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

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/14548930937

The shield between the road name.

[roadfro]

^^ Mileposts are supposed to increase south to north or west to east.

Edited to fix, and to better illustrate my point using cardinal directions in the first place.

[Amaury]

Does anyone know what this sign used to be? https://goo.gl/maps/pS5KW8UjWnc8kw396 It's on I-84 westbound in Oregon at milepost 65. I've gone back to the earliest capture Google Maps has and it's blank there, too. So, I'm wondering if anyone who is really familiar with this area knows what it was.

[Scott5114]

https://goo.gl/maps/pX5PzE4NHySE2R596
The use of Va over VA is odd considering all state abbreviations are to be upper case letters.

Though I'm sure you can finds hundreds of signs with Va over VA within the commonwealth, it's still like Mass being used for MA or Miss for MS.

I posted this to represent all Va usage in Virginia as VDOT using Va on a lot of guides is the norm that's odd.

They've been replacing a number of signs in the region over the last few years and now use "VA Beach"  is the default in most cases. I prefer the lowercase "Va"  since it looks better on the signs IMO, but I understand it's technically not proper. VDOT is finally onboard with "VA" .

It is proper, actually–it's a traditional abbreviation, but with the period removed because MUTCD disallows punctuation in city names. Same concept as Oklahoma signing its capital as "Okla City"; it's just that Virginia's traditional and postal abbreviations happen to be the same.

[LilianaUwU]

Does anyone know what this sign used to be? https://goo.gl/maps/pS5KW8UjWnc8kw396 It's on I-84 westbound in Oregon at milepost 65. I've gone back to the earliest capture Google Maps has and it's blank there, too. So, I'm wondering if anyone who is really familiar with this area knows what it was.

That's something that often happens in Montréal:

Blank BGS, A-40 EB by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

I heard it's where VMS goes? Not sure about it, considering the shape of those signs.

[Scott5114]

Does anyone know what this sign used to be? https://goo.gl/maps/pS5KW8UjWnc8kw396 It's on I-84 westbound in Oregon at milepost 65. I've gone back to the earliest capture Google Maps has and it's blank there, too. So, I'm wondering if anyone who is really familiar with this area knows what it was.

If you look at it on edge, it has two layers, the inner one appearing to be yellow. So my guess is it's a sign that unfolds to reveal a warning of some kind.

[J N Winkler]

https://goo.gl/maps/pX5PzE4NHySE2R596

The use of Va over VA is odd considering all state abbreviations are to be upper case letters.

Though I'm sure you can finds hundreds of signs with Va over VA within the commonwealth, it's still like Mass being used for MA or Miss for MS.

I posted this to represent all Va usage in Virginia as VDOT using Va on a lot of guides is the norm that's odd.

They've been replacing a number of signs in the region over the last few years and now use "VA Beach"  is the default in most cases. I prefer the lowercase "Va"  since it looks better on the signs IMO, but I understand it's technically not proper. VDOT is finally onboard with "VA" .

It is proper, actually–it's a traditional abbreviation, but with the period removed because MUTCD disallows punctuation in city names. Same concept as Oklahoma signing its capital as "Okla City"; it's just that Virginia's traditional and postal abbreviations happen to be the same.

People keep saying the MUTCD now requires, or may in the future require, the use of USPS two-letter abbreviations for states on signs.  The only language I have found in the 2009 edition regarding state abbreviations deals with the state-name part of state route designations and leaves it to agency discretion, with the proviso that it must be used consistently.  Neither the NPRM nor the proposed text and figures for the upcoming 11th edition indicate this is to be changed.

Even if the MUTCD required USPS TLAs, I think it would be inappropriate to interpret it as mandating legends like "VA Beach" or "OK City" since these are city names that happen to incorporate the names of their respective states.  Va. Beach is an independent city in Virginia, not a beach in VA.

Does anyone know what this sign used to be? https://goo.gl/maps/pS5KW8UjWnc8kw396 It's on I-84 westbound in Oregon at milepost 65. I've gone back to the earliest capture Google Maps has and it's blank there, too. So, I'm wondering if anyone who is really familiar with this area knows what it was.

It's still in service--it's a folding sign.  If you advance past it in StreetView, you can see (as Scott5114 notes) sheeting peeking out along one edge.  As all of the available imagery has acquisition dates outside the winter months and the next exit is for Mount Hood, I suspect it warns of snow-related closures along SR 35, which runs through areas that have snow on the ground as late as May.  However, I haven't been able to find confirmation in signing plans.

In the past, I have opened folding signs just to see what is on the other side, but--legalities aside--I would strongly discourage that in this location since there is no safe place to stop.

[jakeroot]

Does anyone know what this sign used to be? https://goo.gl/maps/pS5KW8UjWnc8kw396 It's on I-84 westbound in Oregon at milepost 65. I've gone back to the earliest capture Google Maps has and it's blank there, too. So, I'm wondering if anyone who is really familiar with this area knows what it was.

It's still in service--it's a folding sign.  If you advance past it in StreetView, you can see (as Scott5114 notes) sheeting peeking out along one edge.  As all of the available imagery has acquisition dates outside the winter months and the next exit is for Mount Hood, I suspect it warns of snow-related closures along SR 35, which runs through areas that have snow on the ground as late as May.  However, I haven't been able to find confirmation in signing plans.

While the quality leaves a lot to be desired, it does appear to be folded up in this December 2007 imagery from the eastbound carriageway: https://goo.gl/maps/7AKsgJMdXkD675R19.

Though it is still very possibly a snow-closure sign, however, as December is hit-and-miss with regard to snow closures in the PNW.

[Mr. Matté]

This newer sign seems to be "missing its eyebrows," or in this case the arrows below the EAST and WEST like found on the standard directional signs in NJ (such as the one in the far background for CR 519).

Bad news, though, for the one singular mention in real life of NJ 165- the non-standard brown signal blade was replaced with a boring NJDOT modern standard blade:

[roadman65]

How NJ 18 gets an independent shield while US 9 is included on the guide.
https://goo.gl/maps/cFHtcxeRd7v69VpM6

[roadman65]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/51912173731
The way SCDOT positions Road under the road name lining up the left side rather than center it.

[J N Winkler]

Never change, Oklahoma DOT.

[jakeroot]

Positive contrast signs with inset border .... 🤮

Of course, when it's required (negative contrast), they don't inset the border. But I don't like inset borders anyway, so I'm actually fine with that mistake.

[Scott5114]

Who posts black on white guide signs, anyway? What is this, 1957?

(Also, literally the only agency that ever made Series F look good is the City of San Francisco on their street blades.)

[74/171FAN]

The exit tab on this temporary sign is yellow.  (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10218696841572687&set=a.10218696856253054)

[hbelkins]

Who posts black on white guide signs, anyway? What is this, 1957?

(Also, literally the only agency that ever made Series F look good is the City of San Francisco on their street blades.)

There are a handful of black-on-white guide signs still in existence in KYTC's District 6 in the northern part of the state. They date back to the 1970s when the "honeycomb" or "beehive" sheeting was in place.

[Bobby5280]

The "Gray Horse Creek" and "Bug Creek" signs have a few problems. Series F is not great for small signs. The layouts have more line spacing between the lines than negative space above and below the lines. That's just wrong from a basic design standpoint. It's one reason why the layouts look cramped. The Gray Horse Creek sign just needs a longer (and taller) sign panel.

[wanderer2575]

"No trucks as thru traffic," with a rear view of a truck instead of the R5-2 showing the side view.



Might have to read this one twice and then think about it for a moment.

[Bobby5280]

Now that is a really horrible looking Clearview sign. The "As Thru Traffic" lettering looks like Clearview 3W (not 3B) artificially stretched. Obviously they couldn't bother selecting the 6B weight in the font menu. The bottom sign panel lettering looks like Clearview 1W, and that lettering might be squeezed just a little bit.

[roadman65]

https://goo.gl/maps/Bc1P2GdFhn7L6emo7
This shield is odd, but at least uses one shield for two directions.

https://goo.gl/maps/gJBzHSqtQ75MihE46
This curve sign is odd with no arrowhead.

[jakeroot]

https://goo.gl/maps/Bc1P2GdFhn7L6emo7
This shield is odd, but at least uses one shield for two directions.

I don't think signals count as signs, but if we are talking about anything with retroreflectivity: New Hope's white traffic signal borders are visible in the background. Pretty sure New Hope and Bristol (both in PA) are the only places where you can find white signal borders in the US.

[plain]

https://goo.gl/maps/Bc1P2GdFhn7L6emo7
This shield is odd, but at least uses one shield for two directions.

I don't think signals count as signs, but if we are talking about anything with retroreflectivity: New Hope's white traffic signal borders are visible in the background. Pretty sure New Hope and Bristol (both in PA) are the only places where you can find white signal borders in the US.

Culpeper, VA

https://maps.app.goo.gl/49xYkAY4kg5GPMYU7

[formulanone]

https://goo.gl/maps/Bc1P2GdFhn7L6emo7
This shield is odd, but at least uses one shield for two directions.

I don't think signals count as signs, but if we are talking about anything with retroreflectivity: New Hope's white traffic signal borders are visible in the background. Pretty sure New Hope and Bristol (both in PA) are the only places where you can find white signal borders in the US.

Culpeper, VA

https://maps.app.goo.gl/49xYkAY4kg5GPMYU7

Those wide-radius curves on the backplates are fairly unique, too. Seems like something you'd see outside North America.

[jakeroot]

https://goo.gl/maps/Bc1P2GdFhn7L6emo7
This shield is odd, but at least uses one shield for two directions.

I don't think signals count as signs, but if we are talking about anything with retroreflectivity: New Hope's white traffic signal borders are visible in the background. Pretty sure New Hope and Bristol (both in PA) are the only places where you can find white signal borders in the US.

Culpeper, VA

https://maps.app.goo.gl/49xYkAY4kg5GPMYU7

Those wide-radius curves on the backplates are fairly unique, too. Seems like something you'd see outside North America.

Something straight out of the Netherlands!

[Rothman]

https://goo.gl/maps/Bc1P2GdFhn7L6emo7
This shield is odd, but at least uses one shield for two directions.

I don't think signals count as signs, but if we are talking about anything with retroreflectivity: New Hope's white traffic signal borders are visible in the background. Pretty sure New Hope and Bristol (both in PA) are the only places where you can find white signal borders in the US.

Culpeper, VA

https://maps.app.goo.gl/49xYkAY4kg5GPMYU7

Those wide-radius curves on the backplates are fairly unique, too. Seems like something you'd see outside North America.

Something straight out of the Netherlands!

I swear I've seen those in a few other places in the U.S., too.