The Worst of Road Signs

[Zeffy]

Mmk, so the sign itself isn't bad, but am I the only one who thinks the placement of the sign is... well, shit? There was plenty of space next to the shoulder, yet they chose to put it on a hill, further from the road.

http://goo.gl/maps/u6oOc

[Signal]

This one isn't as bad as others here... but still an "interesting" color combo and use of space...
https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=&aq=&sll=38.008377,-78.485825&sspn=0.000753,0.00142&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&st=115239071714085385125&rq=1&ev=p&split=1&fll=38.00877,-78.484453&fspn=0.001507,0.00284&hq=pvcc&hnear=&ll=38.008234,-78.486281&spn=0.000753,0.00142&z=20&layer=c&cbll=38.008234,-78.486281&panoid=HsVHXU0cfG5xXuQ4-Q0JtQ&cbp=12,123.83,,1,2.95&iwloc=A


Unrelated, the google car witnessed a sign strippin' nearby...

[Central Avenue]

I don't know if I'd necessarily consider that a waste of space, since it's obvious that there was some text on the blue space that's later been covered up, so it did serve a purpose at some point, but the decision to combine a brown sign and a blue sign in such a way isn't very aesthetically pleasing (even though I can understand why it was done).

[Zeffy]

This one isn't as bad as others here... but still an "interesting" color combo and use of space...
https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=&aq=&sll=38.008377,-78.485825&sspn=0.000753,0.00142&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&st=115239071714085385125&rq=1&ev=p&split=1&fll=38.00877,-78.484453&fspn=0.001507,0.00284&hq=pvcc&hnear=&ll=38.008234,-78.486281&spn=0.000753,0.00142&z=20&layer=c&cbll=38.008234,-78.486281&panoid=HsVHXU0cfG5xXuQ4-Q0JtQ&cbp=12,123.83,,1,2.95&iwloc=A


Unrelated, the google car witnessed a sign strippin' nearby...

Sign 1: IMO, that sign should have a green background. Also, what possibly was the blue space for? Since blue is used for things like service signs, the only thing that could fit there is just that. Also, brown with blue is ugly.

Sign 2: I see a Clearview sign in the back of that truck.   

[deathtopumpkins]

Mmk, so the sign itself isn't bad, but am I the only one who thinks the placement of the sign is... well, shit? There was plenty of space next to the shoulder, yet they chose to put it on a hill, further from the road.

http://goo.gl/maps/u6oOc

Well, for one thing putting it higher up on the hill gives better visibility (cars in the left lanes can see it over a truck in the right, for instance, and from farther away).
It also keeps it out of the clear zone along the roadway.

[Pete from Boston]

I apologize if this has come up before, but my disgust wins over my initiative for searching it out.

New PIP shields on NY 59 East on the Nanuet/West Nyack line:



I feel like I have a child who, the night before the first day of junior high, has decided to cut his/her own hair -- very, very badly.  I am just shaking my head at what has happened to what was once something clean and rather attractive:

[Big John]

^^ and the "5" in 59 does not look like a proper series D digit.

[Zeffy]

I apologize if this has come up before, but my disgust wins over my initiative for searching it out.

New PIP shields on NY 59 East on the Nanuet/West Nyack line:

Uh, ew? Those better not start replacing the GOOD Palisades Interstate Parkway shields...

[Pete from Boston]

They're on 59 East and West there, as well as on 304 South. 

[broadhurst04]

Also, what possibly was the blue space for?

Abandoned rest area, perhaps?

[1995hoo]

This one isn't as bad as others here... but still an "interesting" color combo and use of space...
https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=&aq=&sll=38.008377,-78.485825&sspn=0.000753,0.00142&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&st=115239071714085385125&rq=1&ev=p&split=1&fll=38.00877,-78.484453&fspn=0.001507,0.00284&hq=pvcc&hnear=&ll=38.008234,-78.486281&spn=0.000753,0.00142&z=20&layer=c&cbll=38.008234,-78.486281&panoid=HsVHXU0cfG5xXuQ4-Q0JtQ&cbp=12,123.83,,1,2.95&iwloc=A


Unrelated, the google car witnessed a sign strippin' nearby...

Sign 1: IMO, that sign should have a green background. Also, what possibly was the blue space for? Since blue is used for things like service signs, the only thing that could fit there is just that. Also, brown with blue is ugly.

Sign 2: I see a Clearview sign in the back of that truck.   

Virginia's done brown-and-blue signs elsewhere as well. This one is on I-495 (the road looks different now, but the sign remains). I dislike it because "and" normally shouldn't be capitalized and it looks ugly to me to have it capitalized here.



The sign "Signal" posted from the Charlottesville area probably said something similar. Edited to add: I found the sign on AARoads.com showing the pre-modification version. The blue portion used to say "Monticello Visitor Center." So it was basically the same idea as what I've posted. You can find the old sign here: https://www.aaroads.com/mid-atlantic/virginia064/i-064_eb_exit_121_02.jpg

As far as Clearview goes, we have lots of Clearview in Virginia. I barely notice it anymore except when it's badly done (which I mostly see on I-395).

[Signal]

Edited to add: I found the sign on AARoads.com showing the pre-modification version. The blue portion used to say "Monticello Visitor Center." So it was basically the same idea as what I've posted. You can find the old sign here: https://www.aaroads.com/mid-atlantic/virginia064/i-064_eb_exit_121_02.jpg

As far as Clearview goes, we have lots of Clearview in Virginia. I barely notice it anymore except when it's badly done (which I mostly see on I-395).

I think they got rid of it because it's redundant, the Monticello visitor center is at Monticello.  (well, near, but you have to go to the visitor center to get there)

[J N Winkler]

Virginia's done brown-and-blue signs elsewhere as well. This one is on I-495 (the road looks different now, but the sign remains). I dislike it because "and" normally shouldn't be capitalized and it looks ugly to me to have it capitalized here.

"And" (whether capitalized or not) should not have been used at all.

[jeffandnicole]

Mmk, so the sign itself isn't bad, but am I the only one who thinks the placement of the sign is... well, shit? There was plenty of space next to the shoulder, yet they chose to put it on a hill, further from the road.

http://goo.gl/maps/u6oOc

Further away, when most people are looking at the sign, one can see why the placement is very ideal for the location.

http://goo.gl/maps/Cjqdv

[1995hoo]

Virginia's done brown-and-blue signs elsewhere as well. This one is on I-495 (the road looks different now, but the sign remains). I dislike it because "and" normally shouldn't be capitalized and it looks ugly to me to have it capitalized here.

"And" (whether capitalized or not) should not have been used at all.

I think the "and" is there because the actual name of the facility is "Fairfax Museum & Visitor Center" all in the same building (a former Gold's Gym, I believe; I've passed it hundreds of times but have never stopped). In other words, the sign is not directing you to two attractions (a museum and a visitors' center) but rather to one place.

[J N Winkler]

I think the "and" is there because the actual name of the facility is "Fairfax Museum & Visitor Center" all in the same building (a former Gold's Gym, I believe; I've passed it hundreds of times but have never stopped). In other words, the sign is not directing you to two attractions (a museum and a visitors' center) but rather to one place.

Yes, I figured that might be going on.  This sign is an example of what style manuals mean when they talk about overprecision.  Segregating the "museum" information on a brown panel and the "visitor center" information on a blue panel encourages motorists to believe (incorrectly in this case) that the sign is pointing toward two separate facilities that are reached from the same exit.  Since the combined museum and visitor center presumably orients itself rather narrowly to tourists and other leisure travellers, rather than to the large mass of ordinary travellers seeking a toilet break, free travel literature, and routing information, it would be much better to have a rule that standing as a tourist facility overrides standing as a service facility, and have the whole sign message on brown background.

[Zeffy]

Mmk, so the sign itself isn't bad, but am I the only one who thinks the placement of the sign is... well, shit? There was plenty of space next to the shoulder, yet they chose to put it on a hill, further from the road.

http://goo.gl/maps/u6oOc

Further away, when most people are looking at the sign, one can see why the placement is very ideal for the location.

http://goo.gl/maps/Cjqdv

Oh wow, I didn't notice the slight curve in the road back there. Now that I think about it, it's actually smart to place it there since you can get a glimpse of it from further away.

[1995hoo]

I think the "and" is there because the actual name of the facility is "Fairfax Museum & Visitor Center" all in the same building (a former Gold's Gym, I believe; I've passed it hundreds of times but have never stopped). In other words, the sign is not directing you to two attractions (a museum and a visitors' center) but rather to one place.

Yes, I figured that might be going on.  This sign is an example of what style manuals mean when they talk about overprecision.  Segregating the "museum" information on a brown panel and the "visitor center" information on a blue panel encourages motorists to believe (incorrectly in this case) that the sign is pointing toward two separate facilities that are reached from the same exit.  Since the combined museum and visitor center presumably orients itself rather narrowly to tourists and other leisure travellers, rather than to the large mass of ordinary travellers seeking a toilet break, free travel literature, and routing information, it would be much better to have a rule that standing as a tourist facility overrides standing as a service facility, and have the whole sign message on brown background.

Agreed 100%. To me, the sign reads as though "And Visitors Center" was tacked on as an afterthought. Obviously that's not the case, but it comes across that way in my opinion.

[brownpelican]

This one isn't as bad as others here... but still an "interesting" color combo and use of space...
https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=&aq=&sll=38.008377,-78.485825&sspn=0.000753,0.00142&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&st=115239071714085385125&rq=1&ev=p&split=1&fll=38.00877,-78.484453&fspn=0.001507,0.00284&hq=pvcc&hnear=&ll=38.008234,-78.486281&spn=0.000753,0.00142&z=20&layer=c&cbll=38.008234,-78.486281&panoid=HsVHXU0cfG5xXuQ4-Q0JtQ&cbp=12,123.83,,1,2.95&iwloc=A


Unrelated, the google car witnessed a sign strippin' nearby...

Sign 1: IMO, that sign should have a green background. Also, what possibly was the blue space for? Since blue is used for things like service signs, the only thing that could fit there is just that. Also, brown with blue is ugly.

Monticello is a historic American mansion, which is why it's on a brown sign.

[1995hoo]

This one isn't as bad as others here... but still an "interesting" color combo and use of space...
https://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=&aq=&sll=38.008377,-78.485825&sspn=0.000753,0.00142&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&st=115239071714085385125&rq=1&ev=p&split=1&fll=38.00877,-78.484453&fspn=0.001507,0.00284&hq=pvcc&hnear=&ll=38.008234,-78.486281&spn=0.000753,0.00142&z=20&layer=c&cbll=38.008234,-78.486281&panoid=HsVHXU0cfG5xXuQ4-Q0JtQ&cbp=12,123.83,,1,2.95&iwloc=A


Unrelated, the google car witnessed a sign strippin' nearby...

Sign 1: IMO, that sign should have a green background. Also, what possibly was the blue space for? Since blue is used for things like service signs, the only thing that could fit there is just that. Also, brown with blue is ugly.

Monticello is a historic American mansion, which is why it's on a brown sign.

MAJOR tourist attraction as well. For those unfamiliar, it was Thomas Jefferson's home. They used to make a point of charging an admission fee that ended in either a "3" or an "8" because many people would pay with either a $20 bill or some combination of $10s and $5s and so when they gave you your change, it would include at least one $2 bill (because Thomas Jefferson appears on it).

[agentsteel53]

Yes, I figured that might be going on.  This sign is an example of what style manuals mean when they talk about overprecision.  Segregating the "museum" information on a brown panel and the "visitor center" information on a blue panel encourages motorists to believe (incorrectly in this case) that the sign is pointing toward two separate facilities that are reached from the same exit.  Since the combined museum and visitor center presumably orients itself rather narrowly to tourists and other leisure travellers, rather than to the large mass of ordinary travellers seeking a toilet break, free travel literature, and routing information, it would be much better to have a rule that standing as a tourist facility overrides standing as a service facility, and have the whole sign message on brown background.

or just call it Fairfax Museum and be done with it.

[Central Avenue]

It almost looks like an illusion, as if the sign is just tilted away from the camera at a weird angle, but no, every element of the sign is actually stretched horizontally like that:



(In case it's not obvious: everything but "TRUCK ROUTE" is all one sign.)

[codyg1985]

It looks like someone stretched a picture on Photoshop to make it all fit on the sign.

[Brandon]

It almost looks like an illusion, as if the sign is just tilted away from the camera at a weird angle, but no, every element of the sign is actually stretched horizontally like that:



(In case it's not obvious: everything but "TRUCK ROUTE" is all one sign.)

Looks like someone sat on the sign a bit too long.

[Billy F 1988]

This is by far the ugliest I've seen. Posted in front of Sentinel Field and Splash Montana along Bancroft Street. It's an ENTRANCE ONLY sign, but do you know what this was before it became an ENTRANCE ONLY sign?

Look at the same one with the reflection:

Kind of hard to read but, the sign overlaid by the brown ENTRANCE ONLY says:

NOTICE
NO ALCOHOL/DRUGS
NO SKATEBOARDS
NO BICYCLES
NO ROLLER SKATES

Another Worst gem:


A carbon copy design like this sits along Russell Street that says "BIKE RT TO BANCROFT [up arrow]". It points to a short chute between Bancroft and Russell cutting across Playfair Park.