US/State mixup shield error signs

[MATraveler128]

Found this newly placed US 15 shield on CT 15 southbound. Apologies for the bad glare.

[jmp367]

The signs posted below were decommissioned by NYSDOT Region 9, as they were in installed in error in June 2016 and were acquired from a scrap seller. The NY-11 shield sign should rather have been a US-11 shield. NY-11 has not existed since 1927.

[74/171FAN]

I recently saw a US 79 shield instead of I-79 on a map for a project in PennDOT's ECMS.

[adventurernumber1]

So while randomly going down the road on Google Maps Street-View (ironically while drafting a different post on here), I unexpectedly came across one of these that caught me by great surprise:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8422939,-84.6870493,3a,15y,347.89h,85.92t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svFFQBbu8GNhWBSN2BnzVow!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Apparently they signed the US 278 shield as GA 278 instead in Powder Springs.     

[RyanB06]

<snip>

Found this newly placed US 15 shield on CT 15 southbound. Apologies for the bad glare.

Not to mention Connecticut practice is to put the directional banner over the route marker instead of the other way around as shown here.

[formulanone]

Wisconsin 12 shield for US 12 in Whitewater:

[paulthemapguy]

Coming to you from Ohio: 5 US highway signs downgraded to state routes. First, three instances of "SR-36" in Mt. Vernon:


OH-US36EQ by Paul Drives, on Flickr


OH-013-003EEQ by Paul Drives, on Flickr


OH-US36-003SGQ by Paul Drives, on Flickr

"SR-30" in Lisbon:


OH-US30-154EQ by Paul Drives, on Flickr

Lastly, a sign for "SR-422" off of I-271:


OH-087-I-271WRQ by Paul Drives, on Flickr

(For those curious, the "Q" in my coding for the file titles indicates "questionable" signage.)

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/7nhoPU37RrB77XLSA
US 9A in NY? Should be NY 9A.

[74/171FAN]

US 19 has a new spur route in US 819 apparently.

(https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10217818733060523&set=a.10217819107389881)

(https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10217818739060673&set=a.10217819107389881)  (with a bonus US 130)

[ozarkman417]

From the Springfield-Branson Road Meet

US 176 (should be Mo 176) near Merriam Woods, MO

It has now been just over six years since I first noticed this error for myself. The erroneous US MO 176 sign has recently been removed, but... so have the other two signs. MoDOT removed the pole entirely for some reason...

[Amaury]

I'm not sure if this counts for the purposes of this thread, but this should be TO WA 155. Dayton Street is not WA 155: https://goo.gl/maps/FEE5aCeRUxsB8yrs9

Omak Avenue is WA 155: https://goo.gl/maps/86Q5iosZyks5S2vBA

Interestingly enough, Dayton Street only has the signage when going north on the street, away from US 97 / WA 20.

[Bruce]

I'm not sure if this counts for the purposes of this thread, but this should be TO WA 155. Dayton Street is not WA 155: https://goo.gl/maps/FEE5aCeRUxsB8yrs9

Omak Avenue is WA 155: https://goo.gl/maps/86Q5iosZyks5S2vBA

Interestingly enough, Dayton Street only has the signage when going north on the street, away from US 97 / WA 20.

SR 155 turns south from Omak to Dayton, while its spur route continues west to SR 215. WSDOT's maps show the configuration:



Doesn't belong in the thread anyway, since this would be a sign error instead of a mixup (like putting a US shield for SR 155 or a SR shield for US 97).

[Amaury]

Okay, that makes sense. Google Maps doesn't mark this one very well: https://goo.gl/maps/MYvHQ6a5B1Futgtr8 (And WSDOT doesn't have the spur route signed.)

Google Maps doesn't have any marking at all for Dayton Street, with the northern terminus actually being at the junction of Dayton Street and US 97/WA 20, according to the WSDOT map. Instead, SR 155 Spur doesn't exist on Google Maps and Google Maps has the northern terminus of SR 155 at Main Street and Omak Avenue. Perhaps this is because of what is mentioned in the Wikipedia article for this state route, and Google Maps never updated it: "The spur route was designated on the former route of SR 155 prior to the construction of the US 97 expressway in eastern Omak. WSDOT plans to rebuild the spur route's crossing of the Okanogan River in 2025 with wider lanes by replacing the sidewalks with a parallel pedestrian bridge." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Route_155)

Although this SR 155 sign here does confuse me: https://goo.gl/maps/8BJWqn1WS9KyuZsV8 That one seems to actually be wrong, as turning right there takes you to SR 215 northbound. Either that or the sign got moved somehow and it's meant to be pointing to the right (Omak Avenue) for people heading northbound on SR 215 coming up to that intersection. I haven't actually been at that intersection in person for quite a while ago. That image capture is from 2018. I went through Omak last week coming back from Inchelium, but I cut through Dayton Street, bypassing the spur route and that intersection. Next time I'm in the area, I'll see if the sign has been fixed.

[Bruce]

Google doesn't mark termini. Technically, both sections are SR 155 and thus both can be marked with a shield.

That sign seems to be bolted in the right direction, so perhaps it's just a contractor error. Nothing to really overthink.

[Amaury]

Yeah, I know it doesn't mark the ends. What I meant was that Dayton Street should also be marked in yellow with little 155 shields since it's also SR 155, and Google Maps just shows it as being a regular street, with nothing special about it, compared to SR 215, for example, which is marked in yellow like any other numbered route, the "special" part being that it's a state route.

(On a somewhat off-topic note, I've noticed that there are some local state routes in states that aren't marked in yellow, for some reason, and are just gray lines on Google Maps, like they're an unnumbered road. WA 530 and OR 204 are two that come to mind.)

[Amaury]

Okay, here's one. On the right sign when heading east on Oregon Route 224, the east and south directional signs are above the wrong shields. East should be above OR 224 and south should be above OR 211: https://goo.gl/maps/BW5XwH7C1cacENJ1A

I just took a drive to Oregon City today and noticed that when heading back.

[Scott5114]

NMDOT managed to post US-40 on I-40 on a few enhanced milemarkers going eastbound on the west side of Albuquerque. (Of course, by the time I got the camera out, the correct I-40 shields started appearing.)

[jmp367]

US-5 sign posted on Erie Boulevard East (NY-5) just east of the intersection with Columbus Avenue/Teall Avenue in the city of Syracuse. US-5 does not even run through New York state.

[Alex]

I didn't even notice this when shooting the photo last year, but there's a small MD 301 shield for U.S. 301 posted on the bike route sign at the north end of MD 290 from MD 299 south in Kent County:

[Amaury]

I just noticed that when I took my drive to Bridgeport, Washington, back in January, that this reassurance shield for Washington State Route 173 is all sorts of wrong. However, I'm not sure what it's mixed up with. It's just as you enter Bridgeport off of Washington State Route 17. Additionally, looking at Google Maps' only image capture from 2008, which is why it's not the best quality, shows it was correct back then, with Washington's head silhouette: https://goo.gl/maps/JUepiMPMFdM1Nv3r5

I'm not sure why it's incorrect now, nor do I, again, know what it's even mixed up with, as it's not mixed up with a shield used for US routes.

[Scott5114]

That is the default MUTCD state route shield. The MUTCD says something like "Unless the state decides otherwise, the state route shield shall be a circle." It also includes an example of one. Of course, Washington did decide otherwise, but somehow that sign still got put up.

Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, and Iowa are the states that use that shield. New Mexico uses it verbatim on their guide signs but their standalone signs have the zia emblem from the state flag added.

[Amaury]

It's even more odd, as I mentioned, that it used to be Washington's unique state route shield (Washington's head), and then sometime after 2008, per my post, it got replaced with just the generic circle for some reason. All the other signs for that state route are correct, though, with Washington's head, whether it's the shields or the shields on a green sign, like around the curves through Bridgeport.

[paulthemapguy]

There are places where I've seen the circle being used on state highways in states where it doesn't belong. I've held off on posting photos of such situations, as I wasn't sure if it was totally appropriate for this thread.  We could perhaps start another thread splintering off to cover those situations, but they aren't super common.  Here are a couple of times I have caught this mistake: the first is in Manteno, Illinois, and the second is along US 29 just north of Pensacola, in westernmost Florida.


20220810_121640 by Paul Drives, on Flickr


FL-US29-097SZ by Paul Drives, on Flickr

[MATraveler128]

It's even more odd, as I mentioned, that it used to be Washington's unique state route shield (Washington's head), and then sometime after 2008, per my post, it got replaced with just the generic circle for some reason. All the other signs for that state route are correct, though, with Washington's head, whether it's the shields or the shields on a green sign, like around the curves through Bridgeport.

Happens all the time here in Massachusetts. I know of at least a few examples of the New Jersey/Delaware style shield being used here.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/R8tJziJbQtb3teEL7
NJ 30 shield for US 30 on NJ 187 SB in Atlantic City..