Best/Worst looking highway signage

[wytout]

button copy on retroreflective background is indeed a disaster.

those newest ones you mention - those are gonna look horrible in 10 years! 

They won't be there in 10 years.  CT is slowly doing spot changes to high grade 100% microprism sheeted signs and letters on BGS's as needed, and also blanket changes in stages throughout the state.  They're going to be disappearing before they ever get the change to look as bad as the ones in West Hartford.

[shoptb1]

are the backgrounds of the Ohio signs you speak of reflective or non-reflective? I know Ohio used both styles.

Seems to be both at the point of installation, but with zilcho maintenance...  The problem is that the signs are not lighted from underneath in most places, which makes reading them almost impossible...

Ohio is a very non-standardized state, which is probably due in part to the large number of freeways that require BGS maintenance.  A good contrast is Kentucky to the south, which replaced all of their BGS at one time with retroreflective signs with an extra-large non-Clearview font sometime in the last 5 years.

The Clearview replacements are being done in phases...Franklin and Pickaway counties south of Columbus on I-71 already have the new mounting brackets up, just waiting on the BGS installation.   

[agentsteel53]

The problem is that the signs are not lighted from underneath in most places, which makes reading them almost impossible...

I've seen very good non-underlit signs - but I am sure those have to be maintained too! 

those much-derided California porcelain signs are getting to be over fifty years old in some cases, and they are holding up incredibly well.

[shoptb1]

those much-derided California porcelain signs are getting to be over fifty years old in some cases, and they are holding up incredibly well.

I'm not sure that the pictures you've shown in this thread of Cali signs make me think of the phrase "holding up incredibly well" so much as "hanging on by a thread".  They are definitely ghetto fabulous, that's for sure.    

[wytout]

They are time-tested tho.  Think about how long they've hung there in the same place.  Signs here that are half that old have completely exhausted their useful life.

[shoptb1]

They are time-tested tho.  Think about how long they've hung there in the same place.  Signs here that are half that old have completely exhausted their useful life.

I wonder if that is completely due to the materials, or also due to the favorable California weather?

[agentsteel53]

I wonder if that is completely due to the materials, or also due to the favorable California weather?

I think they have all been replaced by now, but I remember as recently as 2006 there were porcelain signs up in the Donner Pass area that were holding up well.

there are definitely porcelains in Reno that look very good.

[agentsteel53]

I'm not sure that the pictures you've shown in this thread of Cali signs make me think of the phrase "holding up incredibly well" so much as "hanging on by a thread".  They are definitely ghetto fabulous, that's for sure.    

okay, here's one without patches:



that sign is from 1968, and would look even better in the correct light: I shot that photo directly into the sun!

[roadfro]

I wonder if that is completely due to the materials, or also due to the favorable California weather?

I think they have all been replaced by now, but I remember as recently as 2006 there were porcelain signs up in the Donner Pass area that were holding up well.

there are definitely porcelains in Reno that look very good.

Many of those old porcelains around Donner Pass have either been replaced or will be replaced in the not-too-distant future, with all the construction going on around there.  Some new signs closer to the Nevada line, like around the Hirschdale Road exit, were replaced a few years ago but haven't held up...the green sheeting has torn off on a few of those!

Those porcelain signs in Reno are in decent shape, but they are not readable at all at night. NDOT hasn't replaced the florescent lights/fixtures on those for years. I thought they might replace those signs when they modernized some of the signs on I-80 last summer, but they're still there.  Most of those porcelains are pull-through signs which aren't really critical to have there in the first place, so maybe that's why they haven't really been kept up or replaced.  In any event, it's kinda odd to see a brand new sign next to an incredibly old one--well, odd for Nevada at least, cause it's common in California!

[agentsteel53]

Many of those old porcelains around Donner Pass have either been replaced or will be replaced in the not-too-distant future, with all the construction going on around there.  Some new signs closer to the Nevada line, like around the Hirschdale Road exit, were replaced a few years ago but haven't held up...the green sheeting has torn off on a few of those!

meanwhile, the porcelains are going strong...

Those porcelain signs in Reno are in decent shape, but they are not readable at all at night. NDOT hasn't replaced the florescent lights/fixtures on those for years. I thought they might replace those signs when they modernized some of the signs on I-80 last summer, but they're still there.  It's kinda odd to see a brand new sign next to an incredibly old one--well, odd for Nevada at least, cause it's common in California!

Nevada never went back and reflectorized their porcelain signs like California did in the 1970s and 80s.  Someone needs to go up there with a bag of buttons and a bucket of glue...

[agentsteel53]

also, now that I think about it, that Reno I-80 "Salt Lake" pull-through isn't all that old.  I once managed to catch a glimpse of the date stamp on the back: CA-78 

[architect77]

North Carolina's signage is just plain beautiful.


The worst easily has to be California, from the (IMO) poorly design signage layout, to the ugly old button copy signs.The ugly dark green on older signs don't help either.Then of course California has some of the ugliest gantries I've ever seen, while most other states have the nice more modern looking gantries that aren't so noticeable...

With some of the world's most fabled control cities and set amongst some the world's most stunning topography, California's signage is worship-able as far as I'm concerned.

This photo says it all. In North Carolina using these wood posts for directions to Burlington, Greenville or Pittsboro= Hee Haw. Also consider California's curbed and polished secondary thoroughfares flanked by America's most elegant mast-arm signals.


North Carolina's interstate-building prowess is accompanied by total disregard and sloppy execution of virtually all secondary arterials such as Wake Forest Road in Raleigh.

California is on the right track in maintaining the uniform height of their box beam gantries and not accompanying every interstate shield with "North, South, etc."

[shoptb1]

With some of the world's most fabled control cities and set amongst some the world's most stunning topography, California's signage is worship-able as far as I'm concerned.

What does this have to do with the execution of the signage again?  Just because California in itself is amazing, it doesn't mean that CalTrans has or is doing a good job maintaining the system design.  I don't see the connection there.   

California is on the right track in maintaining the uniform height of their box beam gantries and not accompanying every interstate shield with "North, South, etc."

I think it's even more confusing with the ABSENCE of directionals...isn't it kind of nice to know which direction you're heading?  Perhaps I'm a little bit OCD, but I find it very annoying when these elements are omitted.   

[agentsteel53]

I think it's even more confusing with the ABSENCE of directionals...isn't it kind of nice to know which direction you're heading?  Perhaps I'm a little bit OCD, but I find it very annoying when these elements are omitted.   

in general I do love directionals, but in the example gantry he gave, you are heading due south on I-80 West/I-580 East.  I lived in the bay area for several years and even to this day I find myself going the wrong way on that $!@&( multiplex.

[architect77]

Please allow me to explain my viewpoint with a few disjunct thoughts:

1) I lived in Southern California for four years in the 90's and loved every second of it.
2) The state's aging signage is testiment to how modern and ahead of its time it was back in the 1950's and 1960's during its enormous undertaking of highway construction.
3) In my opinion the aesthetics of California's signage is overshadowed by the landscape and scenery and should stay that way.
4) I guess what I'm trying to say is nobody cares about the decrepit signage as long as it gets you to Palm Springs, Big Sur, and Mammoth (I've never been to Mammoth)
5) Everywhere in the US is a tradeoff, no one place is perfect and if it was everyone would flock there until they ruin it.
6) I live in NYC and probably won't ever move again, however I HATE cold weather and won't be happy again until April. Lol.

[architect77]

Oh, and I see everyone's point about directionals, but I always sort of am aware of the cardinal directions everywhere I go though I realize many people aren't. Therefore for me N/S/E/W guidance is only important at junctions where I have to choose a direction.

Of course I have found myself headed the wrong way many times while traveling through unfamiliar areas. Happy Holidays....

[Truvelo]

It's not the lack of directionals that would confuse me with that California sign but the excess number of arrows, as mentioned recently in another thread. Presumably the lane the photographer is in can be used for San Jose or San Francisco.

[TheStranger]

It's not the lack of directionals that would confuse me with that California sign but the excess number of arrows, as mentioned recently in another thread. Presumably the lane the photographer is in can be used for San Jose or San Francisco.

That would be correct (that third lane from left can be used for either 880 south or 80 west).  Thinking out loud, this might be a situation where a mix of text (i.e. "RIGHT THREE LANES" for I-80) and arrows might work, though there's probably a much better solution within the current MUTCD.

[roadfro]

It's not the lack of directionals that would confuse me with that California sign but the excess number of arrows, as mentioned recently in another thread. Presumably the lane the photographer is in can be used for San Jose or San Francisco.

That would be correct (that third lane from left can be used for either 880 south or 80 west).  Thinking out loud, this might be a situation where a mix of text (i.e. "RIGHT THREE LANES" for I-80) and arrows might work, though there's probably a much better solution within the current MUTCD.

Missing directionals aren't as bad if the route begins at the exit or there is a single exit to reach both directions (provided the sign text and later signs clearly distinguish desired direction). The use of multiple arrows and slanted arrows is an issue that is not exclusive to California and can be found in many states.  This concern is addressed in the recent MUTCD revisions.  The MUTCD is not as supportive of "RIGHT 3 LANES" text as having one arrow per lane. Upward pointing arrows (one per lane) and/or diagrammatic signs would be the suggestion in the current manual.  The thread about multilane exits & lane drops has additional discussion along these lines.