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Oddly specific distances on signs

Started by Takumi, April 22, 2013, 10:16:29 PM

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Takumi

These two signs are in Chesterfield County, VA in the Brandermill area on opposite sides of the same crosswalk. I've seen them before but finally had a chance to photograph them today.

I'm interested to see some other signs with unusual distances on them.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
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KEK Inc.

They don't convert to clean metric numbers either.   Maybe they arbitrarily put the sign down first? 
Take the road less traveled.

myosh_tino

Can't be any worse than these two curve advisory signs on Quito Road in the San Jose area...



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BamaZeus

I've seen some shopping center parking lot signs that say "Speed limit 8 mph", etc. and wondered how they arrived at that exact number.

kphoger

Hmmm.... I was avoiding posting oddly specific other measurements.  But, while we're on the topic, I like Texas' signing WEIGHT LIMIT / GROSS 58420 LBS.
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Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

elsmere241

Quote from: kphoger on April 23, 2013, 11:03:58 AM
Hmmm.... I was avoiding posting oddly specific other measurements.  But, while we're on the topic, I like Texas' signing WEIGHT LIMIT / GROSS 58420 LBS.

Which comes out fairly close to 26500 kg.

hbelkins

I've noticed this quite often in Virginia. "School Bus Stop Ahead" with an auxiliary "700 Feet" sign, for example. Maybe it's a question of how far the sign is supposed to be from the warned scenario vs. where it is actually placed due to other factors. Does the MUTCD specify distances for how far away such signs should be placed from the feature it's warning about?


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

roadman65

I would like to know why 100 meters is not listed as  1 hectimeter on Ontario road signs.  As hectimeters are the unit used for multiples of 100 meters in the metric system.  Just as you do not see 1000 meters used, but 1 kilometer on their road signs it would be more appropriate.
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agentsteel53

Quote from: roadman65 on April 23, 2013, 02:04:43 PM
I would like to know why 100 meters is not listed as  1 hectimeter on Ontario road signs.  As hectimeters are the unit used for multiples of 100 meters in the metric system.  Just as you do not see 1000 meters used, but 1 kilometer on their road signs it would be more appropriate.

I don't think many people in North America the use 'hecto-' prefix.

I know in Europe, things are measured in "centiliters" very commonly (mainly beverages, especially alcoholic) and it took me a bit of time to get used to that because in Canada and Mexico it's liters and milliliters only as far as I've seen. 
live from sunny San Diego.

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Big John

^^ More for the preference of SI units, which are the 10^3 instead of using a different name for every 10^1, meaning for metric lengths, it is millimeters, meters and kilometers.

formulanone

Quote from: Takumi on April 22, 2013, 10:16:29 PM
These two signs are in Chesterfield County, VA in the Brandermill area on opposite sides of the same crosswalk. I've seen them before but finally had a chance to photograph them today.


They're for checking braking distances of a Honda Prelude.

jeffandnicole

New 'Right Lane End' signs on Rt. 45 in Woodbury, NJ are signed at something like 215 feet ahead. 

I remember one sign in PA that noted a Weight Limit for a bridge at something like 1,348 feet ahead.  I have a pic of it somewhere...probably on a computer I haven't used in years.

Compulov

Quote from: BamaZeus on April 23, 2013, 10:51:34 AM
I've seen some shopping center parking lot signs that say "Speed limit 8 mph", etc. and wondered how they arrived at that exact number.

I think that's done on purpose to make people think about the speed. I suspect there's some armchair psychology which says that people are more likely to notice a non -0 or -5 speed (because they're used all the time).

PHLBOS

#13
Quote from: Takumi on April 22, 2013, 10:16:29 PM
These two signs are in Chesterfield County, VA in the Brandermill area on opposite sides of the same crosswalk. I've seen them before but finally had a chance to photograph them today.

I'm interested to see some other signs with unusual distances on them.
I've seen similar signs (with oddball distances different from the ones posted above) in Springfield Twp. (Delaware County), PA at the Springfield Road/Norwinden Drive intersection.

Quote from: myosh_tino on April 23, 2013, 02:29:11 AM
Can't be any worse than these two curve advisory signs on Quito Road in the San Jose area...




At the GE plant in Lynn, MA; there were (circa 1980s) SPEED LIMIT 19 signs In standard MUTCD form.

In East Goshen Twp. (Chester County), PA at the Hershey Mills development, the posted speed limit along the entire roadway system is 27 mph.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

kphoger

Minnesota commonly uses 1/5 mi. for advance warning signs.  Do other states use oddball fractions like that?
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

agentsteel53

Alanland expresses all distances as multiples of 17/31 of a parsec.  except for those that are not distant.
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kphoger

Quote from: elsmere241 on April 23, 2013, 11:26:58 AM
Quote from: kphoger on April 23, 2013, 11:03:58 AM
Hmmm.... I was avoiding posting oddly specific other measurements.  But, while we're on the topic, I like Texas' signing WEIGHT LIMIT / GROSS 58420 LBS.

Which comes out fairly close to 26500 kg.

Is 26500 kg supposed to mean something to me?  'Cause it doesn't.

I suppose it's one degree less oddly specific than 58420 lbs, but still seems pretty random.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

WillWeaverRVA

This used to exist in Virginia Beach (the sign is gone now as Nimmo Parkway is being completed, and this won't be a dead end much longer). It seems random, but interestingly, 983 feet is almost exactly 300 meters.

Will Weaver
WillWeaverRVA Photography | Twitter

"But how will the oxen know where to drown if we renumber the Oregon Trail?" - NE2

kphoger

Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on April 23, 2013, 06:17:21 PM
983 feet is almost exactly 300 meters.

But it's closer to 984 than 983.  And also closer to the "half-round number" of 985 than 983.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

WillWeaverRVA

Quote from: kphoger on April 23, 2013, 06:18:47 PM
Quote from: WillWeaverRVA on April 23, 2013, 06:17:21 PM
983 feet is almost exactly 300 meters.

But it's closer to 984 than 983.  And also closer to the "half-round number" of 985 than 983.

300 meters is 984 feet and a little more than 3 inches, so yeah.
Will Weaver
WillWeaverRVA Photography | Twitter

"But how will the oxen know where to drown if we renumber the Oregon Trail?" - NE2

agentsteel53

using an approximation of .305 feet/meter yields 983.6 feet.  round down.

might very well be what happened.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

Alps

Quote from: jeffandnicole on April 23, 2013, 03:38:58 PM
New 'Right Lane End' signs on Rt. 45 in Woodbury, NJ are signed at something like 215 feet ahead. 

I remember one sign in PA that noted a Weight Limit for a bridge at something like 1,348 feet ahead.  I have a pic of it somewhere...probably on a computer I haven't used in years.
Many, many of those, also for Stop Aheads in PA. I probably have photos somewhere, but no idea where to start looking.

Big John

Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 23, 2013, 06:45:09 PM
using an approximation of .305 feet/meter yields 983.6 feet.  round down.

might very well be what happened.
When AASHTO metricized in 1996, the conversion factor to be used was 1' = 0.3048m, so engineers still use that factor. and makes 300m = 984.252 feet.

agentsteel53

Quote from: Big John on April 23, 2013, 08:40:54 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 23, 2013, 06:45:09 PM
using an approximation of .305 feet/meter yields 983.6 feet.  round down.

might very well be what happened.
When AASHTO metricized in 1996, the conversion factor to be used was 1' = 0.3048m, so engineers still use that factor. and makes 300m = 984.252 feet.

sure, but someone may have just casually remembered "305"
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

kphoger

Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 23, 2013, 06:45:09 PM
using an approximation of .305 feet/meter yields 983.6 feet.  round down.

might very well be what happened.

So......they measured the street in metric, it came to precisely 300 meters even, they converted it to feet using an approximated factor, rounded down to the nearest foot, and had a sign custom-made.

THIS IS NOT ALANLAND!
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.



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