The Worst of Road Signs

[Ian]

I'm guessing that they're going to just recycle the old signs and gantry? It would be awesome if they could figure out how to display that at a service plaza or something. I'd especially like to see this happen with the old neon REDUCE SPEED signs.

[Alps]

They're not bad for what they are. This thread is mostly for incompetently designed signage.

I can agree with that, though I'm sure some might complain about the lack of exit tab (not to mention the exit number is centered). Other than that, the signs are fine, but I'll miss the old ones.

The lack of exit tab and centered number is Turnpike standard.  (If you take a look at the old sign, it had more or less the same issue, although the top said "EXIT 6 FOR" instead of the more traditional "non-tab" without the preposition.)

I realize this seemingly contradicts what I said a couple of pages back, how following a bad standard doesn't make a sign okay.  However, I think general consensus is that Turnpike standard rocks, while the Atlantic City Expressway "standard" is unadulterated shite.

Turnpike is going to move toward FHWA. Expect exit tabs.

For the record, the noncentered I-276 is because I-95 will be on the left (and maybe a TO in between).

South I-95 TO, to be exact.  The space at the bottom will eventually say Philadelphia.  They are actually green overlays on the panel for now.

Well you win one contest - getting the NJTA to accept greenouts! They HATE panels on their signs! One of the reasons they're putting up exit tabs on future signs is so that they won't have to panel over the sequential exit numbering in the event of renumbering - they'll just replace the exit tabs. (Of course, it's silly to anticipate FHWA caring about renumbering and not caring about exit numbers within the sign.)

I'm guessing that they're going to just recycle the old signs and gantry? It would be awesome if they could figure out how to display that at a service plaza or something. I'd especially like to see this happen with the old neon REDUCE SPEED signs.

It's going to be preserved, but I don't know if they figured out how. At least one or two of the neon signs are also preserved. This is true history, folks.

[tollboothrob]

Hell, series F can look good sometimes (though some might not find this appealing)...

Those Series F 378 signs certainly work as far as imparting the information, and are visible at a glance, so they work, but they just look odd to me.  Whenever I see Series F or other series stretched to that width, it just looks, off.  I feel the same about this exit/gore sign, it works, looks OK, but just doesn't seem right. 

No, I didn't bother to go down the rest of the thread to see if this was mentioned, but this style is West Virginia's standard, although the tab with the exit number is flush with the rest of the sign. Sorry if someone (H.B. probably) already pointed this out.

[Stratuscaster]

If you are going to do per lane arrows, then maybe just do per lane signage instead of one massive BGS.

The new MUTCD specs encourage lots of empty green space, what with the tall lane arrows and the "LEFT" requirement above the EXIT tabs.

Take the old signs, put the arrows at the bottom, and (my own personal preference) make them the same height - in this case, they could all be as tall as the SOUTH I-435 sign if done correctly.

[Brian556]

Lantana Neighborhood, Denton County, Texas

[Kacie Jane]

I love the duct tape yellow-out to cover the embarrassing mistake.  (Not that the sign makes any sense when it just says "Limited Distance", but it's a cute touch.)

[Brian556]

Look Closely. The duct tape has "sight" written on it; somebody was trying to correct the error.

[Central Avenue]

That mistake wouldn't have been nearly as funny without the hasty "correction."

[empirestate]

One of the signs on I-80 WB between 280 and 287 has a control city reading "Delaware Water G p". I find it apropos.

[1995hoo]

They're not bad for what they are. This thread is mostly for incompetently designed signage.

I can agree with that, though I'm sure some might complain about the lack of exit tab (not to mention the exit number is centered). Other than that, the signs are fine, but I'll miss the old ones.

The lack of exit tab and centered number is Turnpike standard.  (If you take a look at the old sign, it had more or less the same issue, although the top said "EXIT 6 FOR" instead of the more traditional "non-tab" without the preposition.)

....

The "FOR" was somewhat consistent with other Turnpike signage that referred to a particular feature rather than a road number, though. Consider the northbound advance sign for Exit 10 that says "Exit 10 FOR Edison Township/Outerbridge Crossing". A similar one for Exit 13 lists the Goethals and Verrazano Bridges along with Elizabeth, NJ. I seem to recall another one somewhere for the Burlington—Bristol Bridge.

The big difference was that in those cases the "FOR" sign was a secondary sign; the primary sign for the interchange contained route numbers and a city (e.g., Exit 10 lists I-287 and NJ-440 to Woodbridge and Metuchen; Exit 13's lists I-278 with the same three destinations as the "FOR" sign).

As soon as they announced the widening project I knew that Exit 6 sign bridge was doomed. Shame to see it go, though. While the roadgeek in me hates to see interesting stuff disappear, the practical road-user in me recognizes the absurdity of not allowing improvements. The old South Ferry loop station on the 7th Avenue IRT was similar–the subway geek in me hated to see a unique and interesting station closed, but from a practical standpoint I knew it had to happen.

[bassoon1986]

DSCN1466 by GeoJosh, on Flickr

Some of our Texas-sized signs in North Texas. I'm not a fan when the directional banner or arrows beneath the shield aren't the same size.

[Takumi]

Another misplaced arrow, courtesy of VDOT's Powhatan residency. This is on westbound VA 13 approaching the old west/north end of VA 38.

[Brian556]

It used to be worse:

[Takumi]

There's an I-95 assembly like that here.

[Michael]

Those I-35 shields remind me of this huge thing on I-690 in Syracuse.  Zoom out to see a wider view of the sign.  While I was looking for it in Street View, I came across this I-81 shield that I'd forgotten about just a bit to the west.  Again, zoom out for a wider view.

[bassoon1986]

There are few more further south with 35E signs probably after the reconstructed ramps and extra lanes around Swisher Rd and Lake Dallas

[hbelkins]

There are some outrageously huge signs in Massachusetts. I've seen some for MA 128 and I-495 that are probably the biggest ground-mounted route marker signs I've ever seen.

[Alps]

There are some outrageously huge signs in Massachusetts. I've seen some for MA 128 and I-495 that are probably the biggest ground-mounted route marker signs I've ever seen.

Forget that, you can see them on 16, 3, and other non-freeways. (There would also be 3 on the freeway as well)

[The High Plains Traveler]

Another creative "96" posting. CDOT probably not to blame here because this is on a road exiting Pueblo Municipal Airport, directing traffic to U.S. 50 and CO-96, which are concurrent here. This was posted after a Pueblo County road project and is mounted on square rather than CDOT-standard round signpost. I call this one, "Wind Blowing From Right?".


Then there is an all-time epic fail for a U.S. route junction. This particular one is U.S. 50/50 Business east of Pueblo. The photo makes a little more sense if you substitute "BUSINESS" for "END". Except for that second "WEST" on top of the signpost. I even went around to the eastbound end of U.S. 50B to see if perhaps it was posted with "BUSINESS BUSINESS U.S. 50", but no, it was properly constructed.



Both have been fixed, though the stray "West" is still on top of the 50/50B signpost.

[formulanone]

There's an I-95 assembly like that here.

There's a bunch of them in South Florida popping up around I-95 as well. They look like Master Billy Quizboy.

North Carolina was also bitten by the bug:

[Takumi]

Actually, I was initially referring to an interstate trailblazer with white banners, but there are a few oversized I-95 shields here too. (I think one of them was posted well upthread.) One was even replaced with a smaller shield, but in the same central spot on the post, so there's a sizable gap between the North banner and the shield.

Oh, and +10 points for the Master Billy Quizboy reference. I was a huge Venture Brothers fan in college.

[agentsteel53]

that is the worst of road signs for a variety of reasons, none of which are the size - the hideous '70 neutered spec, the utterly useless I-73 number...

[Takumi]

This is all kinds of weird.



There's nothing really wrong with this sign, per se, but considering the road curves to the left here, and it's on VA 40 Business, it's completely unnecessary.

[WillWeaverRVA]

This is all kinds of weird.

I'm assuming that's a temporary sign to replace the overhead that fell in the same place. I'm guessing there was an I-95 reassurance marker attached to the overhead, and VDOT decided to just toss it on the BGS for no apparent reason...

[Takumi]

According to this photo from Alex that's the case. The exit "tab" was what I thought was worst about it.