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

[MNHighwayMan]

What is it about the new pavement that requires less salt? Also seems a little odd that they're posting signs about road salt, when it's nearly July.

I think it's not that it requires less salt but rather the hope to reduce corrosion and failure of the concrete until it's had more time (I'm talking a few years) to continue curing and gaining strength.  That sign could be up for a few years, so might as well post it now as part of the project.

The road surface is asphalt, though. Unless maybe there's concrete underneath, or maybe they're concerned about the culverts over the creek? (They're what's behind the fence there.)

That explanation makes sense, though.

[ipeters61]

Today I decided to take DE-16 to the beach and found this interesting "Post Office" sign in Ellendale.

[cjk374]

Red street blades at the City of Seattle's Joint Training Facility for police and firefighters.

https://i.imgur.com/dIxNJpq.jpg

With complementary fake street names! Nice find.

I know one of those names ain't fake....my last name is on one of those blades. 

[frankenroad]

Today I decided to take DE-16 to the beach and found this interesting "Post Office" sign in Ellendale.

I thought the sign underneath was more interesting.   I have seen similar signs in other areas, but usually it will say something like, "NO PARKING IF SNOWFALL EXCEEDS TWO INCHES"   -- I've never seen one restricting parking due to the duration of snowfall.

[ipeters61]

Today I decided to take DE-16 to the beach and found this interesting "Post Office" sign in Ellendale.

I thought the sign underneath was more interesting.   I have seen similar signs in other areas, but usually it will say something like, "NO PARKING IF SNOWFALL EXCEEDS TWO INCHES"   -- I've never seen one restricting parking due to the duration of snowfall.

Yeah, we have signs like that all over Dover.  I actually didn't take notice of the ones in Ellendale, so I'm not quite sure if it's something universal to the central/southern part of the state (I can't remember what Newark's policy was when I lived there).

[Big John]

Today I decided to take DE-16 to the beach and found this interesting "Post Office" sign in Ellendale.

I thought the sign underneath was more interesting.   I have seen similar signs in other areas, but usually it will say something like, "NO PARKING IF SNOWFALL EXCEEDS TWO INCHES"   -- I've never seen one restricting parking due to the duration of snowfall.

And the sign should be red on white for a parking restriction.

[1995hoo]

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I walked past the school I attended from fourth through sixth grades. In the midst of a bunch of standard-issue signs about parking restrictions, we found this rather unusual one. I kept picturing the scene in Animal House where they hit golf balls off the hill towards Niedermayer.

[mrsman]

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I walked past the school I attended from fourth through sixth grades. In the midst of a bunch of standard-issue signs about parking restrictions, we found this rather unusual one. I kept picturing the scene in Animal House where they hit golf balls off the hill towards Niedermayer.

They'd only put up a sign if this is an actual problem.  They probably had people golfing there.  Authorities told them to stop, with the response being "it's not against the law."  And now we have a sign.

[1995hoo]

^^^

Probably so. That sign is at the top of a small hill. It's a bigger hill than it looks in the picture.

[sprjus4]

^
Reminds me of this "No Fishing From Bridge" sign on the US-17 Bypass around Edenton, NC - the bypass being a 70 mph limited-access freeway.

Someone probably was fishing from the bridge, said there's no rules against, and now there's a sign v

[ipeters61]

^
Reminds me of this "No Fishing From Bridge" sign on the US-17 Bypass around Edenton, NC - the bypass being a 70 mph limited-access freeway.

Someone probably was fishing from the bridge, said there's no rules against, and now there's a sign v

We've got a few of those in Delaware.  I can think of one on US-13 at Drawyer Creek (Odessa (55 MPH highway with generally 65 MPH traffic)), US-13 at Duck Creek (Smyrna (similar story, probably slightly slower traffic since it's still in the town)), and DE-1 at the Murderkill River (Frederica (55 MPH highway with crossovers but only one light between Dover and Lewes (40 miles) with generally 70 MPH traffic)).

[sprjus4]

We've got a few of those in Delaware.  I can think of one on US-13 at Drawyer Creek (Odessa (55 MPH highway with generally 65 MPH traffic)), US-13 at Duck Creek (Smyrna (similar story, probably slightly slower traffic since it's still in the town)), and DE-1 at the Murderkill River (Frederica (55 MPH highway with crossovers but only one light between Dover and Lewes (40 miles) with generally 70 MPH traffic)).

I'd say those are more reasonable since they are not freeways, but the point still stands.

The NC example was on a full 70 mph limited-access freeway, with generally 70-80 mph traffic. I wonder if any other freeway bypasses have that... probably if so, it'd be in North Carolina! I'll have to do some street view hunting.

Interestingly, on that same freeway bypass, it crosses the much larger Chowan River, still at 70 mph, and there's no signage. https://www.google.com/maps/@36.042224,-76.7066918,3a,75y,64.35h,77.33t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sh0CJnoW_YbJkY_PUxw1sIw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

[ErmineNotyours]

^
Reminds me of this "No Fishing From Bridge" sign on the US-17 Bypass around Edenton, NC - the bypass being a 70 mph limited-access freeway.

Someone probably was fishing from the bridge, said there's no rules against, and now there's a sign v

Something similar, on Government Island, traversed by I-205 in Oregon. They have to put up a sign to keep pedestrians from crossing four lanes of freeway traffic.  Google Street View

[mrsman]

^
Reminds me of this "No Fishing From Bridge" sign on the US-17 Bypass around Edenton, NC - the bypass being a 70 mph limited-access freeway.

Someone probably was fishing from the bridge, said there's no rules against, and now there's a sign v

Something similar, on Government Island, traversed by I-205 in Oregon. They have to put up a sign to keep pedestrians from crossing four lanes of freeway traffic.  Google Street View

This was a famous sign at a Border Inspection Facility in California that existed about 50 miles north of the border.

https://images.app.goo.gl/CFX3vw7oEBtva1836

Yes, people ran out of cars onto a freeway to escape the border patrol, but they had to warn others driving to the hazard.

[D-Dey65]

Today I decided to take DE-16 to the beach and found this interesting "Post Office" sign in Ellendale.

I thought the sign underneath was more interesting.   I have seen similar signs in other areas, but usually it will say something like, "NO PARKING IF SNOWFALL EXCEEDS TWO INCHES"   -- I've never seen one restricting parking due to the duration of snowfall.

And the sign should be red on white for a parking restriction.

I've seen plenty of Snow Emergency Route signs, but none that have restrictions for parking that specific. The ones I've seen myself have either been red on white as Big John describes but also partially white on red, or have been black on white. But some that I've seen online have also been blue with white snowflake logos on them.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carle_Place_LIRR_Station;_n22_Bus_Stop.jpg


https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/omaha.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/18/5181cff3-d48a-5b1a-b57b-88febabfde71/5c7152677e726.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C1215


https://www.compliancesigns.com/PKE-20285.shtml?ref=champ

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7571338628_3ca79f8374_n.jpg

^
Reminds me of this "No Fishing From Bridge" sign on the US-17 Bypass around Edenton, NC - the bypass being a 70 mph limited-access freeway.

Someone probably was fishing from the bridge, said there's no rules against, and now there's a sign v

Something similar, on Government Island, traversed by I-205 in Oregon. They have to put up a sign to keep pedestrians from crossing four lanes of freeway traffic.  Google Street View

Really? Because to me it seems about as useless as a sign saying "No Walking your Pet Iguana." I can picture idiots trying to cross lanes of a freeway, but fishing from a bridge on one?

[ipeters61]

An odd "2000#" weight limit sign (creative use of #?) I saw on a bike ride down the St. Jones Greenway trail (south of Dover) yesterday morning:



To offset that, the night before, I finally decided to take a picture of this older US-13 shield in the Rodney Village neighborhood on the south side of Dover the night before that photo was taken:

[Jovet]

This is my re-creation of this sign down the street from me.  I've never seen or heard of any similar sign anywhere else.  I suspect it's not obvious to most people what it means, and I had to stare at it a bit at first too, but showing its context in Google Street View should make its meaning more obvious.  https://goo.gl/maps/N1cc1CYqfiADp6NY8     But, this lane situation is hardly unique in the city, so I'm curious why a sign was deemed needed to be designed and installed here.  Whether this is "good" or "bad" or "ugly" I am not sure, but it is definitely unusual and interesting.  I've tried to come up with a succinct textual message equivalent and haven't had a good one yet.  What do you think of this sign?  Anyone seen anything similar anywhere else?

[D-Dey65]

Is this another attempt by the PC Police to eliminate sites related to the Confederate States of America, such as deleting former sections of the Old Dixie Highway?

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4816345,-81.271074,3a,75y,84.98h,85.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spZPELugmXaroeGh7rTEnYQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en

[Scott5114]

Is this another attempt by the PC Police to eliminate sites related to the Confederate States of America, such as deleting former sections of the Old Dixie Highway?

The PC Police don't have jurisdiction over signage. Their mandate is to take as many Macintoshes off the streets as possible.

You're thinking of the Department of Transportation. Easy mistake to make.

[Verlanka]

Since when has Dixie become part of the Confederacy?

[formulanone]

Is this another attempt by the PC Police to eliminate sites related to the Confederate States of America, such as deleting former sections of the Old Dixie Highway?

(link)

I think CR 13 is Old Dixie Highway and "Forgotten Road" is technically Even Older Dixie Highway, since the original brick surface is still visible.

It was probably renamed long before your imagination kicked in; whenever CR 13 was joined up with US 1 for a smoother and safer transition between the roads and the Florida East Coast line.

[roadfro]

This is my re-creation of this sign down the street from me.  I've never seen or heard of any similar sign anywhere else.  I suspect it's not obvious to most people what it means, and I had to stare at it a bit at first too, but showing its context in Google Street View should make its meaning more obvious.  https://goo.gl/maps/N1cc1CYqfiADp6NY8     But, this lane situation is hardly unique in the city, so I'm curious why a sign was deemed needed to be designed and installed here.  Whether this is "good" or "bad" or "ugly" I am not sure, but it is definitely unusual and interesting.  I've tried to come up with a succinct textual message equivalent and haven't had a good one yet.  What do you think of this sign?  Anyone seen anything similar anywhere else?

Never seen anything like this before.

Only thing I can think of to explain it is that you've got a two-way left turn lane for a little bit before this point, but the marking suddenly changes at this intersection right before the signal. Perhaps for the instance where there could be backups in the signalized left turn, this indicates that you might encounter opposing traffic trying to turn left? Not sure that it's actually needed.

[J N Winkler]

This is my re-creation of this sign down the street from me.  I've never seen or heard of any similar sign anywhere else.  I suspect it's not obvious to most people what it means, and I had to stare at it a bit at first too, but showing its context in Google Street View should make its meaning more obvious.  https://goo.gl/maps/N1cc1CYqfiADp6NY8     But, this lane situation is hardly unique in the city, so I'm curious why a sign was deemed needed to be designed and installed here.  Whether this is "good" or "bad" or "ugly" I am not sure, but it is definitely unusual and interesting.  I've tried to come up with a succinct textual message equivalent and haven't had a good one yet.  What do you think of this sign?  Anyone seen anything similar anywhere else?

This is the only example I have seen, though I suspect pretty much every US city of any size has multiple instances of staggered intersections where both side roads attract heavy left-turning volumes off the main road and opposite-facing left turners come into conflict with each other, either along a TWLTL or an opposed pair of left-turn-only lanes (as shown on the sign).

Frankly, I don't think this sign is likely to be a good engineering countermeasure and may indeed be one of the poster children for controlled experimentation.  The symbol design is not simple and probably would not survive tachistoscope testing.  If the owning agency (City of Omaha, presumably) doesn't wish to address the conflict by installing a raised island (which can cause queuing issues at peak periods), I think it would be appropriate to consider converting the less important side road (Nicholas Street) into a cul-de-sac, as the subdivision it feeds has other outlets.

As for why this sign was installed in lieu of other and arguably better solutions:  (1) putting up a sign is cheaper than cutting into concrete, and (2) closing a street is a good way to make residents of the subdivision really, really angry.

[jakeroot]

Frankly, I don't think this sign is likely to be a good engineering countermeasure and may indeed be one of the poster children for controlled experimentation.  The symbol design is not simple and probably would not survive tachistoscope testing.  If the owning agency (City of Omaha, presumably) doesn't wish to address the conflict by installing a raised island (which can cause queuing issues at peak periods), I think it would be appropriate to consider converting the less important side road (Nicholas Street) into a cul-de-sac, as the subdivision it feeds has other outlets.

Perhaps they could totally eliminate the dedicated left turn lane for traffic towards Nicholas St? Have a break in the line to allow traffic to enter the left turn lane for Miracle Hills Dr, but then have a regular TWLTL south of that point. There might be some times of the day when left-turning traffic backs up into the TWLTL-portion of the roadway, forcing northbound traffic to turn left from the left through lane, but I hardly think this would be a major issue.

Worst-case scenario, just install a raised curb with flexi-posts along the double-yellow line. Traffic could enter Nicholas Street from southbound only, but could exit Nicholas St in either direction (using the TWLTL to merge into northbound traffic, local laws permitting).

Side-note: can anyone confirm for me that the double turns off Miracle Hills Dr have to yield to pedestrians? They use green orbs, but I suppose they could stay red during the WALK phase.

[D-Dey65]

Is this another attempt by the PC Police to eliminate sites related to the Confederate States of America, such as deleting former sections of the Old Dixie Highway?

(link)

I think CR 13 is Old Dixie Highway and "Forgotten Road" is technically Even Older Dixie Highway, since the original brick surface is still visible.

It was probably renamed long before your imagination kicked in; whenever CR 13 was joined up with US 1 for a smoother and safer transition between the roads and the Florida East Coast line.

It appears the attempt to realign what is today CR 13 was being started as far back as 1957.

https://historicaerials.com/?layer=map&zoom=12&lat=29.4675&lon=-81.256944

The thing is, Google still has the name "North Old Dixie Highway," even though the sign says "Forgotten Lane," which made me think the street name on the sign was a little more recent, and perhaps a result of some public pressure. If I'm wrong, then so be it.

I saw an couple of older versions of the intersection on GSV, but I couldn't zoom in on the sign.