I was in the Houston area yesterday and noticed that there is a Texas highway that is not shielded like other routes. It has NASA ROAD instead of the state name or Park Road or whatever. Then the FM Roads do not get the Texas outline shields on the BGSes, but it inside a normal state route shield only with F. M. inside of it. Plus, the descriptor on Freeway signs are above the route number as the normal bottom.
I was wondering if anyone has knowledge on TX roads why the difference from BGS to shields?
Presumably the white square with large numbers is easier to read at freeway speeds than the Texas outline, which requires smaller numbers.
The same is said about Louisiana's BGS shields. We have our state outline, but it's very boxy and fat, and easy to read at freeway speeds. The LA gets left off too.
I'm thinking that since Texas has so many different styles, as in the state shield, FM shield, Park Road shield, and whichever ones the state invents next, one steady type is best for the BGS. Us roadgeeks would get excited if Texas marked a state route with a state outline!
Nasa Road 1 is a state highway to get to the Johnson Space Center aka N.A.S.A.
A lot of the FM signs would be harder to read, so some of the FM signs are spelt out as such. IE: FM525, FM 1093, FM 301, FM 1960, FM 2920, FM519
And SH highways you run by: IE 288, SH6, Beltway 8/Sam Houston Tollway(toll portion, county, free portion is state).
I see there is a lettered state route that intersects I-45 somewhere in between Dallas and Houston. TX OSG is the route and is bannered as a state highway that seems strange.
I just drove I-45 and clinched it from Dallas to Galveston and first time ever I saw both terminuses of any interstate within days of each other. I liked this drive better than I-49 in LA as there is more to see and ore services. The only thing that is odd is the 75 mph is only allowed where I-45 is four laned and where it widens the speed liimit drops to 65 mph. It is more than the fact that it has to do with it being rural verses suburban. I have a feeling that the 75 mph is not allowed on wide freeways due to weaving concerns, but it does seem odd that 70 mph is not allowed considering two lane roads have that speed and non freeway 4 lane roads can be posted at that.
Houston suburbs can have a spot of 6 lanes wide for north bound traffic and all 6 lanes dead stopped. Friday nights, it can take almost an hour or so to get from FM1960 to Woodlands parkway, about 10 miles.
Quote from: roadman65 on September 27, 2012, 10:47:19 PM
I see there is a lettered state route that intersects I-45 somewhere in between Dallas and Houston. TX OSG is the route and is bannered as a state highway that seems strange.
It's OSR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State_Highway_OSR
QuoteI just drove I-45 and clinched it from Dallas to Galveston and first time ever I saw both terminuses of any interstate within days of each other. I liked this drive better than I-49 in LA as there is more to see and ore services. The only thing that is odd is the 75 mph is only allowed where I-45 is four laned and where it widens the speed liimit drops to 65 mph. It is more than the fact that it has to do with it being rural verses suburban. I have a feeling that the 75 mph is not allowed on wide freeways due to weaving concerns, but it does seem odd that 70 mph is not allowed considering two lane roads have that speed and non freeway 4 lane roads can be posted at that.
The lower speed limits are due to, purportedly, limiting emissions, not for any reasons you suggest.
That is a strange sight to see...outside MO and WI, that is.
Quote from: Henry on September 28, 2012, 10:54:19 AM
That is a strange sight to see...outside MO and WI, that is.
Yes, I agree it is. This here is clear that it is state maintained highway unlike WI or MO where letter highways are county routes.
Missouri lettered routes are state highways of secondary importance. they are maintained by the state.
Iowa used to have county roads with just a letter, back in the day. nowadays they conform to a letter-number standard.
(//www.aaroads.com/shields/img/IA/IA19560091i1.jpg)
Quote from: roadman65 on September 28, 2012, 02:56:10 PM
Quote from: Henry on September 28, 2012, 10:54:19 AM
That is a strange sight to see...outside MO and WI, that is.
Yes, I agree it is. This here is clear that it is state maintained highway unlike WI or MO where letter highways are county routes.
In fact, addresses on lettered routes in Missouri are commonly expressed as "841 State Route BB" or what have you.
Apologies for the necro, but something has been bothering me....
In June of this year, I recall seeing a county highway number on an exit sign somewhere on northbound I-35 between Encinal and San Antonio. It was a white square shield, similar to a BGS-flavor state route shield, except it said 'COUNTY' instead of 'TEXAS' or 'FM' at the top. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where it was. Does anyone have any information on this? Perhaps it was part of a recent construction project?? I'm at a loss..
In addition to ll the other routes in Texas, they still have numbered county roads, but I've never seen an actual shield. Usually the street blade says CR xxxx. The exits I've seen usually spell it out too, such as these just east of Dallas on US 80. They probably just don't have any other name.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Forney,+TX&hl=en&ll=32.740956,-96.424454&spn=0.002576,0.005284&sll=42.694296,-74.454346&sspn=0.143074,0.338173&oq=forney&t=h&hnear=Forney,+Kaufman,+Texas&z=18&layer=c&cbll=32.740953,-96.424331&panoid=WOJgpyrXHebxK8tysKW1lA&cbp=12,274.56,,0,13.98
Quote from: bassoon1986 on December 05, 2012, 12:53:06 PM
In addition to ll the other routes in Texas, they still have numbered county roads, but I've never seen an actual shield.
I've seen some in the extreme western part of the state. Reeves County comes to mind as having some standard blue and yellow pentagons.
There's a few just north of the Rio Grande Valley area:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formulanone.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F07%2FCR101sign-BrooksCounty.jpg&hash=1e517fddab1155180fa141708d66e27b6c6e1fce)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.formulanone.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F07%2FCR405-JimWells-SignDirtRoad.jpg&hash=770240666f7bb3bfc585dc3d80f7c82ea2c26cf7)
Quote from: agentsteel53 on December 05, 2012, 01:01:38 PM
Quote from: bassoon1986 on December 05, 2012, 12:53:06 PM
In addition to ll the other routes in Texas, they still have numbered county roads, but I've never seen an actual shield.
I've seen some in the extreme western part of the state. Reeves County comes to mind as having some standard blue and yellow pentagons.
I've seen some in the counties to the west of Austin. Very old and weathered.
A few TX counties use the blue pentagons (I've seen them used in Anderson and Rusk counties), but none of the ones in TX are signed at the same level as ones seen in other states; they are mainly seen as soon as you turn off a numbered road in TX, but not signed on the posts with other numbered roads (as an arrowed turnoff) or on BGSes at exits from freeways or interstates. The most you will see TX do is LGS green guide signs of various shapes/sizes, depending on the county or district, pointing <= or => or <=> then "CR ____". Some of those signs are noticeable, others are blink-and-miss.
I have a Blanco County route shield from Texas kicking around. Actually, if anyone wants it as a buy or trade, it's available...
It's different from county to county. For example, Collin County numbers its roads but uses street blades. Denton County names its roads and also uses blades.
On US 75 north of McKinney in Collin County the BGSes indicate road names, but once you leave the highway the road numbers are signed, not the names.