Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

[hotdogPi]

Kinda-sorta seen in another thread re: traffic signals, I found this interesting sign in the Philly area:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0417339,-75.0883064,3a,75y,325.15h,82.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swZ3ra3lLTnxFX_iWV_x8Bw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

what sign are you talking about? your link isn't aimed at any signs, and panning around the intersection doesn't reveal anything out of the ordinary.

Probably the North 232 unisign.

[odditude]

Kinda-sorta seen in another thread re: traffic signals, I found this interesting sign in the Philly area:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0417339,-75.0883064,3a,75y,325.15h,82.72t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swZ3ra3lLTnxFX_iWV_x8Bw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

what sign are you talking about? your link isn't aimed at any signs, and panning around the intersection doesn't reveal anything out of the ordinary.

Probably the North 232 unisign.

ah. those are common in the Philadelphia area.

[plain]

Has anyone put this here yet?

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9566552,-92.22897,3a,20.7y,95.93h,81.12t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siDamhu31XGDajdiedsMFUw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This sign has since been removed.

Looks kind of like a speed limit sign. Is that what it was modeled after?

If you move around the corner a bit in that street view and look again, you'll see that it's for an Arkansas state route.

[jakeroot]

Has anyone put this here yet?

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9566552,-92.22897,3a,20.7y,95.93h,81.12t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siDamhu31XGDajdiedsMFUw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This sign has since been removed.

Looks kind of like a speed limit sign. Is that what it was modeled after?

If you move around the corner a bit in that street view and look again, you'll see that it's for an Arkansas state route.

Right. Kind of looks like a speed limit sign. Or at least the proportions are more akin to a speed limit sign.

[Kniwt]

Hamburg, Germany, where older diesel vehicles are now banned on two roads:


Story from NPR:
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/05/31/615562825/could-a-diesel-ban-in-hamburg-germany-cause-more-pollution-some-residents-worry

[jakeroot]

Yet, in America, only old cars are exempt from emissions control! New cars should obviously have to meet a standard, but this whole '25-years-old, anything goes' crap really needs updating.

[Scott5114]

Yet, in America, only old cars are exempt from emissions control! New cars should obviously have to meet a standard, but this whole '25-years-old, anything goes' crap really needs updating.

That's what the Cash for Clunkers program was supposed to help with. Of course, it also caused the used car market to contract, making finding affordable used cars more difficult.

[jakeroot]

Yet, in America, only old cars are exempt from emissions control! New cars should obviously have to meet a standard, but this whole '25-years-old, anything goes' crap really needs updating.

That's what the Cash for Clunkers program was supposed to help with. Of course, it also caused the used car market to contract, making finding affordable used cars more difficult.

Also explains why old Street View images are littered with all sorts of old-but-gold hoopties, all of which seem to have up and disappeared in the last ten years. Did they all finally blow up, or did the government crush them?

It's a bitter-sweet world. Old cars are obviously cool, but damn, they are really dirty.

[cjk374]

Yet, in America, only old cars are exempt from emissions control! New cars should obviously have to meet a standard, but this whole '25-years-old, anything goes' crap really needs updating.

That's what the Cash for Clunkers program was supposed to help with. Of course, it also caused the used car market to contract, making finding affordable used cars more difficult.

Also explains why old Street View images are littered with all sorts of old-but-gold hoopties, all of which seem to have up and disappeared in the last ten years. Did they all finally blow up, or did the government crush them?

It's a bitter-sweet world. Old cars are obviously cool, but damn, they are really dirty.

By law, they were crushed. They couldn't even be stripped for parts.

[TBKS1]

I don't find this that bad, but I thought I'd still put this here.



Taken earlier today.

[Big John]

^^ The stretched out 67's and the wide space in S pringfield make it qualify.

[UCFKnights]

Yet, in America, only old cars are exempt from emissions control! New cars should obviously have to meet a standard, but this whole '25-years-old, anything goes' crap really needs updating.

That's what the Cash for Clunkers program was supposed to help with. Of course, it also caused the used car market to contract, making finding affordable used cars more difficult.

Cash for clunkers didn't allow cars more then 25 years old. The program definitely made things a lot more difficult for the poor around here, they were stuck with their vehicles because they couldn't afford to get a new vehicle, and all the good potential replacement vehicles they usually got went to the program and were destroyed.

[odditude]

^^ The stretched out 67's and the wide space in S pringfield make it qualify.

are they stretched out, or are they Series E with bad kerning? either way, they're bad.

i can't imagine that BUSINESS panel being terribly legible at-speed, either.

[Eth]

^^ The stretched out 67's and the wide space in S pringfield make it qualify.

are they stretched out, or are they Series E with bad kerning? either way, they're bad.

i can't imagine that BUSINESS panel being terribly legible at-speed, either.

Playing around with it a bit in Illustrator, stretching a Series D "67" out to Series E width and applying "optical" kerning produces something pretty damn close to this result.

[formulanone]

Yet, in America, only old cars are exempt from emissions control! New cars should obviously have to meet a standard, but this whole '25-years-old, anything goes' crap really needs updating.

That's what the Cash for Clunkers program was supposed to help with. Of course, it also caused the used car market to contract, making finding affordable used cars more difficult.

Cash for clunkers didn't allow cars more then 25 years old. The program definitely made things a lot more difficult for the poor around here, they were stuck with their vehicles because they couldn't afford to get a new vehicle, and all the good potential replacement vehicles they usually got went to the program and were destroyed.

But since 8-9 years have passed, plenty of second-hand and third-hand vehicles have entered the used car fold. A handful of classics wound up destroyed, but also a lot of undesirable vehicles which probably needed more work than the trade-in would be worth in return. An owner with a troubled vehicle likely would have wound up with another expensively-afflicted car. The lower-end of the market suffered, though it could definitely be argued that there were more than enough unwanted-but-unsold vehicles of all types to go around.

CFC was designed to help one industry: new vehicle automobile dealerships at a time when they were ailing and automotive production facilities were failing. The only side effect with much benefit was the metal scrapping industry. It was no good to most independent used car dealers, parts houses, junkyards, et al.

[TBKS1]

Button copy still exists in Arkansas.

All of these photos were taken earlier today.

[ErmineNotyours]

Old barrier marker on Lake Sammamish Parkway.  This road was former Washington State Highway 901, decertified in 1992.  Google Street View

Old barrier marker on Lake Sammamish Parkway by Arthur Allen, on Flickr

[thefraze_1020]

Nice photo. I was there last summer and I didn't take a picture. Ugh!!

Don't worry, there's a million photos (thankfully).

I think it's probably the oldest sign in Washington. Any others that might be older that anyone knows of?

Challenge accepted.

These are on Boeing Access Road (officially in Tukwila). I would be willing to bet these signs to the opening of I-5 in late 1967.
IMG_9082 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

Spokane, on eastbound 2nd Ave approaching Browne Street:
IMG_8519 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

Spokane, southbound Stevens Street approaching 2nd Ave. I'm pretty sure this sign dates to the 1960's.
IMG_8515 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

There are three separate signs at the south end of the Maple Street Bridge. The bridge was opened in 1958, and was a toll bridge until 1990. These signs date to before the tolls were removed, but they appear to be from the bridge's early days.

IMG_8474 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr
IMG_8469 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr
IMG_8468 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr
IMG_8467 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

Spokane, at the corner of 2nd Ave and Adams Street. The portion of I-90 in the west end of town opened in 1965. This sign appears to have de-mountable lettering, but dates to before botton copy. It likely dates to the 60's.

IMG_8463 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

A state-erected mileage sign heading west out of LaCrosse. This road was SR 26 until circa 1969. This sign then would almost certainly date to the 60's as well.

This is what it looks like normally (very faded):
IMG_8194 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

And what it looks like with the camera flash on:
IMG_8192 by Cameron Frazer, on Flickr

[kkt]

That's just back to the mid 1960s.  There must be older signs.  Obviously not interstates, and the old US 10 signs will all be gone, but maybe some US 101 or US 2 sign where nobody's done much work since they were new?

[thefraze_1020]

It is possible, but I have hunted extensively around the state on Google Street View and in person, and I have not found anything older. I seriously think these are the oldest we have in the Evergreen State.

[jakeroot]

The West Seattle "Fwy" signs along 99 southbound were replaced a few months ago. Those certainly would have been up there in age. Still had the green-out from when the name changed.

[D-Dey65]

This has probably been around a while, but I just found out about this one.

[MNHighwayMan]

I hope you turned around in their driveway after getting a picture of that sign.

[jakeroot]

I hope you turned around in their driveway after getting a picture of that sign.

My driveway has a "NO TURNAROUND" sign posted at the beginning because back-out is the only option, not because we don't welcome lost strangers. Some idiot delivery drivers try to turn around in the grass to the left of our gate, but because of the slight decline from the driveway, they get stuck. We've had two Ford Transit/Amazon delivery drivers dig holes into our grass. Our gate now has a "BACK OUT ONLY" sign on it.

[MNHighwayMan]

I hope you turned around in their driveway after getting a picture of that sign.

My driveway has a "NO TURNAROUND" sign posted at the beginning because back-out is the only option, not because we don't welcome lost strangers. Some idiot delivery drivers try to turn around in the grass to the left of our gate, but because of the slight decline from the driveway, they get stuck. We've had two Ford Transit/Amazon delivery drivers dig holes into our grass. Our gate now has a "BACK OUT ONLY" sign on it.

Ha. Well, I only made my original comment because that white-on-red sign offends quite a few of my roadgeek sensibilities, not because those people might not welcome strangers.