Took a trip from OKC to Dallas recently and came across the following BGS on I35:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rte66man/6320028426/
I've never seen "JCT" listed after the shield. There are 2 BGS's in each direction. ALl have the shield, then "JCT". Is this normal in other parts of the country?
rte66man
Nope. "JCT" should not be there because it does not add anything to the meaning of the sign. It's a flaky design specific to this contract (and yes, "JCT" was on the construction plans--this was a recent job).
JCT flakiness is somewhat endemic to Oklahoma. In addition to unnecessary JCTs on freeways (of course you're JCTing that highway, an exit is a JCT by definition), there's also several instances of JCT'ing roads you're already following due to concurrencies, or a combination of JCT signage and advance turn signs, leading to the bizarre suggestion that you must turn before you can get to the junction.
Reminds me of the signage on L.A. freeways in the late 1960s that intersected I-605 - the first freeway not known primarily by its name. I guess San Gabriel River Freeway was too long for the signage so it was posted "Junction [I-605] Freeway". I think this was the impetus to evolve to the current California standard of referring to a freeway by "the" plus its number.