Does anyone miss the old text signs?

[briantroutman]

Did any states use text for Interstate designations on freeway guide signs (excluding post-interchange mileage signs)? Or were there regulations preventing that?

What a bizarre sight.  Although I'm inclined to put this more into the "incompetency at the regional sign shop"  category.

I think I've come across some uses of ROUTE X for an Interstate in Virginia, where you use the intersecting road to reach the Interstate.

Yay, found a few. Not all-text, but partly text:

Some Illinois ones:

Partially text (IL-255 and I-255 have a "control" of "I-270" or "Interstate 270" - all text, no shields):

I've seen a few examples like the ones you've linked, but with them being in 20″/15″ mixed case letters and in the bottom half of the sign, they tend to behave more like destinations than route numbers. I have yet to see a 15″ letter/18″ numeral text replacement for an Interstate shield–akin to the PA examples Doofy linked. The "I-129"  example comes closest so far.

[Alex]

I can't think of any in Florida. Maybe there's one for A1A, since that's become a street name as well as a route number.

There was the late 1990s text "SR 291" overhead on I-10 east between Exits 12 and 13. I have the vidcap of it somewhere on disc.

[jeffandnicole]

Unlike many of you, I never cared for the all-text signs. Why use all-text rather than an easily identifiable shield, which usually displays the number larger than text?  And when you exit from the highway, the shield is generally present anyway; it'll rarely be all-text off the highway (exceptions are for street name blades, which will write out the route & number). 

Maybe I'm just used to seeing them in PA too often or something.

[Zeffy]

Unfortunately since I'm young I really didn't get a chance to see any all-text signs with my own eyes. Looking at pictures of them online, I like how they look, however, I also feel like using shields communicates the point much better (reading text versus seeing the familiar shields), so I can't really say that I'm not glad they are phased out.

[vdeane]

Region 4 still has some around the NY 15/NY 252 interchange, assuming they haven't been replaced in the last couple years (they're on the 2012 street view; ditto for the next one).  Aside from these, the only one left in Rochester is on the Inner Loop, and its days are numbered.

[J N Winkler]

After reading the past couple of pages, I thought I should point out that the 2009 (current) edition of the MUTCD still permits route designations to appear in text and provides dimensions for them, although all of the art that showed text designations appears to have been removed.

In Kansas, text designations were used quite extensively (the original signing for the Kansas Turnpike, for example, had no guide-sign route markers except on certain special "Avoid Congestion--Take the Kansas Turnpike" signs which were placed near Wichita and Topeka), but now are hardly ever seen aside from post-interchange route confirmation signs (a type of mileage sign) and conventional-road mileage signs.  Interchange sequence signs use shields more or less exclusively, the principal exception being state routes in Missouri.

[hbelkins]

There were some at the interchange of US 15 and US 220 in Williamsport. Have they been replaced with Clearview yet?

[signalman]

 

There were some at the interchange of US 15 and US 220 in Williamsport. Have they been replaced with Clearview yet?

Was just there a few weeks ago.  Sadly, the text signs are all gone 

[briantroutman]

There were some at the interchange of US 15 and US 220 in Williamsport. Have they been replaced with Clearview yet?

You're referring to the first guide signs that I–as an infant strapped into the back of a "˜78 Subaru wagon–ever laid eyes on.

Almost all (if not all) of those signs have been replaced, in part through general replacement cycles, but also as part of reconstruction work on I-180, and more importantly, the complete reconfiguration of US 15 traffic patterns due to the SPUI on the Market Street Bridge.

But surprisingly, most are not Clearview. The vast majority (like this array) are very smart-looking signs in FHWA E(m).

[machias]

Region 4 still has some around the NY 15/NY 252 interchange, assuming they haven't been replaced in the last couple years (they're on the 2012 street view; ditto for the next one).  Aside from these, the only one left in Rochester is on the Inner Loop, and its days are numbered.

I saw the signs in the first photo a couple of weeks ago and honestly I was an excited road geek when I saw the old style signs. I don't know if it's the button copy or the all text format, but I find these older style signs to be better designed and more professional and consistent looking. I think they better conveyed a consistent message to the motorist. They hearken back to the days before computers doing everything and people actually thought what the sign should look like instead of treating it like a Word document.

Gosh I sound old.

[machias]

There were some at the interchange of US 15 and US 220 in Williamsport. Have they been replaced with Clearview yet?

You're referring to the first guide signs that I–as an infant strapped into the back of a "˜78 Subaru wagon–ever laid eyes on.

Almost all (if not all) of those signs have been replaced, in part through general replacement cycles, but also as part of reconstruction work on I-180, and more importantly, the complete reconfiguration of US 15 traffic patterns due to the SPUI on the Market Street Bridge.

But surprisingly, most are not Clearview. The vast majority (like this array) are very smart-looking signs in FHWA E(m).

I'm pretty sure I spotted one remaining all text sign assembly on US 15 south leading to the US 220 interchange in Williamsport, Pa. last weekend.   I was headed the wrong direction else I would have grabbed a photo.

[briantroutman]

I'm pretty sure I spotted one remaining all text sign assembly on US 15 south leading to the US 220 interchange in Williamsport, Pa. last weekend.   I was headed the wrong direction else I would have grabbed a photo.

I completely forgot about this survivor at the Fourth Street interchange.

[D-Dey65]

Honestly, I'm okay with the shields instead of the text. The only reason I can see to seek the text signs is to prove they existed.

[signalman]

I'm pretty sure I spotted one remaining all text sign assembly on US 15 south leading to the US 220 interchange in Williamsport, Pa. last weekend.   I was headed the wrong direction else I would have grabbed a photo.

I was also heading north on US 15 when I was there 3 weeks ago.  Had I known it was there, I would have U-Turned to grab a picture.  Although, it was raining when I was there, so the picture likely would have turned out crappy.  I guess this gives me an excuse to finish more of US 15 in the southbound direction 

[ctsignguy]

The ones on the US 11 interchange with I-80 are also gone now too....

from my Aug 2010 trip....

[thenetwork]

When I saw the title, I thought this thread would be about old signs spelling out "School" or "Children Playing" rather than the graphics we have now.  I was just remarking to my wife that it's rather ironic that the symbol we saw on a sign for "playground" was a see-saw, a device that is being removed from parks for safety for the last decade or two.

Back on track, I seem to remember this in Ohio fairly recently, at least on distance signs, but I haven't been down I-75 for several years now.  I don't remember if it was on exit signs or not.

ODOT always used shields.  On the Ohio Turnpike, however, there used to be a mix of shield and text:

-  Shields were always used on the "Exit 2 Miles" signs and the Trapezoid Exit signs. 
-  Text based numerals were on all signage in between.

This changed by the mid-late 80s as all text-based signs were converted to shields.

[vdeane]

I saw the signs in the first photo a couple of weeks ago and honestly I was an excited road geek when I saw the old style signs.

They'll probably be the last in Region 4, given that the Inner Loop from just south of Main St to Monroe Ave will be permanently closed in two weeks (though they keep moving that time forward; it was supposed to be last week for the longest time, then it was November 15, now it's the 21st).

[cl94]

I saw the signs in the first photo a couple of weeks ago and honestly I was an excited road geek when I saw the old style signs.

They'll probably be the last in Region 4, given that the Inner Loop from just south of Main St to Monroe Ave will be permanently closed in two weeks (though they keep moving that time forward; it was supposed to be last week for the longest time, then it was November 15, now it's the 21st).

Hell, they'll be the last in Western New York. Region 5 has none left thanks to their aggressive sign replacement and everything in Region 6 is relatively new. I don't even remember seeing button copy in R6 anytime recently.

[PurdueBill]

Did any states use text for Interstate designations on freeway guide signs (excluding post-interchange mileage signs)? Or were there regulations preventing that?

I have no idea why.

I think I've come across some uses of ROUTE X for an Interstate in Virginia, where you use the intersecting road to reach the Interstate.

I could swear that somewhere on here I had read that this one and its partner that reads "ROUTE I-126" in SC (pics on Steve's I-26 SC page) are deliberate because somehow people were confusing "129" in a shield with "I-29" or something.  Now why that hasn't carried over to every other 1xx 3DI in the country, I don't know....

[NE2]

Now why that hasn't carried over to every other 1xx 3DI in the country, I don't know....

Because Southerners from South Carolina and South Sioux City are dumb. Duh.

[Alex]

Did any states use text for Interstate designations on freeway guide signs (excluding post-interchange mileage signs)? Or were there regulations preventing that?

I have no idea why.

I think I've come across some uses of ROUTE X for an Interstate in Virginia, where you use the intersecting road to reach the Interstate.

I could swear that somewhere on here I had read that this one and its partner that reads "ROUTE I-126" in SC (pics on Steve's I-26 SC page) are deliberate because somehow people were confusing "129" in a shield with "I-29" or something.  Now why that hasn't carried over to every other 1xx 3DI in the country, I don't know....

A 1994 news paper article confirms that was the reason for the text I-126 signs at Columbia, SC.
https://www.aaroads.com/guide.php?page=i0126sc

A correspondence with Iowa DOT in 2007 revealed the same rationale from the late 1990s for I-129 at Sioux City.
https://www.aaroads.com/blog/2007/05/02/interstate-129-in-text/

[roadman65]

I believe that the Palisades interstate Parkway in New Jersey uses text for US 9W.  It is funny because in New York when the PIP switched their all text signs for shield sign in 1987, New Jersey switched its new signs for texts.   The only problem is how they word US 9W which is like this: RT 9 W instead of US 9W at both exits 2, 3, and 4.   

The RT abbreviation and the W are both spaced out from the number 9 the same.  Now the route header is supposed to be, but not the "W" as its part of the route number.  Plus on Exit 2 the route number is beneath the control cities and not on top either.  The PIP did do an excellent job on the rest like providing control cities in the proper form and standard exit tabs, but the Route 9W leaves a lot to be desired.  Also Exit 4 should have control cities which it does not have.

[PurdueBill]

Did any states use text for Interstate designations on freeway guide signs (excluding post-interchange mileage signs)? Or were there regulations preventing that?

I have no idea why.

I think I've come across some uses of ROUTE X for an Interstate in Virginia, where you use the intersecting road to reach the Interstate.

I could swear that somewhere on here I had read that this one and its partner that reads "ROUTE I-126" in SC (pics on Steve's I-26 SC page) are deliberate because somehow people were confusing "129" in a shield with "I-29" or something.  Now why that hasn't carried over to every other 1xx 3DI in the country, I don't know....

A 1994 news paper article confirms that was the reason for the text I-126 signs at Columbia, SC.
https://www.aaroads.com/guide.php?page=i0126sc

A correspondence with Iowa DOT in 2007 revealed the same rationale from the late 1990s for I-129 at Sioux City.
https://www.aaroads.com/blog/2007/05/02/interstate-129-in-text/

How do these people survive in other places where I-80 and I-180, I-95 and I-195, etc. etc. etc. meet?  Madness!

I suppose this is how those "I-I-195" shields in RI appeared?  To appease the crowd who thinks that "195" inside an I-shield means "I-95"?

[route17fan]

I have to admit - despite confusion - I do miss old school all text-non reflective button copy. I grew up on that in the 70s and 80s as well.

[Eth]

Did any states use text for Interstate designations on freeway guide signs (excluding post-interchange mileage signs)? Or were there regulations preventing that?

I have no idea why.

I think I've come across some uses of ROUTE X for an Interstate in Virginia, where you use the intersecting road to reach the Interstate.

I could swear that somewhere on here I had read that this one and its partner that reads "ROUTE I-126" in SC (pics on Steve's I-26 SC page) are deliberate because somehow people were confusing "129" in a shield with "I-29" or something.  Now why that hasn't carried over to every other 1xx 3DI in the country, I don't know....

A 1994 news paper article confirms that was the reason for the text I-126 signs at Columbia, SC.
https://www.aaroads.com/guide.php?page=i0126sc

A correspondence with Iowa DOT in 2007 revealed the same rationale from the late 1990s for I-129 at Sioux City.
https://www.aaroads.com/blog/2007/05/02/interstate-129-in-text/

How do these people survive in other places where I-80 and I-180, I-95 and I-195, etc. etc. etc. meet?  Madness!

I suppose this is how those "I-I-195" shields in RI appeared?  To appease the crowd who thinks that "195" inside an I-shield means "I-95"?

On one hand, this seems thoroughly ridiculous. On the other hand, when I was a kid, my grandmother constantly referred to the freeway between LaGrange and Columbus as "I-85" (as opposed to the freeway from Atlanta to LaGrange, which was just "85").