The Best of Road Signs

[thenetwork]

Came across this one on GSV:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.580463,-83.664667,3a,27.3y,348.72h,96.95t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sv0cfc_urtMsgefJIXx7JfQ!2e0

This particular assembly goes back to at least the early 70s prior to the completion of I-475. Could even be pushing 50 if it hasn't been replaced yet.  There are/were others along US-20/Conant Street between the Turnpike and the Maumee River from the same era.

[roadman]

Yes I was referring to civil defense, Conelrad was the first of the civil defence broadcasting services

It was *the* first emergency broadcasting service, willed into existence by President Eisenhower.  In the then-new nuclear age (the "Cold War"), Ike realized he would need a way to address the entire nation on short notice if bombers carrying nuclear warheads were detected on approach to US territory.  Conelrad mandated that, in a national emergency, most radio stations (AM's only, FM's were not a consideration back then) would go off the air, and those few which remained on the air would change frequency to either 640 or 1240 kHz.  The theory was that this would confuse the direction finding capabilities of Soviet bombers.  Most AM radios produced in the 1950's and 1960's had two small triangles on the tuning dial, at 640 and 1240, so the listener could switch to a Conelrad station on a moment's notice.

The two logos were different.  The Conelrad logo incorporated the Civil Defense logo, with a banner across it containing the Conelrad name.

As a kid in the late 1960s, I do recall AM radios with the 'emergency frequency' triangles.  I knew they had to do with Civil Defense from reading a Civil Defense pamphlet my father had gotten from the "free government stuff" clearinghouse he'd get catalogs for, but I didn't realize the broadcast service was called Conelrad until the answer to my previous post above.

[Ian]

Saw that these were still alive in Saint John, NB this past weekend...

[SignGeek101]

Saw that these were still alive in Saint John, NB this past weekend...

I feel like those signs got hit by a truck or something because of the way they were bent. Nice find. Really wished NB went back to FHWA digits on signs.. sigh

[machias]

Dancing arrows done the right way! I-90/I-94 WB split near O'Hare.

[Stratuscaster]

Dancing arrows done correctly, but perhaps not lower-case y's.

(Thought it might be a GSV image distortion, but I have my doubts.)

[Kacie Jane]

Also bugs me that WEST and Kennedy are aligned together on the I-90 panel, but WEST and Edens are not.

[Stratuscaster]

I could kvetch about such details in IDOT and ISHTA signage for days.

[machias]

I still think they look better than anything NYSDOT or the NYSTA does these days.

[national highway 1]

[Mergingtraffic]

Some lower Manhattan, NYC button copy.  NYC once known for it's plethora of non-reflective button copy, now has only one highway left that is mostly that...the FDR Drive and even here it's being replaced.

Enjoy this now before it's gone.

[Brandon]

U. Wis campus, Madison, Wisconsin:

[Mergingtraffic]

Some more from PA:




Original non-reflective button copy. US-209. Milford, PA. Look at those shields!! by mergingtraffic, on Flickr

[relaxok]

Dancing arrows done the right way! I-90/I-94 WB split near O'Hare.

Okay, am I an idiot?  Why are all the lowercase e's blurry in that photo but the other letters aren't?

(you don't really need to answer the first question)

[thenetwork]

It's the GSV software that is designed to blur anything that looks like a human face.

And we all know as roadgeeks that certain letters and numbers on signage are in fact real people posing as text to spy on drivers!!!

[Zeffy]

Judging by the amount of fading, and the very old-looking style, I have no choice but to put this beauty here:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@40.013537,-75.044105,3a,15y,150.19h,103.65t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s9_zUtnbRhlk28LQex3Dokg!2e0

Anyone want to take a guess just how old that sign is? I'm betting ~45 years.

[freebrickproductions]

Judging by the amount of fading, and the very old-looking style, I have no choice but to put this beauty here:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@40.013537,-75.044105,3a,15y,150.19h,103.65t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s9_zUtnbRhlk28LQex3Dokg!2e0

Anyone want to take a guess just how old that sign is? I'm betting ~45 years.

The beacons on the sign itself are 12 inch Crouse-hinds Art-deco sections and the lights underneath it are 8 inch Crouse-hinds Type-M sections, so I'd say late 1950s-early 1960s as to when that was put up.

[yakra]

I think GMSV is looking less for human faces and more for license plate numbers. There are a lot of false positives on highway shields, and cardinal direction banners.

[signalman]

I think GMSV is looking less for human faces and more for license plate numbers. There are a lot of false positives on highway shields, and cardinal direction banners.

Which is silly.  I have been collecting license plates for over 20 years and have photographed many neat and noteworthy plates over the years.  Occasionally I'll be questioned or even cussed out by someone and I remind them that plates don't contain sensitive information about the registrant.  If they contained sensitive information, they wouldn't be on display for millions of other people.  It's also worth noting that plates don't belong to the registrant; they are in fact property of the issuing state.

[jakeroot]

I think GMSV is looking less for human faces and more for license plate numbers. There are a lot of false positives on highway shields, and cardinal direction banners.

Which is silly.  I have been collecting license plates for over 20 years and have photographed many neat and noteworthy plates over the years.  Occasionally I'll be questioned or even cussed out by someone and I remind them that plates don't contain sensitive information about the registrant.  If they contained sensitive information, they wouldn't be on display for millions of other people.  It's also worth noting that plates don't belong to the registrant; they are in fact property of the issuing state.

We seem to be the only country that is overly sensitive to license plates. Canada doesn't even care -- watch any newscast on CBC, CTV, Global, etc; none of the license plates are blurred. That's not to say all license plates on American TV are blurred, but the vast majority seem to be.

[thefraze_1020]

How about ODOT's way of fitting a sign under the girders of the Fremont Bridge in Portland?

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.541219,-122.678988,3a,75y,55.08h,96.59t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s8o3PLT2akYum1lRyYL-bhw!2e0!5s20140601T000000!6m1!1e1?hl=en

[vtk]

How about ODOT's way of fitting a sign under the girders of the Fremont Bridge in Portland?

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.541219,-122.678988,3a,75y,55.08h,96.59t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s8o3PLT2akYum1lRyYL-bhw!2e0!5s20140601T000000!6m1!1e1?hl=en

That's cute.  But I wonder why they went to the trouble, instead of just centering the thing between the girders...

[freebrickproductions]

How about ODOT's way of fitting a sign under the girders of the Fremont Bridge in Portland?

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.541219,-122.678988,3a,75y,55.08h,96.59t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s8o3PLT2akYum1lRyYL-bhw!2e0!5s20140601T000000!6m1!1e1?hl=en

That's cute.  But I wonder why they went to the trouble, instead of just centering the thing between the girders...

Visibility issues?

[Jim]

I've always liked this one, on the Mass Pike westbound near Chicopee.  Taken 4/18/15.

[Zeffy]

I've always liked this one, on the Mass Pike westbound near Chicopee.  Taken 4/18/15.

Hartford Ct. could (very unlikely but still a chance to be) possibly be misinterpreted as Hartford Court and not Hartford, Connecticut. State abbreviations should always be capitalized.