The Worst of Road Signs

[Big John]

^^

Russell Rd is just on the Illinois side of the WI/IL border at I-94/US 41.  Just south of that is where US 41 breaks off I-94 and the point where the tollway starts for I-94.  So for that short stretch, it is a IDOT freeway (plus IDOT signage in WI leading to these 2 exits) and not ISTHA.

The construction mentioned is the WisDOT widening project of I-94/US 41 from Milwaukee to the Illinois state line.  But per agreement with IDOT, the actual construction limit as about at Russell Rd where the added 4th lane in each direction starts/ends at the Russell Rd ramps.  (Not sure who is paying for the IL portion though).  A construction photo shows a new IDOT overhead BGS for Russell Rd with a (rare for Illinois) inclusion of the county route marker associated with it.

Edit to add link (sorry can't do a direct link): http://www.plan94.org/gallery.jsp# then scroll down to "Fall 2011 Construction - Racine & Kenosha Counties", and click on the 2nd of 3 photos shown there.  It is also definitely an Illinois installation since it is in Clearview.

[JoePCool14]

No, that sign is ISTHA because you haven't passed the "Thank you for using the Illinois Tollway! We hope you enjoyed us stealing your money!  " No, JK about the stealing money part...

[hbelkins]

And I post this one because of its redundancy:

[Billy F 1988]

I think the K-15 sign should go into Signs with Design Errors.

[route56]

I found one of those up here in the Kansas City area:

46772 by richiekennedy56, on Flickr

[J N Winkler]

I think the K-15 sign should go into Signs with Design Errors.

It is not a design error so much as it is left over from a now-abandoned signing scheme where advance guide and exit direction signs for a given Turnpike exit gave priority to the interchange name rather than the cities reached from that exit.  Under this scheme, the US 56 exit (Exit 147) was signed as "Admire" rather than, as now, "Council Grove"/"Osage City."

If this sign were replaced tomorrow, it would probably say "Wichita"/"Derby" in Clearview instead of "Wichita K-15" in Series E Modified.

[colinstu]

Just noticed a bad sign while driving yesterday.

Bad


Proper


The shape of the shield on BGSs are different then those used on these separate signs with black backgrounds. In this case, they used the BGS shape which is more round, on the black background. Not only that they used the wrong series FHWA font too.

[apeman33]

I found one of those up here in the Kansas City area:

46772 by richiekennedy56, on Flickr

I've seen ones on U.S. 169 in the past. And when I see such shields, they're always on a 3-digit route. I don't know if I've ever seen one of those for U.S. 400, but those shields have enough inconsistency among them (including the Ohio 400 ones from when the Parsons bypass was first signed).

I think the U.S. 281 shields are just a case of using numbers that are much too large. You'll see quite a few of those in Pratt.

[vtk]

The one on the right:

[Joe The Dragon]

^^

Russell Rd is just on the Illinois side of the WI/IL border at I-94/US 41.  Just south of that is where US 41 breaks off I-94 and the point where the tollway starts for I-94.  So for that short stretch, it is a IDOT freeway (plus IDOT signage in WI leading to these 2 exits) and not ISTHA.

The construction mentioned is the WisDOT widening project of I-94/US 41 from Milwaukee to the Illinois state line.  But per agreement with IDOT, the actual construction limit as about at Russell Rd where the added 4th lane in each direction starts/ends at the Russell Rd ramps.  (Not sure who is paying for the IL portion though).  A construction photo shows a new IDOT overhead BGS for Russell Rd with a (rare for Illinois) inclusion of the county route marker associated with it.

Edit to add link (sorry can't do a direct link): http://www.plan94.org/gallery.jsp# then scroll down to "Fall 2011 Construction - Racine & Kenosha Counties", and click on the 2nd of 3 photos shown there.  It is also definitely an Illinois installation since it is in Clearview.

Now Wisconsin state line to IL 173 is being upgraded to 4 lanes each way And I read that the toll way is pitching in for the cost of the short state part.

Also that small state part may be tolled some day as well.

[NE2]

The one on the right:

We've already discussed this ad nauseam and there's no point in going through the motions again.

[formulanone]

The one on the right:

You mean the yellow water tower just off the right of this photo with "Gas City" in Comic Sans? Even worse...

[hbelkins]

The one on the right:

That's a pretty common sign layout in Indiana, and I hate it. Not sure if it's because of the money wasted on the oversized sign, or the newspaper editor in me sees unused white (green) space.

[Scott5114]

I think the K-15 sign should go into Signs with Design Errors.

It is not a design error so much as it is left over from a now-abandoned signing scheme where advance guide and exit direction signs for a given Turnpike exit gave priority to the interchange name rather than the cities reached from that exit.  Under this scheme, the US 56 exit (Exit 147) was signed as "Admire" rather than, as now, "Council Grove"/"Osage City."

If this sign were replaced tomorrow, it would probably say "Wichita"/"Derby" in Clearview instead of "Wichita K-15" in Series E Modified.

This sign generation also included "El Dorado North" and "El Dorado South" as destinations, if I remember correctly.

[J N Winkler]

This sign generation also included "El Dorado North" and "El Dorado South" as destinations, if I remember correctly.

Yes--although I think the latter exit (now signed for K-196 and K-254, initially just K-196 in 1956) was either "El Dorado West" or just "El Dorado" (it was the latter when the Turnpike opened in 1956, addition of the US 77 interchange being then several decades in the future).  The Topeka exits used to be "South Topeka" and "East Topeka," while the Lawrence exits were "West Lawrence" and "East Lawrence."

When the Turnpike opened in 1956, all of the interchange names referenced a city, with or without a compass direction, with the exceptions of the K-15 and K-32 interchanges (identified just as "Route K-15" and "Route K-32" respectively) and the 18th Street Expressway interchange ("18th Street").

[Brandon]

The one on the right:

Count me as not a big fan of this type of tall signage.  InDOT put an even taller one on I-80/94 for the Central Avenue Exit (Exit 13) heading eastbound.  IDOT's also guilty of it on I-80 eastbound for Exit 132 A (US-52 East, IL-53 South Chicago Street): https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=41.512,-88.093379&spn=0.00433,0.010568&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=41.511975,-88.093283&panoid=laG5BItRKYynDHuvFOawvg&cbp=12,128.18,,0,-12.34.  It's an unnecessary waste of space IMHO.

[TEG24601]

I like the INDOT tall style, so long as the first line is the primary highway, and the lower ones are the secondary highways (i.e. a concurrency, where the top one is the primary route that has the mileage markers/exit numbers).  Some of the tall ones heading toward Chicago on I-65 are ridiculous, as are some around Ft. Wayne and Logansport.

[Scott5114]

It would be less ridiculous if the arrow were at the right instead of making the sign even taller by hanging out at the bottom.

[vtk]

It would be less ridiculous if the arrow were at the right instead of making the sign even taller by hanging out at the bottom.

Actually, if the layout of all the other elements are taken as a given, you might as well stick the arrow at the bottom.  Adding 36 inches to the height doesn't increase the total area as much as adding 36 inches to the width, at that point.

That said, I'd definitely prefer the way ODOT and most other states would do it.

NE2: your yawn was warranted, and I was going to let it go, but apparently some people want to go through the motions again anyway.

[StogieGuy7]

^^

Russell Rd is just on the Illinois side of the WI/IL border at I-94/US 41.  Just south of that is where US 41 breaks off I-94 and the point where the tollway starts for I-94.  So for that short stretch, it is a IDOT freeway (plus IDOT signage in WI leading to these 2 exits) and not ISTHA.

The construction mentioned is the WisDOT widening project of I-94/US 41 from Milwaukee to the Illinois state line.  But per agreement with IDOT, the actual construction limit as about at Russell Rd where the added 4th lane in each direction starts/ends at the Russell Rd ramps.  (Not sure who is paying for the IL portion though).  A construction photo shows a new IDOT overhead BGS for Russell Rd with a (rare for Illinois) inclusion of the county route marker associated with it.

Edit to add link (sorry can't do a direct link): http://www.plan94.org/gallery.jsp# then scroll down to "Fall 2011 Construction - Racine & Kenosha Counties", and click on the 2nd of 3 photos shown there.  It is also definitely an Illinois installation since it is in Clearview.

Now Wisconsin state line to IL 173 is being upgraded to 4 lanes each way And I read that the toll way is pitching in for the cost of the short state part.

Also that small state part may be tolled some day as well.

It was my understanding that IDOT would reimburse WisDOT for the cost of the project work.  To my knowledge, there are no plans to add tolls there (though all you really could do is to toll people who are getting off at US 41 for the 0.3 mile that they just drove). 

I really have to snap a photo of the "WEIGHT STATION 1 mile" sign that's posted on the WB side of I 94 just north of Russell Road.   

Some day i need to take some time to stop there and work on my quads for a bit.... 

[Scott5114]

NE2: your yawn was warranted, and I was going to let it go, but apparently some people want to go through the motions again anyway.

Not everyone has been around to participate in every thread, especially if it happens to take place in one of the regional boards that not all people visit.

Which is why the yawns and "We've already discussed this ad nauseam and there's no point in going through the motions again" comments attract moderation. These sorts of things breed a forum culture that isn't welcoming to newer members. We don't want to allow things to develop to the point where people get anxious about posting anything, lest someone bite their head off because it was discussed in a thread in 2009 before they joined.

[NE2]

Uh no. Start here: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=4862.msg181448#msg181448

[Kacie Jane]

Apologies if it's not my place to chime in here, but I feel that if Scott's argument is that not everyone reads every thread especially if it was in one of the regional boards, then linking to a thread from one of the regional boards is not the best way to defend yourself.

[NE2]

Linking to a thread where vtk, the "target", posted is sufficient to yawn at Scott.

[Scott5114]

No more yawns. No more "We've already discussed this ad nauseam and there's no point in going through the motions again." If that's all you have to say, then don't say it. Otherwise it will be deleted on sight.