Interstate 95 signing work

Started by roadman, March 06, 2012, 07:46:59 PM

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bob7374

I've updated my I-95 in MA sign gallery to include new photos, now listed by exit, of new signage being put up between Attleboro and Norwood, including all the signs for the I-295 exit on I-95 North:


The entire set is at: https://malmeroads.net/mass21c/i95photos.html#attleboronorwood


Ted$8roadFan


bob7374

I took another trip down I-95 from Canton to Attleboro capturing photos of new signs put up in July, such as the 1/2 mile advance sign for the US 1 (to MA 27) exit:


The rest are at the I-95 in Mass. Gallery:
https://malmeroads.net/mass21c/i95photos.html#attleboronorwood

kramie13

Quote from: bob7374 on July 17, 2022, 11:20:46 PM
I took another trip down I-95 from Canton to Attleboro capturing photos of new signs put up in July, such as the 1/2 mile advance sign for the US 1 (to MA 27) exit:


The rest are at the I-95 in Mass. Gallery:
https://malmeroads.net/mass21c/i95photos.html#attleboronorwood

Why do the exit 19 signs going north have "Foxboro" as a control destination now?  Anyone going north on 95 headed to Foxborough would have gotten off at exit 13B or exit 17.  It seems really redundant!

Also, going back to the 1990s, this is the 3rd iteration of signage where MA 27 gets recognition on overhead signs going north, but not going south.  (There is a ground-mounted sign that says "to 27, exit 21" going south though.)  Why?

kramie13

Drove along I-95 yesterday between I-495 and the RI border.

Having grown up in Norton, it pains me to see the exit 4 sign going north now reading "Attleboro, S. Attleboro".  Why?

All exits for MA 1A have been replaced.  What I find odd is outside of the 1 mile advance sign, the signs also say "Newport Ave" in addition to the control city, but only going south.  There is also a 1 and a half mile advance sign for Exit 1.  And that sign also says "Broadway" in addition to the control city.  An "at-exit" sign for Exit 1 has not been installed yet, and has been missing for years.

Even more crazy, MassDOT has installed signs for the first two RI exits going south!  They're both between exit 1 and the RI border, and they're fabricated with the soon-to-be-defunct exit numbers (30 and 29)!  How wasteful!

DrSmith

Quote from: kramie13 on July 21, 2022, 08:07:17 AM
Even more crazy, MassDOT has installed signs for the first two RI exits going south!  They're both between exit 1 and the RI border, and they're fabricated with the soon-to-be-defunct exit numbers (30 and 29)!  How wasteful!

MassDOT has ownership and is responsible for signing the highway and they did it with the knowledge available probably 2+ years ago.

As for wasteful, this is like arguing for a $1 price reduction on the price of a house because one light switch cover is missing. It's not worth the effort. There are far bigger sources of waste of which to be concerned

bob7374

#531
Quote from: DrSmith on July 21, 2022, 10:09:04 AM
Quote from: kramie13 on July 21, 2022, 08:07:17 AM
Even more crazy, MassDOT has installed signs for the first two RI exits going south!  They're both between exit 1 and the RI border, and they're fabricated with the soon-to-be-defunct exit numbers (30 and 29)!  How wasteful!

MassDOT has ownership and is responsible for signing the highway and they did it with the knowledge available probably 2+ years ago.

As for wasteful, this is like arguing for a $1 price reduction on the price of a house because one light switch cover is missing. It's not worth the effort. There are far bigger sources of waste of which to be concerned
Here are the two new MassDOT signs with the current I-95 RI exit numbers, photos taken yesterday, in order:




The 1/2 mile advance in the project's sign plans for Roosevelt Ave. was not present. The exit sign for US 1 South was also not there. It appears one gantry prior to the US 1 South exit will hold both signs. Are they waiting until the RI exit numbers are being changed? If so, why did they post the other signs?

Photos of new signs taken yesterday, and evidence of where the missing sign for Roosevelt Ave. will go is at:
https://malmeroads.net/mass21c/i95photos.html#attleboronorwood

The Ghostbuster

Let us know when the new signs with the mileage-based exit numbers are erected along Interstate 95 in Rhode Island.

bob7374

Quote from: The Ghostbuster on August 02, 2022, 06:08:15 PM
Let us know when the new signs with the mileage-based exit numbers are erected along Interstate 95 in Rhode Island.
Information will be posted here and at New England Exit Renumbering Central:
https://malmeroads.net/mass21c/neexitrenumbering.html

roadman

#534
Quote from: bob7374 on August 02, 2022, 01:04:48 PM
The 1/2 mile advance in the project's sign plans for Roosevelt Ave. was not present. The exit sign for US 1 South was also not there. It appears one gantry prior to the US 1 South exit will hold both signs. Are they waiting until the RI exit numbers are being changed? If so, why did they post the other signs?

On larger sign replacement projects like this, the sign structure designs are normally submitted for approval in separate 'groups' of structures, which are generally based on structure and foundation type, as opposed to going in numerical order.  This allows for a more steady progression of installation work once the strucutres are fabricated, as opposed to the contractor suddenly being faced with having to install everything in a relatively short time frame. It is likely that the structures that haven't been installed yet are part of a later "group" that is still in fabrication.
"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)

Ted$8roadFan

Quote from: bob7374 on August 02, 2022, 01:04:48 PM
Quote from: DrSmith on July 21, 2022, 10:09:04 AM
Quote from: kramie13 on July 21, 2022, 08:07:17 AM
Even more crazy, MassDOT has installed signs for the first two RI exits going south!  They're both between exit 1 and the RI border, and they're fabricated with the soon-to-be-defunct exit numbers (30 and 29)!  How wasteful!

MassDOT has ownership and is responsible for signing the highway and they did it with the knowledge available probably 2+ years ago.

As for wasteful, this is like arguing for a $1 price reduction on the price of a house because one light switch cover is missing. It's not worth the effort. There are far bigger sources of waste of which to be concerned
Here are the two new MassDOT signs with the current I-95 RI exit numbers, photos taken yesterday, in order:




The 1/2 mile advance in the project's sign plans for Roosevelt Ave. was not present. The exit sign for US 1 South was also not there. It appears one gantry prior to the US 1 South exit will hold both signs. Are they waiting until the RI exit numbers are being changed? If so, why did they post the other signs?

Photos of new signs taken yesterday, and evidence of where the missing sign for Roosevelt Ave. will go is at:
https://malmeroads.net/mass21c/i95photos.html#attleboronorwood

I wonder why MassDOT decided to use its design for Route 114 instead of a RI-style shield for that exit.

hotdogPi

Massachusetts can't make other states' shields. There's a MA 107 (should be NH 107) on I-95 in Salisbury, and I believe the signs pointing to NH 123 and NH 124 (which end at the state line) are just text instead of a shield in Massachusetts.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

PurdueBill

Quote from: 1 on August 20, 2022, 07:24:06 AM
Massachusetts can't make other states' shields. There's a MA 107 (should be NH 107) on I-95 in Salisbury, and I believe the signs pointing to NH 123 and NH 124 (which end at the state line) are just text instead of a shield in Massachusetts.

I wonder what the deal is with whatever easements or financial arrangements involve Mass and other states for signing out-of-state exits.  Mass posts BGS for CT 171, RI 114, and NH 107 with Mass shields and also on I-91 Mass posts BGS for the US 5 exit in Conn.  But, Mass goes into NH to post signs for 286 and 495, and when RI does sign an advance for Mass exit like route 81 off of 24, it does so with a RI shield!  (RI does the same to Connecticut on I-95, posting RI 216 and 184 on a BGS for the first CT exit.)  So maybe the rule is just whoever posts the sign gets to slap their own shields on it!  :P 

SignBridge

I have no problem understanding a generic square or circular route shield to mean a state route in place of an actual state's shield.

shadyjay

Back before Mass changed the signs on I-91, the signs for CT Exit 49 in Mass said "EXIT 49/ 5 / Enfield Street / Connecticut" without a separate exit tab and with the entire sign in reflective button copy.  Several years later, it was changed to this (courtesy Doug Kerr)...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougtone/4207829306/in/album-72157623054027214/

... which kept the same style but got rid of the button copy.  Now its a traditional sign with right-aligned exit tab and the control cities changed to "Thompsonville CT / Enfield CT", which changes to "Enfield St" once you cross the border.

So, once upon a time, MA did try to emulate the adjacent state's sign style. 

On I-84, the "MA/CT 171" shield is almost identical, except the outline border.  So I'm not losing sleep over that, especially with CT now using some square shields with outlines statewide, not just on the 2-lane roads, but on some guide signs now.

J N Winkler

#540
I think things break down in the border areas in New England because all of the states involved (except Vermont) use variants of a basic square shield.  Something similar happens on I-80/I-94 in Indiana just over the Illinois state line:  this first segment inside Indiana was built by Illinois DOT, which used its own shield design ("Indiana" substituted for "Illinois") on the advance signing for SR 152/Indianapolis Blvd.  The construction plans did have second seals from PEs registered in Indiana for the work performed there, so Indiana DOT must have signed off on it.

Elsewhere in the US, where adjacent states have highly dissimilar state route shields, it is more common for the state DOT that places the sign to include the neighboring state's shield detail in the construction plans.
"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

kramie13

Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on August 20, 2022, 07:07:51 AM
I wonder why MassDOT decided to use its design for Route 114 instead of a RI-style shield for that exit.

I recall in the 90s, every green highway sign in RI had a square/rectangle shield for state routes, identical to what Massachusetts uses.  Did Rhode Island once use the exact same state route shield as Massachusetts then decide to add an "RI" on top of the number one day?

Alps

Quote from: kramie13 on August 30, 2022, 11:00:38 AM
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on August 20, 2022, 07:07:51 AM
I wonder why MassDOT decided to use its design for Route 114 instead of a RI-style shield for that exit.

I recall in the 90s, every green highway sign in RI had a square/rectangle shield for state routes, identical to what Massachusetts uses.  Did Rhode Island once use the exact same state route shield as Massachusetts then decide to add an "RI" on top of the number one day?
No, as far as I've been able to tell it's always been RI. Just the highway signs ignored that.

shadyjay

A long long time ago... the entirety of New England used the same square shield.  CT was the one to get most creative with it in later years, converting the basic square to include the state's outline (which was later used on Merritt Parkway guide signs).  By the (probably) 1970s, we were basically back to the square shield, though you'd see "CONN" on top (like RI, but not on highway guide signs).  NH converted their square to include the profile of the "Old Man of the Mountains".  VT's developed into a circle, then in the mid 1990s, went green and oval-y.  Maine pretty much stayed square. 

So maybe Mass still thinks its when all of New England used square shields!

Or... maybe this conversation happened....
"Hey New Hampshire!  We're putting up a sign for your exit.  Got a NH 107 shield kicking around we could use?"
"No way.  You get enough money from taxes.  Make your own!"
"Fine".


bob7374

I've added a few more photos of recent sign updates along I-95 in MA between Norwood and Attleboro, such as this new 2 miles advance sign for US 1 southbound under the Exit 19 section:


The rest are in my I-95 in Mass. Photo Gallery: https://malmeroads.net/mass21c/i95photos.html#attleboronorwood

It appears there may now be less than 10 signs remaining to be replaced, 7 SB and 3 NB.

kramie13

I have a bone to pick:

What constitutes or mandates a "2 mile" warning sign for highway exits?  Some exits in the state have them, but most don't.

And why did the state recently add 2-mile warning signs for the US 1 exits on both I-495 in Plainville and I-95 in Sharon in recent years when they didn't exist at all previously?

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

J N Winkler

Quote from: kramie13 on August 31, 2022, 11:59:39 AMI have a bone to pick:

What constitutes or mandates a "2 mile" warning sign for highway exits?  Some exits in the state have them, but most don't.

It depends on the interchange classification, which can be major (categories A or B), intermediate, or minor (per MUTCD § 2E.32).  Major and intermediate interchanges typically receive two-mile advance guide signs if sign spacing permits (per MUTCD § 2E.33).
"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

shadyjay

It varies by state, too.  Most interchanges in Maine get 2 mile, 1 mile, and "exit now".  1/2 mile advances are rare for interchanges not on the Maine Turnpike.  The rest of New England generally features 1 mile, 1/2 mile, and "exit now" signage in rural areas.  I can see 2 mile advances for major jcts such as interstates and major state routes that are limited-access. 

bob7374

#548
Quote from: kramie13 on August 31, 2022, 11:59:39 AMI have a bone to pick:

What constitutes or mandates a "2 mile" warning sign for highway exits?  Some exits in the state have them, but most don't.
I assume the 2 miles signs have gone up due to the US 1 exit being a primary access point for Gillette Stadium. Of course there's also an auxiliary sign for the stadium for that exit headed south.

It depends on the interchange classification, which can be major (categories A or B), intermediate, or minor (per MUTCD § 2E.32).  Major and intermediate interchanges typically receive two-mile advance guide signs if sign spacing permits (per MUTCD § 2E.33).

roadman

Quote from: J N Winkler on August 31, 2022, 12:54:32 PM
Quote from: kramie13 on August 31, 2022, 11:59:39 AMI have a bone to pick:

What constitutes or mandates a "2 mile" warning sign for highway exits?  Some exits in the state have them, but most don't.

It depends on the interchange classification, which can be major (categories A or B), intermediate, or minor (per MUTCD § 2E.32).  Major and intermediate interchanges typically receive two-mile advance guide signs if sign spacing permits (per MUTCD § 2E.33).

MassDOT practice is to provide two 2 mile advance signs for all Interstate routes.  Other major interchanges have 2 mile advance signs if spacing permits.  But yes, most interchanges in the state get only 1 mile and 1/2 mile advance signs.
"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)



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