The Best of Road Signs

[ctsignguy]

Hijacked photo from another thread:

Well if Amber doesn't mind, who am I to argue?

Damn!  Amber flashed me and i missed it?  I knew i shoulda stopped!!!

[Jim]

Almost forgot about this one. Here is an older sign on I-90/Massachusetts Turnpike eastbound at exit 10 in Auburn with the older detailed pilgrim hat logo:

Not old enough to have the arrow through the hat, but nice.  I drove under it this morning and noticed that the I-90 shield on that one is fading as are the shields on the sign to the right, but hopefully it's got some time left in it.

[SidS1045]

Almost forgot about this one. Here is an older sign on I-90/Massachusetts Turnpike eastbound at exit 10 in Auburn with the older detailed pilgrim hat logo:

Not old enough to have the arrow through the hat, but nice.  I drove under it this morning and noticed that the I-90 shield on that one is fading as are the shields on the sign to the right, but hopefully it's got some time left in it.

Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the pilgrim-hat signs are now targeted for extinction.  When those signs are replaced, they will have the I-90 pull-through, but no hat.  There are even some rumors in these parts that the term "Massachusetts Turnpike" may be gone at some point.  It will become just an Interstate with tolls.

[agentsteel53]

perhaps, but they'll never stop calling it The Pike.  the local still refer to the 9-mile ring road as 128, never adopting the I-95 moniker despite the fact that the through-town 95 was canceled by 1972.

[Ian]

Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the pilgrim-hat signs are now targeted for extinction.  When those signs are replaced, they will have the I-90 pull-through, but no hat.  There are even some rumors in these parts that the term "Massachusetts Turnpike" may be gone at some point.  It will become just an Interstate with tolls.

Actually, according to MassDOT, there are no plans to remove the Massachusetts Turnpike designation or the pilgrim hat signs.

[Quillz]

Glad Maine is using Series C on 3di shields now. Unless the shield is very wide to accommodate, Series D just doesn't work, it's too wide. And compressed fonts are probably the single worst atrocity that could happen to any sign.

[deathtopumpkins]

Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the pilgrim-hat signs are now targeted for extinction.  When those signs are replaced, they will have the I-90 pull-through, but no hat.  There are even some rumors in these parts that the term "Massachusetts Turnpike" may be gone at some point.  It will become just an Interstate with tolls.

Actually, according to MassDOT, there are no plans to remove the Massachusetts Turnpike designation or the pilgrim hat signs.

I believe I actually read somewhere around the time of the MassDOT reorganization that they were considering reviving a form of pilgrim hat signage, but I may be mistaken.

[SidS1045]

Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the pilgrim-hat signs are now targeted for extinction.  When those signs are replaced, they will have the I-90 pull-through, but no hat.  There are even some rumors in these parts that the term "Massachusetts Turnpike" may be gone at some point.  It will become just an Interstate with tolls.

Actually, according to MassDOT, there are no plans to remove the Massachusetts Turnpike designation or the pilgrim hat signs.

Actually, that's wrong.  The end of the pilgrim-hat signs was made public months ago.

[hbelkins]

Actually, that's wrong.  The end of the pilgrim-hat signs was made public months ago.

Cite?

[SidS1045]

Actually, that's wrong.  The end of the pilgrim-hat signs was made public months ago.

Cite?

A two-sentence item in the Boston Globe and some reports on radio.

[DRMan]

Temporary signs on I-95 northbound approaching exit 4 in Portsmouth, NH. These signs feature old style US 4 shields with the black outline. The second photo is a cropped version of the first one to show the US 4 outlined shield.




If it's still there by mid-August, I can try to snap a better photo.

I'm sorry to report that these are gone as of today, replaced by a big arrow-per-lane sign that's pretty much identical to this one (which you posted in the Worst of Road Signs thread, ironically):


I think this is the last sign in the project to "upgrade" the signage in this stretch of I-95.  There was a lot of last-second weaving at Exit 4.  The exit ramp runs parallel to and left of the I-95 mainline for half a mile or so, separated by a narrow strip of grass, before curving to the northwest (I-95 runs northeast towards Kittery).  It remains to be seen whether the new signs will help matters.

The new sign is just as ugly, and they couldn't even get the arrows to line up properly with the lanes.  But this thread is for the Best of Road Signs...

[SidS1045]

Looks like the newer sign (third photo) is in the background in the first photo.

[DRMan]

Looks like the newer sign (third photo) is in the background in the first photo.

Actually, the sign in the background is another sign that was actually the first of the arrow-per-lane signs to be put up.  It was installed when the Sherburne Rd. overpass was redecked last year.  The sign that PennDOTFan photgraphed (with the 1 1/4 mile distance legend) came next.

The spacing and the arrow lengths on the Sherburne Rd. sign actually look better than the latter two.  I wonder if the Sherburne Rd. sign was done by a contractor and the others in-house by NHDOT?

[texaskdog]

Hijacked photo from another thread:

Well if Amber doesn't mind, who am I to argue?

Damn!  Amber flashed me and i missed it?  I knew i shoulda stopped!!!

I think that's called an "Amber Alert"

[1995hoo]

Looks like the newer sign (third photo) is in the background in the first photo.

It appears that they're different because the first photo has an overpass in the background that isn't anywhere in sight in the third one. While sometimes that kind of thing can be explained by considering parallax, the pictures suggest pretty conclusively that such explanation wouldn't work here.

[LeftyJR]

Temporary signs on I-95 northbound approaching exit 4 in Portsmouth, NH. These signs feature old style US 4 shields with the black outline. The second photo is a cropped version of the first one to show the US 4 outlined shield.




If it's still there by mid-August, I can try to snap a better photo.

I'm sorry to report that these are gone as of today, replaced by a big arrow-per-lane sign that's pretty much identical to this one (which you posted in the Worst of Road Signs thread, ironically):


I think this is the last sign in the project to "upgrade" the signage in this stretch of I-95.  There was a lot of last-second weaving at Exit 4.  The exit ramp runs parallel to and left of the I-95 mainline for half a mile or so, separated by a narrow strip of grass, before curving to the northwest (I-95 runs northeast towards Kittery).  It remains to be seen whether the new signs will help matters.

The new sign is just as ugly, and they couldn't even get the arrows to line up properly with the lanes.  But this thread is for the Best of Road Signs...

I know this is cause for debate, but I'm glad they left "Maine Points" on the guide sign!  I'm driving past here next week, so I'll see how that all works out.

[Quillz]

Oddball question, but as the Old Man of the Mountain has not existed since 2003, I do wonder if New Hampshire will ever consider a new design for their route shields.

[Alex]

Oddball question, but as the Old Man of the Mountain has not existed since 2003, I do wonder if New Hampshire will ever consider a new design for their route shields.

They probably would just opt for a standard square if they changed it... 

[agentsteel53]

Oddball question, but as the Old Man of the Mountain has not existed since 2003, I do wonder if New Hampshire will ever consider a new design for their route shields.

I would doubt it.  while this is slightly different from the covered-wagon of Nebraska (one was obsoleted by technology and its demise was expected; the other just randomly fell apart in the night), I think it still falls under a historic remembrance item.  

it may be another 50-60 years before the Old Man falls out of common memory; with the self-perpetuating effect of the signs being used as a reminder.  At that point, possibly.  (And yes, we'll probably be using some form of shields then - maybe not reflective vinyl on an aluminum substrate, but the idea of a shape with a number in it is so effective that it will not totally go away.)

[mhallack]

This is the only Business I wanna see on MY road sines!
I bet this is gov. LeHay's favorite r00t.

That's Damariscotta!! Used to live there, almost next door to King Eider's Pub!! 

[D-Dey65]

Now I get it.  County House Road just north of Auburn, NY used to go straight here, but the intersection was moved about 500 feet to the north.  This happened before I was born.

Now imagine a Dead End, Road Closed, or Do Not Enter sign at that very intersection. Or better yet, those signs at some narrow patch in the woods where the only evidence it has been used by wheeled or tracked vehicles in 60 years are some indentations in the soil, or on some berm blocking a dirt trail that looks like it's a mere six feet wide if that.

[US71]

Alternate US 69 - Oklahoma Style 

[hobsini2]

Alternate US 69 - Oklahoma Style 

I really like that idea for bannered routes. Maybe add a little color and you'ld have a something.

[Ian]

Unfortunately, with the disappearance of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the pilgrim-hat signs are now targeted for extinction.  When those signs are replaced, they will have the I-90 pull-through, but no hat.  There are even some rumors in these parts that the term "Massachusetts Turnpike" may be gone at some point.  It will become just an Interstate with tolls.

Actually, according to MassDOT, there are no plans to remove the Massachusetts Turnpike designation or the pilgrim hat signs.

Actually, that's wrong.  The end of the pilgrim-hat signs was made public months ago.

Well, that really sucks. Why get rid of it anyway? Just because it's not maintained by the Mass Pike Authority doesn't mean that the locals are going to stop calling the road by it's name. Plus, the pilgrim hat is just awesome.

[6a]

I suppose this counts as a sign