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

[jakeroot]

Sign prohibiting buses from turning right on red.

Bellevue, WA.

[CoreySamson]

Odd orange speed limit sign that apparently got knocked over because it was so bad. 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/1515-1553+S+Loop+W,+Houston,+TX+77054/@29.6791143,-95.4002469,3a,75y,32.94h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swmZqhs8jMX-yu7RR5omcLA!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x8640eaa9e1e5edbd:0xa185960e93b07ed1

[ErmineNotyours]

Odd orange speed limit sign that apparently got knocked over because it was so bad. 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/1515-1553+S+Loop+W,+Houston,+TX+77054/@29.6791143,-95.4002469,3a,75y,32.94h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swmZqhs8jMX-yu7RR5omcLA!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x8640eaa9e1e5edbd:0xa185960e93b07ed1

A little further down the road: A tab on top of a supplemental on top of a tab on top of a sign.

[Paulinator66]

There's this one between Springfield and Jacksonville IL on I-72

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7371636,-89.999793,3a,24.9y,301.07h,89.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sq-iEfDZ0qC7TS0MGjn41MQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[ErmineNotyours]

There's this one between Springfield and Jacksonville IL on I-72

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7371636,-89.999793,3a,24.9y,301.07h,89.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sq-iEfDZ0qC7TS0MGjn41MQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Longitude is so arbitrary.  Latitude is more important: Salem, Oregon.

[tylert120]

Hi everyone - newer here. Hope this is the right thread.

Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA uses a font similar to Arial/Arial Bold on all of its signs - and always in capital letters. Aren't all of these signs technically wrong? The signs should either use Highway Gothic or Clearview, depending on the sign. The signs they produce have always bugged me.

Wayfinding Signs: https://goo.gl/maps/KByfPaGj87S61jdL7 | https://goo.gl/maps/HEDZHwaf92HUNS518
Stop Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/UTbbV3ZkeK61XjWg6
Street Name Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/hAhGwgr9BcMsg85L7
Weight Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/WGr1p2Mr9U18boay9
Speed Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/53rtxk84ayWYyrSe9

[CoreySamson]

Hi everyone - newer here. Hope this is the right thread.

Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA uses a font similar to Arial/Arial Bold on all of its signs - and always in capital letters. Aren't all of these signs technically wrong? The signs should either use Highway Gothic or Clearview, depending on the sign. The signs they produce have always bugged me.

Wayfinding Signs: https://goo.gl/maps/KByfPaGj87S61jdL7 | https://goo.gl/maps/HEDZHwaf92HUNS518
Stop Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/UTbbV3ZkeK61XjWg6
Street Name Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/hAhGwgr9BcMsg85L7
Weight Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/WGr1p2Mr9U18boay9
Speed Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/53rtxk84ayWYyrSe9

That font makes all the signs look like they are screaming at you, especially the STOP sign.

[D-Dey65]

This stop sign here isn't Montreal standard, let alone anywhere in Quebec, is it?

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_788067-Aston-Martin-V8-Vantage-S-Roadster-2012.html

I'm pretty sure it isn't, but I have to see the reaction of the people of Quebec.

[vdeane]

This stop sign here isn't Montreal standard, let alone anywhere in Quebec, is it?

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_788067-Aston-Martin-V8-Vantage-S-Roadster-2012.html

I'm pretty sure it isn't, but I have to see the reaction of the people of Quebec.

There are a few (albeit with a more standard font) on the west side of the island.

[KEVIN_224]

And it says "STOP" instead of "ARRET"?

[D-Dey65]

Okay, I want to bring this up for my fellow Long Islanders and ex-Long Islanders out there. In the Town of Brookhaven, there have always been these black signs with yellow lettering telling people that littering is illegal, and if they violate any littering laws they'll pay a $500 fine. And the signs used to claim they were authorized by Harold H. Malkmes, Superintendent of Highways (I've seen older variants with his predecessor in the past). The trouble is Malkmes died in 2011, and there's still a sign with his name on it on Bartlett Road across from the Spring Lake Golf Course in Middle Island.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harold_Malkmes-era_No_Littering_sign_in_Middle_Island.jpg

I wish we could still post images directly here from our computers. I was debating between posting it on Wikimedia Commons and throwing the Middle Island, New York category out of balance, or posting it anonymously on imgur, which could've prevented me from re-posting it in the commons, if somebody from imgur got pissed off at the idea of it being reposted.

[CoreySamson]

This sign's font is absolutely disgusting!

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.9801483,-91.4886685,3a,35y,339.35h,80.23t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sm4V2HiORJbC6KyswoqQd9Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

La 66 near Angola

[formulanone]

This sign's font is absolutely disgusting!

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.9801483,-91.4886685,3a,35y,339.35h,80.23t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sm4V2HiORJbC6KyswoqQd9Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

La 66 near Angola

Overreacting much? It's a obviously a non-standard but non-whimsical font and at least it's used in a proportional design manner.

Zooming in and out almost makes it appear more readable than Arial / Helvetica, but that could be the spacing and kerning in this example.

[JoePCool14]

Hi everyone - newer here. Hope this is the right thread.

Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA uses a font similar to Arial/Arial Bold on all of its signs - and always in capital letters. Aren't all of these signs technically wrong? The signs should either use Highway Gothic or Clearview, depending on the sign. The signs they produce have always bugged me.

Wayfinding Signs: https://goo.gl/maps/KByfPaGj87S61jdL7 | https://goo.gl/maps/HEDZHwaf92HUNS518
Stop Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/UTbbV3ZkeK61XjWg6
Street Name Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/hAhGwgr9BcMsg85L7
Weight Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/WGr1p2Mr9U18boay9
Speed Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/53rtxk84ayWYyrSe9

That font makes all the signs look like they are screaming at you, especially the STOP sign.

Just down the road from one of those is this one. Interesting choice of words, not sure that's exactly what I would've gone with...
https://goo.gl/maps/aU6JGyXcYrwHNo3v7

[tylert120]

Hi everyone - newer here. Hope this is the right thread.

Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA uses a font similar to Arial/Arial Bold on all of its signs - and always in capital letters. Aren't all of these signs technically wrong? The signs should either use Highway Gothic or Clearview, depending on the sign. The signs they produce have always bugged me.

Wayfinding Signs: https://goo.gl/maps/KByfPaGj87S61jdL7 | https://goo.gl/maps/HEDZHwaf92HUNS518
Stop Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/UTbbV3ZkeK61XjWg6
Street Name Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/hAhGwgr9BcMsg85L7
Weight Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/WGr1p2Mr9U18boay9
Speed Limit Sign: https://goo.gl/maps/53rtxk84ayWYyrSe9

That font makes all the signs look like they are screaming at you, especially the STOP sign.

Just down the road from one of those is this one. Interesting choice of words, not sure that's exactly what I would've gone with...
https://goo.gl/maps/aU6JGyXcYrwHNo3v7

The "Watch Children"  sign? I thought those were everywhere. There extremely common in Pittsburgh and it's suburbs.

[roadfro]

Just down the road from one of those is this one. Interesting choice of words, not sure that's exactly what I would've gone with...
https://goo.gl/maps/aU6JGyXcYrwHNo3v7

The "Watch Children"  sign? I thought those were everywhere. There extremely common in Pittsburgh and it's suburbs.

I don't know that they're "everywhere" (I've never seen one personally). But I think "Watch *For* Children" would be a less creepy phrasing...

[jemacedo9]

Just down the road from one of those is this one. Interesting choice of words, not sure that's exactly what I would've gone with...
https://goo.gl/maps/aU6JGyXcYrwHNo3v7

The “Watch Children” sign? I thought those were everywhere. There extremely common in Pittsburgh and it’s suburbs.

I don't know that they're "everywhere" (I've never seen one personally). But I think "Watch *For* Children" would be a less creepy phrasing...

It might a PA thing...they are everywhere in PA.

[US71]

I found this on e-bay recently

[tylert120]

Just down the road from one of those is this one. Interesting choice of words, not sure that's exactly what I would've gone with...
https://goo.gl/maps/aU6JGyXcYrwHNo3v7

The "Watch Children"  sign? I thought those were everywhere. There extremely common in Pittsburgh and it's suburbs.

I don't know that they're "everywhere" (I've never seen one personally). But I think "Watch *For* Children" would be a less creepy phrasing...

It might a PA thing...they are everywhere in PA.

Yup...in the Municipality I live in, there's a watch children sign at the beginning of every residential street.

[csw]

I found this on e-bay recently

New Mexico style stop sign?

[Pete from Boston]

Somebody in Salem, Massachusetts, is drunk.







And it looks like they visited Marblehead next door.

[SectorZ]

Somebody in Salem, Massachusetts, is drunk.

They use that font on a couple of 1A signs, along with numerous street sign blades all over the city. I forget the name of the font, but it's the same font MassDOT uses on official communications.

[formulanone]

Somebody in Salem, Massachusetts, is drunk.

They use that font on a couple of 1A signs, along with numerous street sign blades all over the city. I forget the name of the font, but it's the same font MassDOT uses on official communications.

The font looks like an italic version of Eurostile.

Which makes the sign look like a scene from a made-for-TV-movie set about a not-quite-distant future, which was released in the late-nineties.

[thenetwork]

Somebody in Salem, Massachusetts, is drunk.

They use that font on a couple of 1A signs, along with numerous street sign blades all over the city. I forget the name of the font, but it's the same font MassDOT uses on official communications.

The font looks like an italic version of Eurostile.

Which makes the sign look like a scene from a made-for-TV-movie set about a not-quite-distant future, which was released in the late-nineties.

On one hand, the font is butt ugly.  OTOH, in a state where they just use plain, bland squares, it really livens up the state route marker, and I kind of like it.

[cjk374]

LP106 by Jess Kilgore, on Flickr

LP106N by Jess Kilgore, on Flickr

So...you may be wondering where these 2 seemingly ordinary parish route signs fit in this thread. Ugly? No. But unique, odd and interesting?  ABSOLUTELY!!!!

But why? Well, these have been installed on Tarbutton Road on the western edge of Ruston, LA. This is the site of a brand new interchange they have been building since 2018 (soon to be exit 83).  Somebody did some deep digging to find out the old parish road number for Tarbutton Rd. Lincoln hasn't used numbers to identify their routes since the implementation of E-911 in the late 80s/early 90s. Also, Lincoln Parish NEVER EVER used the pentagon shield. Lincoln Parish used blue squares with white text, numbers and border. My avatar is a pic of an original Lincoln Parish route marker. All parish routes are now named.