The actual Worst of Road Signs

[plain]

There's nothing wrong with the exit tab.

The 8 is smaller and either the 4 looks a bit too far to the right or the 8 is not centered.

Are you tolbs17 under a different username?  Nobody traveling at 70+ mph is going to care about or even notice that.  It's hardly the worst of road signs.

Do I look like I bring NC into everything to you? Just saying something I observed.

I seriously hope someone don't make an entire thread about me 

[Scott5114]

There's nothing wrong with the exit tab.

The 8 is smaller and either the 4 looks a bit too far to the right or the 8 is not centered.

The kerning on this style of sign could be a bit wonky because all of the characters were placed by hand. I always thought it was sort of charming. Most of the time they at least got it somewhat close to right; humans tend to instinctively know where the glyphs go, so you didn't see weird stuff like the A-v pair being artificially far apart like you sometimes see with computer fonts. But they did sometimes get things a hair off, or crooked, or off the baseline a bit.

I seriously hope someone don't make an entire thread about me 

If someone created a thread called 'plain in one thread' it'd just be full of "Illinois is flat" jokes.

[JoePCool14]

...that's a classic KDOT demountable copy sign...

On some of the others along I-70 this practice is really apparent.  Here's one where the sign elements seem to be working on demounting themselves.  This was the same day, a bit further west.

I'm not sure what's worse: demounting or peeling.

https://goo.gl/maps/YDDUmSyCDAqVNchFA

This sign has since been replaced (with Highway Gothic  ) but almost every Illinois Tollway sign looks like this after just a few years.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/8qgWUvEhWRuLUMoF8
Not empathizing the TOLL in yellow and using black letters is beyond bad.

[hbelkins]

...that's a classic KDOT demountable copy sign...

On some of the others along I-70 this practice is really apparent.  Here's one where the sign elements seem to be working on demounting themselves.  This was the same day, a bit further west.

I'm not sure what's worse: demounting or peeling.

https://goo.gl/maps/YDDUmSyCDAqVNchFA

This sign has since been replaced (with Highway Gothic  ) but almost every Illinois Tollway sign looks like this after just a few years.

Noted on my trip across I-70 eastbound  last year, Colorado and Missouri have some bad peeling problems.

I wonder if the loose letters in that Kansas sign have been caused by a slight shift in the sign supports, maybe from an impact from a mower. Or perhaps there were places where the letters weren't exactly flush with the sign and wind got beneath them and bowed them out.

[kphoger]

I-70 in Kansas, August 11, 2022.

That has to have been extensively patched. It cannot have been made like this, right?

Well, not patched, per se–that's a classic KDOT demountable copy sign, so they could just pick off any elements they wanted to remove. But the demountable copy signs weren't immune to the 3/4 error either.

When you see exactly what was removed, it won't actually make you feel any better.

https://goo.gl/maps/gpp4ygyJmPgDsHwk9

[rarnold]

I-70 in Kansas, August 11, 2022.



Who let that sign escape from Oklahoma?

That has to have been extensively patched. It cannot have been made like this, right?

Well, not patched, per se–that's a classic KDOT demountable copy sign, so they could just pick off any elements they wanted to remove. But the demountable copy signs weren't immune to the 3/4 error either.

When you see exactly what was removed, it won't actually make you feel any better.

https://goo.gl/maps/gpp4ygyJmPgDsHwk9

[kphoger]

I-70 in Kansas, August 11, 2022.



Who let that sign escape from Oklahoma?

That has to have been extensively patched. It cannot have been made like this, right?

Well, not patched, per se–that's a classic KDOT demountable copy sign, so they could just pick off any elements they wanted to remove. But the demountable copy signs weren't immune to the 3/4 error either.

When you see exactly what was removed, it won't actually make you feel any better.

https://goo.gl/maps/gpp4ygyJmPgDsHwk9

Didn't hit [Preview] first, I see...

[rarnold]

I-70 in Kansas, August 11, 2022.



Who let that sign escape from Oklahoma?

That has to have been extensively patched. It cannot have been made like this, right?

Well, not patched, per se–that's a classic KDOT demountable copy sign, so they could just pick off any elements they wanted to remove. But the demountable copy signs weren't immune to the 3/4 error either.

When you see exactly what was removed, it won't actually make you feel any better.

https://goo.gl/maps/gpp4ygyJmPgDsHwk9

Didn't hit [Preview] first, I see...

Mistakes happen. Just like this sign.

[LilianaUwU]

Crossposting from the US/State route mixup thread... this is puke.

Detroit is bringing back the state-named US shield!

[Rothman]

Crossposting from the US/State route mixup thread... this is puke.

Detroit is bringing back the state-named US shield!

Nah.  That's actually quite fun that they stuck the Michigan M in there.

[hotdogPi]

Except the "shield" shape is bloated, and it's not a US route. This sign would have had an "M" if it was correct.

[Scott5114]

Crossposting from the US/State route mixup thread... this is puke.

Detroit is bringing back the state-named US shield!

How many things can you get wrong on one sign?

[formulanone]

Crossposting from the US/State route mixup thread... this is puke.

Detroit is bringing back the state-named US shield!

How many things can you get wrong on one sign?

Well, the WEST banner is actually correct.

[Scott5114]

I mean, sort of. The spec calls for Series C and that's D. Technically not correct, but close enough most people wouldn't complain.

[Big John]

^^ and the "W" isn't enlarged.

[JoePCool14]

I mean, sort of. The spec calls for Series C and that's D. Technically not correct, but close enough most people wouldn't complain.

^^ and the "W" isn't enlarged.

Don't come to Illinois then. It seems like all new East and West plaques are using Series D now because the IDOT sign shops, at least in my neck of the woods, have pretty much no idea what they're doing.

[paulthemapguy]

Don't come to Illinois then. It seems like all new East and West plaques are using Series D now because the IDOT sign shops, at least in my neck of the woods, have pretty much no idea what they're doing.

I've been seeing this all over District 1 (I'm down in the opposite end, in Will County).  It looks a little different but I don't have a huge problem with it.

[JoePCool14]

Don't come to Illinois then. It seems like all new East and West plaques are using Series D now because the IDOT sign shops, at least in my neck of the woods, have pretty much no idea what they're doing.

I've been seeing this all over District 1 (I'm down in the opposite end, in Will County).  It looks a little different but I don't have a huge problem with it.

And neither do I. But it's another example of IDOT just doing whatever they want. It's better than compressed and expanded font garbage like we usually see.

[Max Rockatansky]

California 63 Route courtesy a local install by Visalia:

63CAa by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

What it originally looked like back during 2018:

63CAa by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[LilianaUwU]

^ How the hell did the sheeting get so peeled in just five years?

[Max Rockatansky]

Local install, they typically use crap vinyl.  It doesn't help that this is a shield with a white sheet with a green sheet overlaid.  Caltrans is using a single sheet on their current spec spades.  The older California spades used to have the numerals applied to a generic background sheet and those tend to fair much better.

[CometTheMountainLion]

Here is another OTA special I found with GSV, this one kinda subtle:

• Control city font on the first two signs appears to be too bold or wide.
• 364 shield and TOLL modifier scrunched up in the corner of the sign in the middle.
• And last but not least, Jopl in.

[Scott5114]

Also the two random control cities on the next panel over for no real reason.

The 364 and the toll banner weren't original to the sign. Slapping shit in the corner instead of replacing the sign is an Oklahoma tradition, though.

[Alex]

Let's see if this musters kphoger's approval:



Fonts all around
The rounded corners on exit tabs
Is instead of Island? Beaver Is Pick
"Niagara Falls 5 miles" looks like a prop for a show or movie



An example of standard exit tabs on a NYSDOT guide sign