What's your favorite street blade design?

[tdindy88]

Indianapolis takes on the Chicago and Denver method of writing addresses on street blades that feature the block of the road you are traveling on as opposed to the block of the road your crossing. I always found it interesting that the street signs were marked that way since most other places had the more standard way of having the block number correspond to the road your crossing. The city used to have white signs with black lettering years ago but has since gone to a typical white-on-green style. Overall the sign styles are pretty decent with traditional FHWA font.

This is an example of the signs at a typical traffic signal: https://goo.gl/maps/D9mnvJ3erwA2
This being at Kessler Blvd and College Avenue, the address block on Kessler is mentioned above the College sign and vice versa.

This is a more standard intersection design, primarily for junctions between arterials/collector streets, this being at Dean Road and 71st Street: https://goo.gl/maps/XVymnuFm25z

This last style is more unique and one I really wish was implemented elsewhere, or at least in Downtown Indy, it also features a very rare usage of Clearview: https://goo.gl/maps/kZPZJbJJWW62
This is at Meridian and Maryland in Downtown, there used to be similar signs at the Meridian/Georgia intersection one block south.

Just below that last example is a unique Wholesale District street blade, which is more common in the southern half of Downtown Indy (the titular Wholesale District) but again the address format is the same.

[kphoger]

↑  This type just looks classy.  ↑

[wolfiefrick]

These are the street blades in Kirkwood, my home town. I believe they have a rather small minimum blade width, so they use condensed Helvetica. Grrr.

[csw]

I like any town that still uses embossed blades. Lots of small towns in Indiana and Illinois that do.

I also like towns that have unique colors, as long as they keep a reasonable font.

[djsekani]

My favorite is El Monte, CA. Green arc over a rectangular brown sign, definitely unique as I haven't seen anything like it elsewhere. This GSV image shows both the standard blades and the overheads. https://goo.gl/maps/qGX4ALFyR8Q2

The new ones gradually cropping up around Los Angeles are pretty nice as well. http://militantangeleno.blogspot.com/2011/03/signs-of-times.html

[Bruce]

From Mead, WA:



Can't get any better than that!

[1995hoo]

Our street signs here typically look like this and I'm partial to this style because I'm used to it and because it is a huge improvement over the previous style, which is seen in the second photo. The blue signs with the larger type became standard for visibility reasons–the smaller green ones were simply determined to be too small, especially for older people.



Old style:



Here is one of the new style with mixed-case type. This looks fine to me, but on signs with letters like "g"  it doesn't seem to work as well because the tail goes down onto the border part and it doesn't look right:



Here's an example of "g"  causing problems:



Someone at VDOT may have had the same objection, because some newer installations use a different style blade that I think is ugly. The lack of the raised border makes it look unfinished to me, probably because I've seen the raised style for 40+ years. I don't have a picture, but here's a Street View of one I pass almost every day:

https://goo.gl/maps/YtRQHyyY7j62

[thenetwork]

One font I highly NON recommend:  Bodini, a favorite in Garfield County, CO.   
https://goo.gl/maps/9ZTh91tXuSq

[briantroutman]

Bodini? I've never heard of it. There's a very famous typeface named Bodoni, but it bears no resemblance to the street blade shown in your link.

[Ben114]

One font I highly NON recommend:  Bodini, a favorite in Garfield County, CO.   
https://goo.gl/maps/9ZTh91tXuSq

Reminds me of some on Cape Cod, Mass.

[CtrlAltDel]

Black capitals on white is my favorite type, too. Oddly, mixed case black on white doesn't really do anything for me.

I also like Santa Barbara's, but this is not a widely held opinion:

[jakeroot]

this is not a widely held opinion

you got that right.

[ErmineNotyours]

Renton, WA used black-on-white street blades for a long time as well, and in a way that I really liked, but has moved away from them as their signals slowly move away from pole-mount-only:

Those original black on white blades date from a 1973 rebuild of downtown, but they are gradually making new black on white signs, these ones with reflectivity.  Here you can see three generations of street blade: New black on white, signal arm green and standard green across the street.

[ipeters61]

I always liked New Jersey's stoplight street blades: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.5378474,-74.3602172,3a,15y,337.22h,114.46t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZFBdSk4MdNWuVp58P3vomw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[jakeroot]

Renton, WA used black-on-white street blades for a long time as well, and in a way that I really liked, but has moved away from them as their signals slowly move away from pole-mount-only:

Those original black on white blades date from a 1973 rebuild of downtown, but they are gradually making new black on white signs, these ones with reflectivity.  Here you can see three generations of street blade: New black on white, signal arm green and standard green across the street.

Nice to see they haven't completely abandoned them. There's a new signal at 2nd/Main/Bronson that doesn't have any black & white street blades, so I'm not sure they're used versus when they're not.

[mapman1071]

My favorite NYC Classics (Image Not Mine)

[ErmineNotyours]

Nice to see they haven't completely abandoned them. There's a new signal at 2nd/Main/Bronson that doesn't have any black & white street blades, so I'm not sure they're used versus when they're not.

The 2nd/Main/Bronson intersection is outside the area rebuilt in 1973 and never got black and white signs.

[jakeroot]

Nice to see they haven't completely abandoned them. There's a new signal at 2nd/Main/Bronson that doesn't have any black & white street blades, so I'm not sure they're used versus when they're not.

The 2nd/Main/Bronson intersection is outside the area rebuilt in 1973 and never got black and white signs.

I see. So the black and white street blades are only in that tighter downtown core? Or in other words, new black and white street blades are only used if the previous intersection had them? More stringent rules than most cities around here!

[djlynch]

I was always a fan of this style of sign that was used in downtown San Antonio, and the version for the rest of the city looked pretty good, too.

The mixed-case versions have shrunk the block numbers to where they're not really legible from any kind of distance, and San Antonio has a habit of arbitrarily stretching or compressing the text, which does not look good at all with Clearview. However, Austin has recently started using a San Antonio-type design for blades at signalized intersections and the results look much better.

[bjcolby50]

Boston's vintage street blades are the best, especially from the '60s/early '70s...most of them are being replaced by newer versions.

Some examples...

Kerna Rd in West Roxbury: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2593405,-71.1611913,3a,75y,167.18h,79.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYf0_zoGL9O5i9cUh4u32Rg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Grove St at Bussey St (Dedham Line):
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.256539,-71.1559684,3a,75y,73.85h,74.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s9A_gdqw0ayPUeN-MFGfFFw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Beacon St westbound:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3463068,-71.1067474,3a,75y,339.5h,93.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sg7IKBInzezcBl_21riiVsg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Beacon St eastbound:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3460569,-71.1067221,3a,15y,114.51h,93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMqxBxbmt7O9aB7gAUR4Zyw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[Pink Jazz]

I've actually become a fan of Mesa, AZ's new street blades.  They are in mixed case FHWA Series C with the block number and are quite legible from a distance.  Previously when Mesa used Clearview most of them were in all-caps.  Mesa has been replacing a lot of their street blades lately, so the mixed-case FHWA street blades are actually becoming very common.  Apparently they don't seem to have any plans to go back to Clearview.  And I think it is a good decision to use Series C instead of Series B like some cities do.  Overhead blades use Series D (some illuminated).

[nexus73]

San Francisco has such a classic blade design.  I'll give it the top mark for attractive style in the western US.  I do like the ones in Marietta GA from a practical design standpoint.  They are so easy to read!

Rick

[wolfiefrick]

Reviving this topic because St. Louis County just comprehensively updated their standard drawings and new signs have begun to appear!



This design hasn't yet appeared in the new standard drawings, so I emailed the St. Louis County Department of Transportation and they essentially said that since the MUTCD requires mixed case lettering on street name signs to make them more legible to older drivers, they would begin rolling out these new versions. The new back-to-back SNS panel mounting method is also vastly superior to brackets. St. Louis County never had a major problem with brackets, though; nearly every St. Louis County-maintained intersection has a perfectly aligned bracketed street sign assembly. The new design will appear in the new standard drawings in due time; they're scheduled to take effect on May 1, 2020.

On wide arterial roads with speed limits above 45 mph, these larger variants would be used to sign the minor roads and the sign for the major road would remain the standard size. Here, the speed limit of Manchester Rd is 45 mph and Dietrich Rd is a minor residential street.

What makes this more interesting is that it looks like St. Louis County is using a modernized or redrawn version of FHWA Series B here – look at the shape of the "e" and "c" and compare them to the standard alphabets in the MUTCD (or SHS; can't remember which of which document the alphabets are a component).

[ipeters61]

Reviving this topic because St. Louis County just comprehensively updated their standard drawings and new signs have begun to appear!



This design hasn't yet appeared in the new standard drawings, so I emailed the St. Louis County Department of Transportation and they essentially said that since the MUTCD requires mixed case lettering on street name signs to make them more legible to older drivers, they would begin rolling out these new versions. They'll appear in the new standard drawings in due time; they're scheduled to take effect on May 1, 2020.

On wide arterial roads with speed limits above 45 mph, these larger variants would be used to sign the minor roads and the sign for the major road would remain the standard size. Here, the speed limit of Manchester Rd is 45 mph and Dietrich Rd is a minor residential street.

What makes this more interesting is that it looks like St. Louis County is using a modernized or redrawn version of FHWA Series B here – look at the shape of the "e" and "c" and compare them to the standard alphabets in the MUTCD (or SHS; can't remember which of which document the alphabets are a component).

That reminds me a bit of Delaware's newer street blades.

Speaking of, these new installations in the area of the DE-1/Bowers Beach Road/Clapham Road interchange (there are a few) are the only ones I know of that have the state's older two-line design for road names that have at least two words.  What's interesting is that this wasn't a two-line assembly in the past.

Older two-line assemblies looked like this, but are being replaced with this.

[jakeroot]

Reviving this topic because St. Louis County just comprehensively updated their standard drawings and new signs have begun to appear!

[clipped]

I'm a bit confused. I've been seeing mixed-case in STL for a while now. The intersections around the 64/170 interchange come to mind as being new when I was last there, and Street View confirms that street blades were mixed-case back then. Unless there's different standards for those mounted above stop signs, and I just don't remember noticing.

Although it hadn't been rebuilt when I was there last, the intersection of McCausland and Clayton also has mixed-case signs (circa 2014); are these maintained by the state?