Identifying Street Sign Mount Hardware

[RX78NT-1]

So where I live (the Des Moines Metro Area), a lot of utility-pole mounted street signs follow one of three methods:

-The most recent one is mounting them directly on the pole in a cross format, i.e. This, which is actually a mix of new signage (the mix-cased "E 9th St" - which is way too narrow text-wise and hard to read, but that rant's for another thread...) and re-used older-style signage (the all-caps "Garfield Av"). I personally think this is the ugliest and laziest method of mounting the signs.

-Some new installations, as well as some older, existing ones, use the standard wing brackets, i.e. This (on an older sign assembly) and this. The latter uses a combination of direct pole-mounting for the older "Pleasantview Dr" (or "Pleasant View Dr" - Des Moines, for some reason, interchanges the two spellings) and a wing bracket for the newer "SE 14th St" sign - if you look at the 2016 view, you'll see the older "SE 14th" sign. This method of sign mounting is the one I remember the most from my childhood.

While those two are easy to identify and are common in Des Moines, one that has eluded me is the third one: This truss-arm style, which I assume was a style used for older assemblies. They were already becoming a rare sight when I was a child growing up in the early 1990s; in fact, I think this assembly at 15th and Pleasant is one of a handful left, if not the last one. I like this style because of how it saved space by putting the signs in a cross on a single arm, rather than two wing brackets. It looked especially cool to me when the arm was mounted at a 45-degree angle toward the intersection, rather than how the arm is mounted in the Street View, parallel to Pleasant.

Does anyone know what that third style is called and/or where I could get one? I'd like to be able to snag one for my collection of salvaged Des Moines street signs that I have to make my own, custom assembly. I've seen similar wing-style brackets that can accommodate a set of signs in a cross format, but I'm partial to the truss style that used to be all over the city.

Also, I'm curious - are there other utility-pole sign mounting methods that I haven't mentioned? It'd be interesting to see how other regions mount these signs.

[MNHighwayMan]

"Pleasant View", with the space, is the proper name for the street. All new signs I've seen, posted within the last few years, have correctly spelled it.

That name reminds me that there's another style that could be used, which I've seen at SE 19th St/Pleasant View Cir. It's mounted on a lamp post there, but could certainly be used on a utility pole. Can't say I've seen that one used anywhere else in Des Moines, though.

As far as those brackets, like at 15th St/Pleasant St, I don't know that I've seen any others, nor do I know what they're called. A Google search for "street sign brackets" or mounting hardware might help.

[RX78NT-1]

"Pleasant View", with the space, is the proper name for the street. All new signs I've seen, posted within the last few years, have correctly spelled it.

That name reminds me that there's another style that could be used, which I've seen at SE 19th St/Pleasant View Cir. It's mounted on a lamp post there, but could certainly be used on a utility pole. Can't say I've seen that one used anywhere else in Des Moines, though.

As far as those brackets, like at 15th St/Pleasant St, I don't know that I've seen any others, nor do I know what they're called. A Google search for "street sign brackets" or mounting hardware might help.

Thanks for the clarification on "Pleasant View." I always assumed it was that spelling, but signs didn't have room for the space! I remember that, before Des Moines began using the larger signs along main thoroughfares, "Pleasantview" on that stretch of SE 14th was squished pretty badly into the available sign space.

The SE 19th/Pleasant View mount is a good example of two rarities that I forgot about -- 1) double-sided signs (a majority of Des Moines' signs are one-sided), and 2) signs cross-mounted on one wing bracket. I've seen a few other instances of that, mostly older installations.

Google hasn't really yielded any results, unfortunately, when it comes looking for the "truss arm" style bracket. I can distinctly remember two other intersections that had them -- a few blocks from my childhood home (E. 9th and Guthrie Ave) which was removed in the late 1990s when the intersection was reconstructed, as well as SE 9th and Scott -- removed a few years ago when the east MLK Pkwy bypass was being constructed (see this 2009 GSV). There were others, as well, but their locations elude my memory at the moment!

[MNHighwayMan]

The SE 19th/Pleasant View mount is a good example of two rarities that I forgot about -- 1) double-sided signs (a majority of Des Moines' signs are one-sided)

I'd say that, for ease of fabrication and installation (or maybe laziness!), all of them are single-sided nowadays. The few new installations I've seen using wing brackets managed to squeeze both signs into the single bracket.

Here's an example, in a new subdivision out by Easter Lake. You can see that they riveted the two single-sided signs together, then mounted them in the bracket.



Here's a couple of them that I just remembered! SW 37th/Caulder and SW 37th/Thornton. I know this doesn't help answer your main question but I thought you might be interested to know.

[RX78NT-1]

The SE 19th/Pleasant View mount is a good example of two rarities that I forgot about -- 1) double-sided signs (a majority of Des Moines' signs are one-sided)

I'd say that, for ease of fabrication and installation (or maybe laziness!), all of them are single-sided nowadays. The few new installations I've seen using wing brackets managed to squeeze both signs into the single bracket.

Here's an example, in a new subdivision out by Easter Lake. You can see that they riveted the two single-sided signs together, then mounted them in the bracket.



Here's a couple of them that I just remembered! SW 37th/Caulder and SW 37th/Thornton. I know this doesn't help answer your main question but I thought you might be interested to know.

Based on the condition of those two assemblies and the 15th/Pleasant one, it seems like this style was long discontinued. At least I know there's more than one out there in the city!

I actually have some street signs that I bought at antique shops that were one-sided and riveted together; I was surprised to find that Des Moines likes reusing the blank sides! This is an example of a rarity I found; two  "Av F M Hubbell" signs (obviously now known as "Hubbell Av") that were printed on the other side of newer "Walnut Hill Ave" ones. The sign had previously had its rivets removed and was sold as two pieces. I do have a two-sided cross set of 37th and Ingersoll as well.

Thanks for your insight, MNHighwayMan - and thanks for all the photos of Des Moines' street signs. I get lots of enjoyment and nostalgia (of driving around and seeing these in-person) from your DSM contributions to the Street Sign Name Game thread.

[MNHighwayMan]

I actually have some street signs that I bought at antique shops that were one-sided and riveted together; I was surprised to find that Des Moines likes reusing the blank sides! This is an example of a rarity I found; two  "Av F M Hubbell" signs (obviously now known as "Hubbell Av") that were printed on the other side of newer "Walnut Hill Ave" ones. The sign had previously had its rivets removed and was sold as two pieces. I do have a two-sided cross set of 37th and Ingersoll as well.

Cool! I've seen on the Polk County GIS map that Hubbell Ave is labeled as "Frederick M Hubbell Ave" but I had no idea that it was ever actually signed that way.

As for reusing old street signs, it seems like that was something the city used to do a lot. I have a few pictures of reused signs still in service but I'd have to find them.

[bcroadguy]

Doesn't really answer your main question, but Downtown Renton, WA has a ton of those truss style street sign mounting things:

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.4797219,-122.2092894,3a,15.2y,144.75h,90.99t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siVCVQos9hN1TX65tGMPdHQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[US 89]

The vast majority of street signs in the Wasatch Front are double-sided, and are mounted on this style of pole.

https://goo.gl/maps/qZEQT2yZu7r