Odd Things Some DOT's Do

[Ian]

Hey all!

I have noticed some things that are common practices in some states that look really odd or neat. What are some odd things some DOT's do (a lot I have a from NH)?

Here are things that I have noticed...

-NHDOT (New Hampshire) seems to mount a lot of their signs about halfway down the pole like so:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/RoadOddities#5374379835979305458
   
-NHDOT's extensive use of green unisigns:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewHampshireTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5353932918952967890
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewHampshireTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5353932938971090466
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewHampshireTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5353932971561232498

-NHDOT likes do install some of the widest sign bridges I have ever seen!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewHampshireTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5353972729827000642

-How NHDOT installs liquor stores on their freeways!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewHampshireTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5353722971637812658

-MDOT's (Maine) extensive use of wood sign posts and signs.

-NJDOT (New Jersey) and how they are the only state to still be actively installing truss mast arms:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewJerseyTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5289505812148601410

-TxDOT (Texas), FDOT (Florida) and NMDOT (New Mexico) and how that like to install horizontal signals.

-PTC (Pennsylvania Turnpike) and how they put the name of the interchange on the top of their freeway signs:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/PennsylvaniaTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5289893852458866642

-PennDOT's interstate colored detour system

-NYSDOT and how they like installing "Z"  bars horizontally on the back of their signs for wind resistance (I believe that's what its for):
http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u102/ctsignguy/?action=view&current=nyus9backside.jpg
(sorry ctsignguy, I couldn't find another photo) 

-MassHighways, NHDOT, and MDOT's (Maine) use of color combo for their traffic signals. They use yellow backside and visors with a black door or face:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/MassachusettsTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5323186168804293522
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/MassachusettsTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5323186114134466258

So, let's hear them!
Ian

[agentsteel53]

-NHDOT (New Hampshire) seems to mount a lot of their signs about halfway down the pole

it lets you use 6 fewer inches of U-channel post.  your tax dollars being saved!   
   
as for wooden signs - lots of states use them, or have used them until recently.  Oregon, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Wisconsin, and Connecticut come to mind immediately.  Just about every state used them during WWII as steel was needed elsewhere.  I believe most of those states have stopped using wood recently, but New Mexico still might to this day.

[J N Winkler]

Wyoming DOT:

*  Flange mounting for small signs.  If the flanges are spot-welded to the signface, this means that rivets don't penetrate the sign sheeting, which makes for a clean appearance.  However, corners are left untrimmed.

*  "Saddle mounts must stop" signing at state POEs.  ("Saddle mount," I learned much later, has nothing to do with Wyoming's cowboy heritage--it is the state's preferred term for a semi tractor hauling other tractors on its trailer hitch.)

Kansas DOT:

*  "Waste disposal site" signing.

*  "Via county road" signing.

Nebraska DOR:

*  Diagrammatic junction signs.

*  "Fuel, mileage, proration" signs.

New Mexico DOT:

*  "Notice" signs.

*  Single-lane state highways (NM 159 to Mogollon, NM 503 near Santa Cruz Lake, etc.).

*  Bat ("Checkpoints everywhere") signs.

*  Bilingual English-Spanish signs (in select regions).

Texas DOT:

*  Standardized hazmat detour signs.

Utah DOT:

*  One-strip-per-line small guide signs (these are vanishing fast though).

P.S. regarding plywood signs--yes, they're still used in New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming (large guide signs only, I think).

[agentsteel53]

Bat ("Checkpoints everywhere") signs.

what is a bat?  Other than the winged nocturnal mammal.  (I do not believe Batman is running the checkpoints!)

[J N Winkler]

It is precisely that:  a bat.  The sign shows a representation of a bat.  Trust me, you do not want to see this sign for the first time after dark.

English-language version:

http://winklers-roads.fotopic.net/p9008213.html

Spanish-language version:

http://winklers-roads.fotopic.net/p5482951.html

As an aside, I love how Texas has signs which imply violence:

http://winklers-roads.fotopic.net/p16968523.html

[agentsteel53]

ahh, DWI checkpoints.  Well, they ain't working; NM is still the drunkedest drivingest state in the union!

as I've said before, the summary execution of one in every 100 drunk drivers, right there at the sobriety checkpoint, would do wonders to diminsh the problem.

[mightyace]

As an aside, I love how Texas has signs which imply violence:

http://winklers-roads.fotopic.net/p16968523.html

I like it.  "Unexploded Ammunition.  Trespassers will be prosecuted."  What if you find the Unexploded Ammunition before they find you.  Will they arrest your scattered remains? 

[J N Winkler]

It is my understanding that New Mexico state law gives counties the option of allowing drive-through liquor sales.  McKinley County (much of which is Indian reservation land) is apparently a hotspot for drive-through liquor.  There have been efforts to contain the problem by making liquor harder to buy, but I have not heard that sales restrictions have been passed.

Another New Mexico quirk is "Vending from public right of way prohibited"--obviously an attempt to crack down on "Navajo malls" and smallholders' stalls within the highway right-of-way.  I am not sure however whether such restrictions exist (and are enforced) on reservation land; the example I found and photographed was on US 64 outside the Navajo reservation.

[Michael]

-NHDOT likes do install some of the widest sign bridges I have ever seen!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/NewHampshireTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5353972729827000642

That's crazy!

-NYSDOT and how they like installing "Z"  bars horizontally on the back of their signs for wind resistance (I believe that's what its for):
http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u102/ctsignguy/?action=view&current=nyus9backside.jpg
(sorry ctsignguy, I couldn't find another photo) 

Oh, I always wondered why they were there!  Even though it's not an official explanation, it does make sense!

[SSOWorld]

WisDOT has a thing for having all traffic lights mounted on ground posts at the corners of the intersection except for the one in the right back corner which might be on a mast - and horizontal.

Before 2000(?) all ids of highways were in text using "HWY" in WI.

Chicago has sign bridges that have trusses as tall as the signs themselves

[TheStranger]

California of course is notorious for not including a seperate exit tab for its new exit numbers, but including it in the existing signspace for a BGS.  (I actually like that California is doing it differently from everyone else...keeps us unique  )

Another lovable quirk from these parts: cutout state route AND US highway markers!

though not in use anywhere as much these days, back in the day of all-text signage, the "FREEWAY/BUSINESS" split signs were pretty neat.

[Scott5114]

Occasionally ODOT can't think of a second control point for distance signage and will post distance to "END OF ROUTE". This is the only time you will see a state highway referred to as a "route" in Oklahoma (apart from Route 66).

If two lanes exit from a freeway, both will be signed on green; it is often implied that the rightmost lane (if a right exit) must be an exit-only lane.

Will not post triangular no passing signs.

All arrows below shields are on square blanks as opposed to the rectangular ones nearly all other states use.

[DBrim]

California of course is notorious for not including a seperate exit tab for its new exit numbers, but including it in the existing signspace for a BGS.  (I actually like that California is doing it differently from everyone else...keeps us unique   )

Another lovable quirk from these parts: cutout state route AND US highway markers!

though not in use anywhere as much these days, back in the day of all-text signage, the "FREEWAY/BUSINESS" split signs were pretty neat.

My favorite CA quirk is the reuse of big green signs, especially through copious amounts of greenout.  It's even more fun when the greenout is not quite right (see this and this).

I also like Massachusetts' shieldless green signs (being phased out now, unfortunately).

[ctsignguy]

Quote from Mightyace:

""Quote from: J N Winkler on August 26, 2009, 05:57:55 PM
As an aside, I love how Texas has signs which imply violence:

http://winklers-roads.fotopic.net/p16968523.html""


I like it.  "Unexploded Ammunition.  Trespassers will be prosecuted."  What if you find the Unexploded Ammunition before they find you.  Will they arrest your scattered remains? "

Yes, for littering.   

[vdeane]

Some regions in NY still use boxed street names, even though they're not supposed to anymore.

[deathtopumpkins]

As an aside, I love how Texas has signs which imply violence:

http://winklers-roads.fotopic.net/p16968523.html

Anyone else find it odd that behind a sign that says "DO NOT LEAVE HIGHWAY" there is a Deer Crossing sign...? 

[agentsteel53]

Anyone else find it odd that behind a sign that says "DO NOT LEAVE HIGHWAY" there is a Deer Crossing sign...? 

I wonder how much trouble they have with cleaning up Assorted Deer Parts.

[Roadgeek Adam]

PennDOT with their dopey yellow clearview signs

"Don't Tailgate"

"Drive Safely"

etc

Here's my thought of one

"Drive Interstate 80. Our Governor Wants Your Money"

Those signs are so annoying

[froggie]

I don't see them as annoying.  They at least break up some of the monotony.

[agentsteel53]

at least they're better than the construction sites done in that awful kid's handwriting.  if I had handwriting like that past the age of 3 or so, I'd have gotten a whipping!

[Bryant5493]

Those BGSs with the blocked street name look ugly. They should just have the state route number along with the local designation (i.e., S.R. 139/Riverdale Road).


Be well,

Bryant

[sonysnob]

This is my favourite

[florida]

It is my understanding that New Mexico state law gives counties the option of allowing drive-through liquor sales.  McKinley County (much of which is Indian reservation land) is apparently a hotspot for drive-through liquor.  There have been efforts to contain the problem by making liquor harder to buy, but I have not heard that sales restrictions have been passed.

Are those places in barns too?

[Michael]

Pennsylvania has these too:

Credit: Mr Frosted on Flickr

Those areas with "Keep Min 2 Dots Apart" are annoying.  Here's an example from teresco.org:


I don't understand how PennDOT thinks these will help.  I've only seen these in Pennsylvania.

[cu2010]

Those areas with "Keep Min 2 Dots Apart" are annoying. 
[image]
I don't understand how PennDOT thinks these will help.  I've only seen these in Pennsylvania.

I've seen similar signs in Ontario, particularly around Toronto...except they use chevrons instead of dots.

Dunno if they are actually still there...it's been quite some time since I've actually been through there.