and improvised.  The Ss in "Morrissey" all check out ok.


From Steve's MA 203 page

Oh, and cheers to ODOT--it appears that in the recent Clearview replacement of button copy (boo) on I-71's southernmost miles in Cuyahoga County, only signs right at the interchanges were replaced on intersecting roads.  The button copy on the gantry on OH 82 pictured above (and signs facing the other direction, a pull-through for OH 82 and signs for Howe Rd. to the west) live on.  Hooray!

Alps

Quote from: PurdueBill on July 13, 2012, 06:25:29 PM
A very subtle one that happens from time to time--can you see it?
How the heck did you?

PHLBOS

Quote from: PurdueBill on July 13, 2012, 06:25:29 PM
A very subtle one that happens from time to time--can you see it?  It really isn't even a design error, more of an assembly error, as the sign was designed correctly and assembled with a minor discrepancy.
One of the BGS' on the approach ramp to I-95 from PA 413 in Bristol (Exit 40) has a lower-case u for the the word SOuTH for I-95 South.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

PurdueBill

Quote from: Steve on July 13, 2012, 06:36:33 PM
Quote from: PurdueBill on July 13, 2012, 06:25:29 PM
A very subtle one that happens from time to time--can you see it?
How the heck did you?

I kept noticing that something wasn't quite right with them and actually it wasn't until I saw the 71/176 pair and stared at them long enough that it hit me that the small caps letters S in the two adjacent signs weren't the same.  Then it hit me that maybe there was a switcheroo made.  Ever since then, it's been one of those things that leaps out at me.  It's like the first time that the arrow in the white space in the FedEx logo was mentioned to me--I'd never thought about or noticed it before, but once you've become aware of it, you see it all the time.

There are other fun swaps of large lowercase and small caps letters that are immediately obvious (like the pull-through on the Mass Pike WB approaching the Weston tolls where the sign says WorcesTer (with a small-caps T that fits among the neighboring letters height-wise), but admittedly the S for s swap is something I wouldn't have figured out if it weren't for the 71 and 176 signs pictured above being next to each other.

national highway 1

Quote from: 1995hoo on July 13, 2012, 01:37:26 PM
Overhead sign on I-295 in DC a few months ago. I don't know if it's still there because I can't see it from the ramp where I normally enter that road (going the other way, too), but I know at least one other orange overhead sign is still up nearby.

(edited to add:) Funny, after I submitted this post I noticed for the first time that the sign also uses Clearview, which I do not recall having ever seen anywhere else in the District of Columbia.


I thought I-695 DC was unsigned, but apparently, like I-110 TX it is now signed?
"Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take." Jeremiah 31:21

Scott5114

Does DC 295 still disappear at the exit direction sign?  One of the only times I've "gotten lost" in living memory. "Take this exit, it's for DC 295! Wait, no, apparently it's not! Fuck, we're in Anacostia!"
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

elsmere241

Quote from: Scott5114 on July 14, 2012, 01:24:32 AM
Does DC 295 still disappear at the exit direction sign?  One of the only times I've "gotten lost" in living memory. "Take this exit, it's for DC 295! Wait, no, apparently it's not! Fuck, we're in Anacostia!"

That happened to me once too.  Last time I tried cutting through the District . . .

Brandon



A pet peeve of mine, large capital letters with tiny lowercase letters.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

national highway 1

^ Also that I-94 shield needs to be straightened up a bit.
"Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take." Jeremiah 31:21

andrewkbrown

Quote from: 1995hoo on July 13, 2012, 01:37:26 PM
Overhead sign on I-295 in DC a few months ago. I don't know if it's still there because I can't see it from the ramp where I normally enter that road (going the other way, too), but I know at least one other orange overhead sign is still up nearby.

(edited to add:) Funny, after I submitted this post I noticed for the first time that the sign also uses Clearview, which I do not recall having ever seen anywhere else in the District of Columbia.



It's still up. This one, and a few others.
Firefighter/Paramedic
Washington DC Fire & EMS



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