The Best of Road Signs

[csw]

Not sure how rare these are, but I had never seen one before. Business US 67 in Poplar Bluff, MO:

[US 89]

Not sure how rare these are, but I had never seen one before. Business US 67 in Poplar Bluff, MO:

There are similar signs on Spur US 95 between Weiser ID and Weiser Jct OR.

[amroad17]

Auburn, N.Y., today:

I'll bet those signs looked great in 1971.  BTW, they did.

[jakeroot]

Auburn, N.Y., today:

http://i.imgur.com/vdxi0bQ.jpg

I'll bet those signs looked great in 1971.  BTW, they did.

I ain't betting against you, if you already know they did.

[formulanone]

Some old (?) signage on West Broadway in Vancouver:

[jakeroot]

Some old (?) signage on West Broadway in Vancouver:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4302/35907217136_602f279735_b.jpg

Vancouver, particularly the city, is full of awesome old signage. That "BC font" is the giveaway of the age (not sure when they stopped using the font).

A couple of my favorites:

Georgia Viaduct:


Hwy 1/Taylor Way Jct:

[Kniwt]

West end of Elko NV today. Appears to predate I-80:

[hotdogPi]

West end of Elko NV today. Appears to predate I-80:

(snipped)

It would be best of, except that one idiot vandalized it in a specific way.

[Mergingtraffic]

Original non-reflective button copy on I-78 East (NJ Turnpike Newark Bay Extension) Bayonne, NJ. Note: a rare white on black speed limit sign. by mergingtraffic, on Flickr

A poster in the Northeast Roads FB group mentioned this was still there.  And sure enough it is. I snapped it today.

[jakeroot]

Not sure I've ever seen a white-on-green speed limit sign. I suspect it doesn't conform to any sort of standard, then or now. Doubt it's legally enforceable either.

Anyone know if such signage was ever common?

[theline]

Maybe I'm dense, but I can't figure out what message the sign is trying to deliver. "EXIT 14 - 14C" confuses me. Does the speed limit apply just to the main line in the area of those ramps? That's a very odd way to assign speed limits.

[thenetwork]

Not sure I've ever seen a white-on-green speed limit sign. I suspect it doesn't conform to any sort of standard, then or now. Doubt it's legally enforceable either.

Anyone know if such signage was ever common?

All speed limit signage on the Ohio Turnpike prior to the 80s was pretty much white-on-green except for the service plazas -- those were white-on-blue.

Somewhere, I have an old pic from the Will Rogers Turnpike in OK from 1983 where at least some of the speed limit signs were white-on-green.

[jakeroot]

Not sure I've ever seen a white-on-green speed limit sign. I suspect it doesn't conform to any sort of standard, then or now. Doubt it's legally enforceable either.

Anyone know if such signage was ever common?

All speed limit signage on the Ohio Turnpike prior to the 80s was pretty much white-on-green except for the service plazas -- those were white-on-blue.

Somewhere, I have an old pic from the Will Rogers Turnpike in OK from 1983 where at least some of the speed limit signs were white-on-green.

Huh! That's crazy. I didn't realise there was so much variation in color. I assume the white-on-black design was standard by, at the latest, the 50s, so I'm surprised that alternative colors arose, and lasted that long.

That in mind, I do know that the Ohio Turnpike has some relatively unique signage features (square BGSs being the first thing that I think of).

Maybe I'm dense, but I can't figure out what message the sign is trying to deliver. "EXIT 14 - 14C" confuses me. Does the speed limit apply just to the main line in the area of those ramps? That's a very odd way to assign speed limits.

I assume that it means "exit ramps 14 to 14C have speed limits of 50", but it's nonetheless confusing.

[hubcity]

Maybe I'm dense, but I can't figure out what message the sign is trying to deliver. "EXIT 14 - 14C" confuses me. Does the speed limit apply just to the main line in the area of those ramps? That's a very odd way to assign speed limits.

This is a stretch where NJ Turnpike exit naming really gets confusing if you're hoping for MUTCD compliance. The Turnpike's Newark Bay Extension is really more of a highway on its own - in fact, it carries I-78 for its entire distance - with access to the mainline turnpike provided via full intersections as it crosses. The extension starts with Exit 14 at its western end, where a barrier toll plaza separates the extension from I-78, which extends from there to the west. The Extension continues eastward past its unnumbered interchange with the mainline Turnpike (I-95) and exits 14A (NJ-440) and 14B (Liberty State Park), before ending at Exit 14C, a barrier toll, at its eastern end, from which the road extends to the Holland Tunnel with an additional unnumbered exit for Columbus Drive in Jersey City. Those letter-suffixed exits are thus placed along slightly more than 8 miles of highway.

Interestingly, traveling eastbound toward the Extension's eastern end, one can choose from two "Exit 14"s: one east of the mainline Turnpike intersection for US 1/9 and US 22, and one west of it for I-78.

[epzik8]

I just dug up this one from the eastbound Pennsylvania Turnpike approaching Breezewood:
(snip)

There's actually a continuation of that sign - I think it says "USE I-70 EAST" or something. I can't quite remember, but that set of signs is similar to the I-70 descent into Denver out west.

I remember driving eastbound on I-70 into Denver in 2009 with my dad and two brothers on an RV trip, and we were quite amused by those signs.

[Ian]

Haven't posted in this thread in a while, but there are a few old LeHay font signs that I've photographed around Maine these past two months. I'm happy that these were there when I saw them, because these shields are a fast dying breed. These first three are in Damariscotta along Business US 1...








Newcastle, also on Business US 1...




Woolwich, at the intersection of US 1 and ME 127...

[Ian]

...and a few more. The first two here are in Bath, the first one being on Washington Street heading south just beyond US 1 and the second being on ME 209 (High Street) proper just south of the Webber Avenue intersection.






And lastly, at the south end of ME 216 in Phippsburg...

[theline]

Maybe I'm dense, but I can't figure out what message the sign is trying to deliver. "EXIT 14 - 14C" confuses me. Does the speed limit apply just to the main line in the area of those ramps? That's a very odd way to assign speed limits.

This is a stretch where NJ Turnpike exit naming really gets confusing if you're hoping for MUTCD compliance. The Turnpike's Newark Bay Extension is really more of a highway on its own - in fact, it carries I-78 for its entire distance - with access to the mainline turnpike provided via full intersections as it crosses. The extension starts with Exit 14 at its western end, where a barrier toll plaza separates the extension from I-78, which extends from there to the west. The Extension continues eastward past its unnumbered interchange with the mainline Turnpike (I-95) and exits 14A (NJ-440) and 14B (Liberty State Park), before ending at Exit 14C, a barrier toll, at its eastern end, from which the road extends to the Holland Tunnel with an additional unnumbered exit for Columbus Drive in Jersey City. Those letter-suffixed exits are thus placed along slightly more than 8 miles of highway.

Interestingly, traveling eastbound toward the Extension's eastern end, one can choose from two "Exit 14"s: one east of the mainline Turnpike intersection for US 1/9 and US 22, and one west of it for I-78.

Thanks for the education, hubcity. So that sign could have said something like "SPEED LIMIT 50 - Next 8 miles - unless otherwise posted." Actually, the sign as posted is probably clearer.

[1995hoo]

Passed this yesterday on I-95 (we were in the express lanes, but they weren't moving much better than the regular lanes were) and I liked the "Halloween" feel of the way the characters were deteriorating.

[formulanone]

Passed this yesterday on I-95 (we were in the express lanes, but they weren't moving much better than the regular lanes were) and I liked the "Halloween" feel of the way the characters were deteriorating.

Based on the most recent re-signing project along I-95 in Miami-Dade, that sign can't be more than 2-3 years old.

Not saying that disqualifies it from the thread, but even for Florida, that's some serious deterioration or a manufacturing flaw.

[route17fan]

Not sure I've ever seen a white-on-green speed limit sign. I suspect it doesn't conform to any sort of standard, then or now. Doubt it's legally enforceable either.

Anyone know if such signage was ever common?

The PA Turnpike had such signage as well. This YouTube video has excellent examples of old signage and button copy!! Forward to 9:40 for the speed limit sign from this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIe5A079lI0 and enjoy! 

[tckma]

I just dug up this one from the eastbound Pennsylvania Turnpike approaching Breezewood:

BAD CURVES!!! NO BISCUIT!!!

[tckma]

Maybe I'm dense, but I can't figure out what message the sign is trying to deliver. "EXIT 14 - 14C" confuses me. Does the speed limit apply just to the main line in the area of those ramps? That's a very odd way to assign speed limits.

It's because this section of the New Jersey Turnpike is the easternmost section of I-78 approaching the tunnel into NYC.  The mainline Turnpike exit to I-78 is Exit 14.  Thus the exits eastbound from the mainline Turnpike to the Tunnel are numbered 14A, 14B, and 14C.  This section of the NJ Turnpike pre-dates I-78, as far as I know.  When mainline I-78 was built, the exit numbers were not changed to match the milepost-based exit numbers on I-78.  I've never been on this part of I-78 (only the mainline Turnpike, and mainline I-78 from I-287 west to the Pennsylvania line), so I'm not sure I've got that quite right.

So before I-78 was constructed, you had just the mainline New Jersey Turnpike, and a short eastbound extension (the "Newark Bay Extension") accessed via Exit 14 that would take you to the tunnel.  That extension has three exits of its own: 14A, 14B, and 14C.

Clear as mud, right?

[TravelingBethelite]

I found this old beauty in Casey, Illinois last year. (Perhaps I should be berated that it's not much different then a new Illinois route sign  )

[hbelkins]

Passed this yesterday on I-95 (we were in the express lanes, but they weren't moving much better than the regular lanes were) and I liked the "Halloween" feel of the way the characters were deteriorating.

Based on the most recent re-signing project along I-95 in Miami-Dade, that sign can't be more than 2-3 years old.

Not saying that disqualifies it from the thread, but even for Florida, that's some serious deterioration or a manufacturing flaw.

That sign would have looked a lot different if the photo had been taken from behind a clean windshield.