Single Overheads Requiring 4+ Shields

[architect77]

What to do when up to 6 shields are required for a single route/exit? Go Up! These are definitely unique-looking and accurately describe where you're headed: The large but loosely defined northern half of Raleigh. "North" in this case isn't referring to direction but rather a destination.

[agentsteel53]

what shield is greened out/removed under the "TO" at upper right?

the NORTH as a general direction reflects practice in England, Chile, etc... have only very rarely seen it in the US.  I'm not sure I would recognize it as such, instead thinking it would lead me to the northern parts of Raleigh, not "things generally to the north, like Richmond or Boston".

[roadman]

What to do when up to 6 shields are required for a single route/exit? Go Up! These are definitely unique-looking and accurately describe where you're headed: The large but loosely defined northern half of Raleigh. "North" in this case isn't referring to direction but rather a destination.

If this is the location in NC I'm thinking of (for some reason I can't see the photo), for one thing, you don't need separate cardinal directions and "TO" legends above each shield.  Common direction routes need only one cardinal direction centered above their respective shields.  You then place all "TO" routes on one line, with a single "TO" to the left of the shields, beneath the primary routes.  You then place "Raleigh" beneath the whole mess, and your "action" legend (1/2 MILE) beneath that.

Makes the signs much easier to read (and understand) at 65 MPH, and reduces your overall panel size by about 35 to 40 percent - which also requires less complicated structures as well.

[broadhurst04]

what shield is greened out/removed under the "TO" at upper right?

That blank space is meant to be for TOLL NC 540. The shield looks exactly like the white diamond 540 shield next to the I-540 shield. It's actually all part of the same road  - but due to a combination of explosive population growth, bureaucratic bungling, and mayors eager to shove the new road through to eventually expand their tax base -  part of NC 540 is tolled and part of it is not. (None of the Interstate portion is tolled). The idea is to warn drivers that they while they won't pay a toll by taking this particular ramp, they will start to pay tolls later on down the route.

[Brandon]

Four shields, one sign on the Kingery Expressway:


RE: I-540/NC-540.  If it's the same road, using the I-540 shields should be fine.  All it needs is a "TOLL" banner.

[broadhurst04]

RE: I-540/NC-540.  If it's the same road, using the I-540 shields should be fine.  All it needs is a "TOLL" banner.

I agree. However, it was decided here that the rest of 540 had to be built as a toll road NOW, as opposed to waiting for tax revenue to come in over 30 years to build it as a free route. Now I don't remember exactly why, but for some reason the fact that the new part is tolled and the old part isn't means the new part cannot carry Interstate shields at least until the toll bonds are paid off. That's why the loop is part I-540, part FREE NC 540, and part TOLL NC 540.

[Brandon]

RE: I-540/NC-540.  If it's the same road, using the I-540 shields should be fine.  All it needs is a "TOLL" banner.

I agree. However, it was decided here that the rest of 540 had to be built as a toll road NOW, as opposed to waiting for tax revenue to come in over 30 years to build it as a free route. Now I don't remember exactly why, but for some reason the fact that the new part is tolled and the old part isn't means the new part cannot carry Interstate shields at least until the toll bonds are paid off. That's why the loop is part I-540, part FREE NC 540, and part TOLL NC 540.

Bunk.  A toll road can carry an interstate shield from the start.  I-355 here (built 1989, extended 2007) did have an interstate shield from the start, and was planned to carry an interstate shield even though it was also planned as a tollway and has never used tax dollars.  There is no reason North Carolina cannot call it all I-540 from the start.

[Revive 755]

Six shields on one sign in East St. Louis:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=east+st.+louis,+il&hl=en&ll=38.632302,-90.150923&spn=0.007115,0.016512&sll=42.032432,-88.091192&sspn=0.215482,0.528374&hnear=East+St+Louis,+St+Clair,+Illinois&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.632475,-90.15056&panoid=1DoylcMvKDQZXUfQY24VoQ&cbp=12,240.34,,0,-5.32

The other direction has one sign with four:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=east+st.+louis,+il&hl=en&ll=38.631782,-90.151223&spn=0.007116,0.016512&sll=42.032432,-88.091192&sspn=0.215482,0.528374&hnear=East+St+Louis,+St+Clair,+Illinois&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=38.631833,-90.151103&panoid=pQ7TDaGm7i7x-MAmtNg5Lw&cbp=12,65,,0,-1.11

[myosh_tino]

If Caltrans were to ever sign all of the hidden routes within Sacramento on the Capitol City Freeway/Business 80, the exit sign on northbound CA-99 approaching this freeway might look something like this...



The east-west portion of the Capitol City Freeway is currently signed as US 50 and BL-80 but it also carries CA-16, CA-99 and I-305.  To make the above sign even more absurd, I added "TO I-5" to add a 6th shield on that sign.  The north-south portion of the Capitol City Freeway is only signed as BL-80 but it also carries hidden CA-51.  That makes 10 shields total for all signs on that truss. 

[agentsteel53]

I agree. However, it was decided here that the rest of 540 had to be built as a toll road NOW, as opposed to waiting for tax revenue to come in over 30 years to build it as a free route. Now I don't remember exactly why, but for some reason the fact that the new part is tolled and the old part isn't means the new part cannot carry Interstate shields at least until the toll bonds are paid off. That's why the loop is part I-540, part FREE NC 540, and part TOLL NC 540.

generally speaking, I'd want a single route number, but in the case of a half-free half-toll road with the same number, a shield shape change does serve as a useful mnemonic.

[1995hoo]

what shield is greened out/removed under the "TO" at upper right?

the NORTH as a general direction reflects practice in England, Chile, etc... have only very rarely seen it in the US.  I'm not sure I would recognize it as such, instead thinking it would lead me to the northern parts of Raleigh, not "things generally to the north, like Richmond or Boston".

Based on other signage in North Carolina (and based on where I-540 goes), I believe they're using it in the sense you mean, not as in "The North" like the way in the UK they'd say "The Midlands" or the like. One of North Carolina's standard practices is to put "DOWNTOWN" in all caps under the city name when the road to which the sign refers is a direct route to downtown, although sometimes they omit the city name in favor of the road name (for example, when I lived in Durham one of the signs said "Roxboro St/DOWNTOWN"). The use of "NORTH" on the sign shown in the original post is extremely similar and would lead me to interpret it in the same manner–i.e., in this case, Northern Raleigh.

That's how I'd read it if I were driving in that area, anyway. (When I lived there, I-540 was a short route that ran from I-40 to US-70 and so didn't get much use. When I commuted to North Raleigh in the summer of 1996 I took the Durham Freeway to I-40 to Wade Avenue to the Beltline to Wake Forest Road. I-540 would have simplified it substantially.)

Here's an example (from AARoads) of the "DOWNTOWN" signage from the Beltline around Raleigh. The empty space used to be a US-64 shield. It's now US-64 business but I guess they hadn't fixed it when the picture was taken.




Here's one from the Greensboro area that shows both the "DOWNTOWN" practice and five shields on a single overhead (so it fits with the original subject of this thread). I still think of this area as I-85, not Green I-85, because that's how it was during my years in North Carolina.

[Ian]

Just throwing these out there for the "4 route shields on 1 sign" category...

[Dr Frankenstein]

The thing that popped up in my head when I saw the thread is... I-95/US1/US9/US46 SB entering New Jersey. The mainline itself is a shield salad, add the rest and it's just crazy.

[Takumi]

Bowers Hill, VA. Note that VA 191 is not on the mainline at the exit; it's the first intersection past it from 13B.




On this one, 191 even gets mentioned before US 58 and 460.

[corco]

Here's an elegant one from Wyoming

[broadhurst04]

Bunk.  A toll road can carry an interstate shield from the start.  I-355 here (built 1989, extended 2007) did have an interstate shield from the start, and was planned to carry an interstate shield even though it was also planned as a tollway and has never used tax dollars.  There is no reason North Carolina cannot call it all I-540 from the start.

You're right - there's no reason it can't all carry an Interstate designation. It's just that the Turnpike Authority decided not to pursue an Interstate designation for the parts of the loop they were planning to toll. I think they actually thought we would think of it as two highways operating independently of each other if the toll portion was an NC route and the free portion was an Interstate. Never mind that it all looks like one loop road on a map and drives like it's all one loop road.

[NE2]

Except that part of NC 540 is free. So it's signed NC 540 to TOLL NC 540. Can't find a photo of this, but here's the opposite for NC 147 (from http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamontheroad/6489694435/):

[colinstu]

Some I can think off of the top of my head:

(east-bound approaching the Marquette Interchange)

[jeffandnicole]

At the Airport Circle in Camden/Pennsauken, NJ.

http://goo.gl/maps/VocsK

Even better...it's on a modified circle with overpasses, so the amount of time one has to view the sign is extremely limited!

[hubcity]

Here's a fiver just north of the Raritan...

http://goo.gl/maps/DgvqP

[cpzilliacus]

Here's a fiver just north of the Raritan...

http://goo.gl/maps/DgvqP

I've never liked the way that the Garden State Parkway's shield is depicted as a route number here and elsewhere (but I have an admitted strong preference for route numbers). 

[route56]

About the only place you'll find four shields on a BGS in Kansas.... Wyandotte County.

[kphoger]

About the only place you'll find four shields on a BGS in Kansas.... Wyandotte County.

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Indeed.  Here in Wichita, there is a section of I-135 that also carries US-81, K-15, and K-96.  However, you won't find all those shields on an overhead.  Even where overheads exist, the secondary routes are still pole-mounted.
Example on WB K-254
Example on SB I-135 / US-81 / K-15
Example on NB I-235 / EB K-96
Example on NB I-135 / US-81 / K-15 / WB K-96
Example on WB K-96
A bit of sine salad at the transition from 29th St North to Hydraulic
Advance signage on S. Hydraulic (approaching 29th St North); but Signage at the ramp itself

Newon prefers to simply pretend certain routes don't exist at certain points.
At 1st Street and Broadway, it's a Wichita-style setup: only I-135 on the green sign, everything on the pole-mounts.
On EB US-50 / SB K-15, K-15 ignores itself and US-81 is absent altogether.

Farther north, the practice persists.
Here's an example on EB K-4 / Bus US-81 outside of Lindsborg.
Here's another on WB K-4 at Assaria.

[BamaZeus]

The thing that popped up in my head when I saw the thread is... I-95/US1/US9/US46 SB entering New Jersey. The mainline itself is a shield salad, add the rest and it's just crazy.

I think it's better now, but some of the old salad signs were downright confusing around there in years past, not to mention with bizarre shapes.

http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/i-95/6s.html   http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/nj/i-95/6n.html   From Alps' site

[theline]

A bit of sine salad at the transition from 29th St North to Hydraulic

That one is made harder to understand by a left arrow on the right side of the assembly. That would be a no-no, right? It seems that the left-turn routes should logically be shown to the left of the through routes.

I don't think much of the pole-mounted signs in general. Too many places to look.