America's 10 Most Confusing Traffic Signs

[Michael]

I found this quite funny: http://jalopnik.com/5044869/americas-10-most-confusing-traffic-signs

[Hellfighter]

I passed by #5 back in '07 on my way to the Keweenaw Peninsula.

[njroadhorse]

#1 made me laugh so hard

[UptownRoadGeek]

These 2 look like something you would typically find in N.O.

Except the 2nd and 4th arrows from the left would have OK written under them.

[agentsteel53]

one from Norway.  The worst part isn't that all three roads lead to 823 (which is what the dashed outline means), but that all three are 823!  Yes, the road loops around and meets itself.

that said, the most confusing traffic sign is when the road is painted "BUS TO YIELD".  Oh no no, the bus is not to yield under any circumstances.  You will yield to bus if you know what's right for you (and forget traditional English word order from top to bottom).

[flowmotion]

I drive through this one all the time ... and as a San Franciscan, I don't say this often, but this could really use an overhead sign.

Also, worth noting here, US-101 turns left through this intersection, and it's either unsigned, or so poorly signed I've never noticed.

[UptownRoadGeek]

I drive through this one all the time ... and as a San Franciscan, I don't say this often, but this could really use an overhead sign.

I really don't see what is too bad about this one.

[agentsteel53]

I don't see what's so bad about overhead signs in general.

[mightyace]

A) sign clutter

B) "overheads don't belong in an urban area"...which is related to why Congress banned overhead wires within the "L'Enfant Plan" area of central D.C.

I'll agree on both points with one exception, wires for trolley/light rail.

Having to access a buried third rail made DC's trolley system more expensive than comparable systems elsewhere.

Plus, I think there's a beauty of seeing a trolley pole or a pantograph running across an overhead wire.  (But, I'm a railfan as awell as a roodgeek!")

[flowmotion]

I really don't see what is too bad about this one.

There's nothing wrong with the sign itself. It's more the "US 101/Mission St/GG Bridge" highway exit one block to the south, which dumps you into this intersection without any green signs telling you what lane to get into.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1+otis+street,+san+francisco,+ca&sll=37.772682,-122.418541&sspn=0.006377,0.013733&ie=UTF8&ll=37.773038,-122.420762&spn=0.006377,0.013733&z=17

And San Francisco has a reputation to uphold for all the tourists. We aren't going to ruin it by putting BGSes all over the place

[froggie]

Having to access a buried third rail made DC's trolley system more expensive than comparable systems elsewhere.

A) the third rail is not buried...it runs parallel and to the side.

B) trolley = streetcar.  DC's system is heavy rail...comparable to BART out in San Fran.

C) it's not the third rail per se that makes it more expensive...it's the dedicated, grade-separated right-of-way.

[Hellfighter]

There was a cluster of signs in North Carolina, I believe, that was so confusing that someone actually hit them.

[mightyace]

Having to access a buried third rail made DC's trolley system more expensive than comparable systems elsewhere.

A) the third rail is not buried...it runs parallel and to the side.

B) trolley = streetcar.  DC's system is heavy rail...comparable to BART out in San Fran.

C) it's not the third rail per se that makes it more expensive...it's the dedicated, grade-separated right-of-way.

Froggie,

I was talking about Washington's trolley system that existed and disappeared long before Metro was built.



The line in between the main tracks is a slot for the electric pickup to reach the buried third rail.

http://www.dctrolley.org

As yes, I know that the current Metro is heavy rail.  I have also heard some rumblings about new light rail (trolley) lines in our nations capital.  If they do, a similar solution to the one shown in the picture would be necessary.

[Duke87]

"overheads don't belong in an urban area"

Depends on what kind of overhead we're talking about. Street signs on signal mast arms are quite useful since they're easier to see and allow drivers to find their turn without having to slow down to look at smaller street signs on the corner, holding up traffic.

Large overhead BGSs on urban streets are rather out of place, though, unless we're talking about a major boulevard. 

[mightyace]

mightyace:  ok...thought you were talking about more recent times, and not DC's old (and long-gone) streetcar system.

No problem.

Though, I wonder if Washington's ban on overhead wires was one of the many factors in the decision to build the partly-underground Metro heavy rail system.  Albeit, a minor one.

[Hellfighter]

Not the one I was talking about, but similar...

[agentsteel53]

and that is why we need color-coded route shields. 

having a route maintain the same color, and never intersect another route with the same color, may or may not be possible (see: the four-color topology problem, and North Carolina's tendency to have lots of routes come together - a problem also shared by Georgia and other places) - so Mississippi's solution may be the most practical: have only areas with multiple intersecting roads (urban areas, for the most part) use the colored shields, while rural shields remain black and white.  Then, as the driver gets to a new urban area, he picks up his color and can follow the route through the multiplex (or choose a new one) easily, remembering to follow the color until he leaves the confluence behind and reverts to black and white shields.

I have no idea what Mississippi did on long rural multiplexes, say US-11 and US-80, which run together from the Alabama state line all the way to Meridian - about 10 miles, and I am pretty sure there are longer multiplexes out there.  Did they keep the colors in the rural section, or just revert to black and white anyway when it became apparent that all other routes had been left behind, and 11/80 was the only possibility?

[Hellfighter]

and that is why we need color-coded route shields. 

having a route maintain the same color, and never intersect another route with the same color, may or may not be possible (see: the four-color topology problem, and North Carolina's tendency to have lots of routes come together - a problem also shared by Georgia and other places) - so Mississippi's solution may be the most practical: have only areas with multiple intersecting roads (urban areas, for the most part) use the colored shields, while rural shields remain black and white.  Then, as the driver gets to a new urban area, he picks up his color and can follow the route through the multiplex (or choose a new one) easily, remembering to follow the color until he leaves the confluence behind and reverts to black and white shields.

I have no idea what Mississippi did on long rural multiplexes, say US-11 and US-80, which run together from the Alabama state line all the way to Meridian - about 10 miles, and I am pretty sure there are longer multiplexes out there.  Did they keep the colors in the rural section, or just revert to black and white anyway when it became apparent that all other routes had been left behind, and 11/80 was the only possibility?

Isn't that a problem with the South altogether?

[agentsteel53]

I don't recall offhand which other states have excessive multiplexing - just Georgia and North Carolina really come to mind.  Then again, there is Nashville, and also I-465 in Indianapolis holds about 8 routes at one point in its circle, due to Indy's tendency to re-route highways onto bypasses whenever possible.

all of these places would do well with colored shields.

Florida, the place most famous for colored shields, has a lot of lengthy multiplexes (17/92, 19/27A/98, etc) so for them the "all colors all the time" approach may be the best ... they managed to pull it off without like colors intersecting until US-192 was extended to US-27, and without too too many different colors.  US-98 in black and US-41 in coral needed their own color since they intersected damn near every other route in the state. 

It's too bad they never put the state routes on a color scheme too, as Mississippi did.

[mightyace]

Then again, there is Nashville,

Could you clarify what you are talking about?

The interstate duplexes with 24, 40 and 65?

The US routes through downtown?

The hidden multiplexes with US routes.  According to TDOT and some other maps, every US route has a hidden state route to go with it but they are rarely signed?

As a Nashville area resident I don't see an issue, but I may be missing the forest for the trees, please enlighten me.

[agentsteel53]

I think Nashville's major problem is the similar numbers ... 31, 41, 31A, 41A, 431.  That's five routes using only three numbers, and a letter that looks vaguely like one of the numbers.  I don't have the photo readily available, but I believe there is a gantry that has at least three of those shields on it, along with 70S - and the other two are very close-by.

[mightyace]

I think Nashville's major problem is the similar numbers ... 31, 41, 31A, 41A, 431.  That's five routes using only three numbers, and a letter that looks vaguely like one of the numbers.  I don't have the photo readily available, but I believe there is a gantry that has at least three of those shields on it, along with 70S - and the other two are very close-by.

OK, now I know what you're talking about.

Signing in Nashville like most of Tenessee is a mess.

If you can follow a US route through Nashville without making a wrong turn, more power to you.

And, you forgot that north of town you have 31E and 31W instead of 31 and 31A and all four "31s" all exist in city limits.

And, yes 70 and 70S are closely parallel or duplex through Nashville as well.  Just Monday night, I was getting on I-40 East, I-65 South at Church St. and there were trailblazers for both 70 and 70S.

If you think that's confusing, if you go east to Lebanon, 70N starts there and you have 70N, 70 and 70S all in existence running parallel to each other.

Using street names may not help much either.  For example if you take 431 south out of town, you start on Broadway, turn onto 21st Avenue South which becomes Hillsboro Pike at I-440 and somewhere between there and Franklin it becomes Hillsboro Road.

Or, the surface streets that make up TN secondary 155 where Briley Parkway was never finished are from west to east, Whitebridge Road, Woodmont Blvd, and Thompson Ln.

I could go on, but I think I'd need a whole topic (book?) for all the foolishness in Nashville's highway system.

All this and their tendency to schedule construction on both an interstate and its primary alternate at the same time is why I think TnDOT's unofficial motto is "You can't get thar from here!"   

[donutbandit]

[agentsteel53]

I had forgotten about the 70/70S and 31/31A/31E/31W ... that makes it even sillier, you're right!  If I remember correctly, staying on your choice of 24, 40, or 65, without getting bucked off, is also a non-trivial accomplishment.  Nothing compared to the Kansas City cyclotron, but still non-trivial.

speaking of US routes that are dang near impossible to follow, see also Memphis. 

[mightyace]

speaking of US routes that are dang near impossible to follow, see also Memphis. 

Well, we're still talkin' Tennessee here!