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

[jbnv]

Maybe in 50 -100 years when the tree dies, the old sign will remain   

More likely someone will cut it down, begin carving it into firewood and receive a really nasty surprise.

[Kacie Jane]

Maybe in 50 -100 years when the tree dies, the old sign will remain   

More likely someone will cut it down, begin carving it into firewood and receive a really nasty surprise.

Perhaps nasty... unless said person is a member of our fair hobby.

[jakeroot]

Usually the "dead end" sign is posted on the other side of the street in a diamond.

I know there are plenty of funny-cut signs on this site, I'm just not used to seeing any IRL.

[freebrickproductions]

Here's an interesting one in Selma, AL:
http://www.instantstreetview.com/@32.411128,-87.005517,-329.91h,-10.49p,4z
EDIT: Changed link.

[formulanone]

Found an odd green-on-white Ohio route shield today:

[vtk]

Found a couple of these last week in the Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis:


One of them was on westbound Washington Street just past Shadeland; this one was on eastbound Washington just past Johnson Avenue.  I didn't think to look for a sticker on the back.  Anyway, does this odd font have a name?

[jakeroot]

Is this the normal "Narrow Bridge" sign? I always thought it was just text.

Tumwater, Washington, along Henderson Boulevard:

[riiga]

Yup, W5-2a in the MUTCD, but removed in 2000 according to the description here.

[SignGeek101]

Is this the normal "Narrow Bridge" sign? I always thought it was just text.

Tumwater, Washington, along Henderson Boulevard:

Here's another one:



I like it actually. Better than a text sign IMO. Not as good as the Canadian / European / Asian etc sign though:

[Mapmikey]

Here's a variation with a missing piece:
https://goo.gl/maps/zWJVG

SR 616 near Keswick, VA

Mapmikey

[jakeroot]

Yup, W5-2a in the MUTCD, but removed in 2000 according to the description here.

??? What the hell? It was in the Millenium Edition, but gone in 2003. You don't see symbols removed from the MUTCD everyday.

I like it actually. Better than a text sign IMO. Not as good as the Canadian / European / Asian etc sign though:

Very seldom do I prefer American signs to Canadian signs. The "double arrow" sign (W12-1) is one that I prefer, and I think this is the other. Both do a very good job, I just like the lane lines for some reason. Sort of like the Canadian passing lane signs.

Here's a variation with a missing piece:

I would imagine that the signs will slowly be replaced.

[freebrickproductions]

I know of a bunch near me. I guess I should go out and photograph them!
I'm willing to bet it was removed from the MUTCD because they decided that it wasn't visible enough or something.

[hbelkins]

When graphic signs first started replacing text signs, I often wondered why "Narrow Bridge" signs weren't originally included. I envisioned something that looked pretty much like what eventually was developed. There are still a few of the graphic signs in this area that haven't been replaced with text. So I guess what's old is new again.

[Atomica]

^ The Aggression and Extreme Prejudice Towards Others, Possibly Involving a Cardinal Direction; I tells 'ya.

Or, Armstrong Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California. The only time I've seen artwork to complement a couple of BGSs:

I have been known to experiment with artwork on signage myself, and think it could be helpful especially if handling a street or community named for a famous person, as in an historical figure or even a celebrity.

[J N Winkler]

(In discussion of purple-background guide signs on Westpark Tollway in Houston)

Different color combinations.  Green is used for guide signs in the US because a study conducted in preparation for the interstate highway system where drivers drove around a test track found that green was the most readable, beating out blue and black.

Actually, no.  Years ago I asked for a copy of the study and discovered it was a pure popularity contest.  Each of the three combinations was already being successfully used somewhere in the US at the time, and the test subjects were asked to rate the one they found most pleasing.

[Atomica]

Ugly fonts in Oklahoma

Good point:  I note the use of an old-type-looking font that someone suggested looked like a football jersey on the US sign - and the contractor's use of a new OK marker with Series E Modified numbers - which is a carryover from the old OK circle markers, which in the last 10 years of use, also used SEM numbers - which is also noted in my OWN avatar, which is, forgive me, a look at a NON-DIECUT California miners spade if Oklahomans made it.

[D-Dey65]

Hungry hungry tree:

I've seen trees growing around signs before. On Long Island Avenue at the former intersection near the old alignment of Sills Road, there used to be one that grew around a sign for a motel in Yaphank that's has been a shelter for War Veterans for the past few decades. The Medford Civic and Taxpayers Association wanted to preserve it, and I tried to cut it out for them, but I couldn't do it.

[freebrickproductions]

I saw a tree that had a 'No Parking' sign mounted on it and the tree grew around half the sign. Someone later came back and ripped off the other half.

[formulanone]

Yup, W5-2a in the MUTCD, but removed in 2000 according to the description here.

Really? I see these all over the place - but I suppose there's possibly some ambiguity to it at first.

[spooky]

[Big John]

^^ When I see such a sign (the lower one on the left) I wonder what we are supposed to caution the children about.

[Zeffy]

https://www.google.ca/maps/@39.627378,-76.085533,3a,49.4y,298.86h,83.96t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sQ6Gaqo-sZfxu2KxvMw4KLQ!2e0

The street view sucks, but I think the LeHay font is on those Maryland shields, and I guess someone from Newport News snuck into Maryland to make that sign, since it looks exactly like a unisign you would find there.

[halork]

Saw this out in eastern Colorado... I don't think this is a good idea.  Just pick one.

milepost-sm by halork, on Flickr

[jakeroot]

Saw this out in eastern Colorado... I don't think this is a good idea.  Just pick one.

I agree. One of the routes should be primary (probably US-36).

[US71]

Springfield, MO