San Francisco

[Truvelo]

I've just returned from a week in San Francisco covering an area from Sacramento to San Jose so here's a few of the roads pictures I took.

Decrepit signs in San Jose. The vast majority of freeway signage in this part of California are a faded green complete with button copy and stains running below each character.


Route 4 east of Farmington where the ground is flat and baking hot.


I-80 approaching the Bay Bridge.


Route 242 approaching route 4 with another set of elderly button copy signs. It appears an extra lane has been added eastbound with the addition of another arrow on the sign and the colour of the pavement.


This to me typifies a rural American scene with a windmill and rusting truck. The heat and sun is intense.


Upper deck of the Bay Bridge which will bite the dust in a few years when its replacement is finished.


I-80 west of the Bay Bridge approaching a queue. Eastbound traffic was jammed solid when I took the picture.


A faded sign of later vintage than the usual button copy stuff found around the area. Even these later signs aren't immune from the sun's powerful rays.


Traffic congestion at the I-80 US-101 interchange.

[agentsteel53]

there are two distinct styles of dark green sign.  the 280 is porcelain, and the 4 is what is properly called button copy. 

the porcelain sign has the legend in white print on a green background.  the buttons were glued onto the elements at a later date - the signs originally came as completely non-reflective, but lit up with active lighting.  nowadays, they are both lit up (inconsistently) and reflectorized.

the 4 gantry is button copy.  the individual letter and symbol forms, with buttons inside an aluminum frame, are riveted onto a plain green background.

the interstate shields on the porcelain sign are individualized non-reflective elements as well - technically, they are demountable - and have been demounted when it comes time to revise a sign.  CA is a huge fan of sign revision.

[Truvelo]

CA is a huge fan of sign revision.

And so I gathered...

[CL]

That 35 mph advisory speed on that Bay Bridge curve's a joke. Didn't that used to be 40 mph once upon a time?

[TheStranger]

That 35 mph advisory speed on that Bay Bridge curve's a joke. Didn't that used to be 40 mph once upon a time?

I think it was reduced after an accident in which a truck fell off the bridge taking the curve too fast.

[myosh_tino]

That 35 mph advisory speed on that Bay Bridge curve's a joke. Didn't that used to be 40 mph once upon a time?

I think it was reduced after an accident in which a truck fell off the bridge taking the curve too fast.

Especially when that curve on the Bay Bridge is not banked.  TheStranger is correct in that the speed limit was lowered when a truck took the curve too fast, skidded off the upper deck and plunged 200 feet onto Treasure Island.  Needless to say, the truck driver didn't survive.   

In fact the CHP is going to be out doing stepped-up speed enforcement on the Bay Bridge.  Apparently, the road sensors at the S-curve are showing traffic exceeding the 40 MPH speed limit by at least 10 MPH.  The posted limit on the Bay Bridge is 50 MPH except at the S-curve where the speed limit is 40 MPH.

[myosh_tino]

The use of "greenouts" is a common practice in California where guide signs have an expected life of 20 years or more.  I'll try to shed some light as to what are under the greenouts...

I believe the greenout above "Pleasant Hill" used to say "Monument Blvd" and the "NEXT EXIT" greenout probably covered some sort of distance like "1/2 MILE"  The reason for the greenout is the construction of a new exit for Contra Costa Blvd.

The CA-242 greenout covers a CA-24 shield which used to extend from the 680-24 interchange all the way to CA-4.

The greenout on the left sign (I-680 North) covers a CA-24 shield and is considerably older than the signs on the right which were installed when the 680-24 interchange was rebuilt.

This sign used to say "Central Livermore".  Back when the freeway was built (1950's), Livermore was a pretty small town so signing it "Downtown Livermore" didn't make sense.  Now Livermore is a fairly large city with an established downtown area along First Street (old CA-84).  I suspect that the city of Livermore requested that Caltrans modify that sign to reflect Livermore's growing downtown area.  Unfortunately, "Downtown" wouldn't fit on the existing sign so it was abbreviated to "Dwntn".  I would have preferred to greenout the whole line and replace it with "Downtown Livermore" using smaller letters.

[TheStranger]

The greenout on the left sign (I-680 North) covers a CA-24 shield and is considerably older than the signs on the right which were installed when the 680-24 interchange was rebuilt.

The "Sacramento" control city for 680 north also seems to be a greenout patch...makes me really curious what's under that (as Sacramento has always been the primary 680 north control city as far as I can remember).

[Truvelo]

Thanks for telling us what was under them. Here's another one I took. Here Berkeley and Alameda are covering something.

Edit: just noticed the same sign is being discussed in the Road-related Illustrations thread.

[myosh_tino]

The greenout on the left sign (I-680 North) covers a CA-24 shield and is considerably older than the signs on the right which were installed when the 680-24 interchange was rebuilt.

The "Sacramento" control city for 680 north also seems to be a greenout patch...makes me really curious what's under that (as Sacramento has always been the primary 680 north control city as far as I can remember).

My guess would be "Vallejo" because I-680 used to go to Vallejo along what is now I-780.  I can see "Martinez" being a viable option too.

[TheStranger]

Thanks for telling us what was under them. Here's another one I took. Here Berkeley and Alameda are covering something.

In this example, I'm pretty sure that "Berkeley" is covering up "Vallejo" (which is I-80's eastbound control city north of Richmond).

[myosh_tino]

Thanks for telling us what was under them. Here's another one I took. Here Berkeley and Alameda are covering something.

In this example, I'm pretty sure that "Berkeley" is covering up "Vallejo" (which is I-80's eastbound control city north of Richmond).

I'm not so sure.  I think the I-80 pull through was originally layed out like the 580 west sign right next to it with the I-80 shield and "EAST" centered on the sign above "Sacramento".  Perhaps Caltrans became uneasy with the 580/80 concurrency having opposing cardinal directions (east and west) after the sign was installed so they moved the 80 shield to the left and squeezed in "Berkeley" to the right of the shield.  Caltrans does have a history of omitting the cardinal direction on pull-through signs.

[TheStranger]

Thanks for telling us what was under them. Here's another one I took. Here Berkeley and Alameda are covering something.

In this example, I'm pretty sure that "Berkeley" is covering up "Vallejo" (which is I-80's eastbound control city north of Richmond).

I'm not so sure.  I think the I-80 pull through was originally layed out like the 580 west sign right next to it with the I-80 shield and "EAST" centered on the sign above "Sacramento".  Perhaps Caltrans became uneasy with the 580/80 concurrency having opposing cardinal directions (east and west) after the sign was installed so they moved the 80 shield to the left and squeezed in "Berkeley" to the right of the shield.  Caltrans does have a history of omitting the cardinal direction on pull-through signs.

Now that you mention that, it does make sense - would this be the only time Berkeley is used as an I-80 mainline control city?