Signs commonly used by one municipality

[hotdogPi]

Medford, MA: "No heavy trucks" with that exact wording. Other towns in the area have their own wordings, but I don't remember them off the top of my head.

Somerville, MA likes to make residential roads open to residents only (and sometimes bicycles) between 7-9 AM and 4-6 PM, but the wording varies. This takes the form of both "do not enter" signs and "no left/right turn" signs.

[Max Rockatansky]

The City of Fresno tends to use these oversized California Spades with weird font:

https://flic.kr/p/2h41uTy

Or spades on blanks:

https://flic.kr/p/27hwYaG

Both styles seem pretty exclusive to Fresno. 

A street blade design that seems to be largely exclusive to Fresno County is just to put the name of the street on a green blade but not; Avenue, Road, Place, Drive, Boulevard, etc. 

[Flint1979]

I used to know when I was in the city of Detroit by the street signs they used. Same with Saginaw.

[vdeane]

Somerville, MA likes to make residential roads open to residents only (and sometimes bicycles) between 7-9 AM and 4-6 PM, but the wording varies. This takes the form of both "do not enter" signs and "no left/right turn" signs.

What happens if you're visiting someone and that's when you happen to arrive?

[MikeTheActuary]

Trucks are requested NOT to use my street:  https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9159402,-72.6861176,3a,15y,287.57h,84.48t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sd95EdRL-oc0vhuwlLGINZw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

There is an industrial/warehouse park at the west end of the street.  As the park was built out, truck drivers who trusted GPS rather than signs for guidance preferred to use the residential portion of the street when traveling between the freeway and the park, creating noise and safety issues.  (Sight lines are lousy, and there are walkers/joggers/bicyclists who also use the street.)

State law wouldn't permit the town to ban trucks from the street, but town officials could "request" that trucks not use the street.

I don't think the signs have done that much good; truck traffic didn't start to go down until they put in a traffic circle as a calming tactic (and, I assume, got the GPS navigation algorithms to prefer the "requested" route to/from Route 20)...and until they put some large boulders in the center of the traffic circle.

[jay8g]

Seattle loves these "no parking within 30 feet" signs, which are present beneath almost every stop sign and also used with crosswalk signs from time to time. In fact, in Seattle it's weird to see a stop sign without some sort of no parking sign under it. Other cities in the area sometimes use similar signs, but nowhere near as frequently.

[jakeroot]

Seattle loves these "no parking within 30 feet" signs, which are present beneath almost every stop sign and also used with crosswalk signs from time to time. In fact, in Seattle it's weird to see a stop sign without some sort of no parking sign under it. Other cities in the area sometimes use similar signs, but nowhere near as frequently.

Tacoma also loved to post those signs, but most use this absolutely tiny variation. They're slowly disappearing, however, being replaced by small sections of red curbing and "NO PARKING" signs instead.

[Brandon]

A few unique to Chicago signs:

No Outlet (with an arrow) and a "Cul-de-Sac No Outlet" sign: https://goo.gl/maps/fyxCoLHSXZm8yYrP6
Temporary "No Parking" signage: https://goo.gl/maps/fbttfTS9KxVRVok17
How many places use "Senior Citizens" below a pedestrian crossing sign? https://goo.gl/maps/TFCVt7oxa1cHm7oq7
No Peddling: https://goo.gl/maps/EDkDH6SarDZeU4vV8
Blind and Deaf: https://goo.gl/maps/sEc8B5JR4y2opaRD6

[kphoger]

Somerville, MA likes to make residential roads open to residents only (and sometimes bicycles) between 7-9 AM and 4-6 PM, but the wording varies. This takes the form of both "do not enter" signs and "no left/right turn" signs.

What happens if you're visiting someone and that's when you happen to arrive?

And is this an attempt to keep people from parking on the street to pick up schoolchildren?

[deathtopumpkins]

Somerville, MA likes to make residential roads open to residents only (and sometimes bicycles) between 7-9 AM and 4-6 PM, but the wording varies. This takes the form of both "do not enter" signs and "no left/right turn" signs.

What happens if you're visiting someone and that's when you happen to arrive?

And is this an attempt to keep people from parking on the street to pick up schoolchildren?

It's an attempt to prevent people from using tiny residential streets as cut-throughs to get around traffic congestion during peak hours.

It's not really enforced (or even enforceable), but the hope is the signs will deter enough people.

For the record, "residents" are defined as city residents, identifiable by parking permit stickers, rather than just residents of the specific street. Presumably if a cop were to stop a non-resident dropping off a resident on the street, or a visitor arriving, such would be quick and easy to determine.

[mrsman]

Somerville, MA likes to make residential roads open to residents only (and sometimes bicycles) between 7-9 AM and 4-6 PM, but the wording varies. This takes the form of both "do not enter" signs and "no left/right turn" signs.

What happens if you're visiting someone and that's when you happen to arrive?

And is this an attempt to keep people from parking on the street to pick up schoolchildren?

It's an attempt to prevent people from using tiny residential streets as cut-throughs to get around traffic congestion during peak hours.

It's not really enforced (or even enforceable), but the hope is the signs will deter enough people.

For the record, "residents" are defined as city residents, identifiable by parking permit stickers, rather than just residents of the specific street. Presumably if a cop were to stop a non-resident dropping off a resident on the street, or a visitor arriving, such would be quick and easy to determine.

In most areas, where they restrict turns to deter cut-through traffic, they have to restrict all people from making the turn, not just non-residents for legal reasons.  Often, it is a turn from a major street to a minor street.  In those cases, there is usually a roundabout way to get to the restricted street.

Here is one that i am familiar with in L.A.  No right turn from Pico to Roxbury, or the next block Costello.  3-7 pm weekdays.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0539206,-118.4020942,3a,75y,97.47h,89.03t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sl6oO2cOyLOWgGL0e0cSOEA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

But you can take Pico to Beverwil and then make a right on one of those local streets (Alcott, Saturn, or Cashio) to get to the same area.

So residents are also inconvenienced in not being able to make the turns, but they are happy to remove the traffic from their local streets and reach their streets the longer way.

[PHLBOS]

For 25+ years, its supplemental, yellow PLEASE sign placards placed adjacent to key regulatory and/or warning signs has been a Marblehead, MA standard.

[roadman]

How many places use "Senior Citizens" below a pedestrian crossing sign? https://goo.gl/maps/TFCVt7oxa1cHm7oq7

Some communities in Massachusetts have Senior Citizen Safety Zones adjacent to elder housing facilities.  The signing is a standard twin beacon blank out speed limit similar to those used in school zones, but the plate beneath the speed reads Senior Citizen Safety Zone instead of School.

[Big John]

Even omitting the PLEASE placard, what does "SLOW THICKLY SETTLED" mean?

[kphoger]

Even omitting the PLEASE placard, what does "SLOW THICKLY SETTLED" mean?

It means it's a congested area, so you should slow down as a precaution.

[hotdogPi]

Even omitting the PLEASE placard, what does "SLOW THICKLY SETTLED" mean?

It means it's a congested area, so you should slow down as a precaution.

It also means that if there's a default speed limit of 40, it becomes 30 (or 25, depending on the town). The default speed limit reduction applies whether the sign is there or not.

[roadman]

Even omitting the PLEASE placard, what does "SLOW THICKLY SETTLED" mean?

It means it's a congested area, so you should slow down as a precaution.

It also means that if there's a default speed limit of 40, it becomes 30 (or 25, depending on the town). The default speed limit reduction applies whether the sign is there or not.

Not quite.  If there is a regulatory speed limit legally posted per MGL Chapter 90 Section 18 on a section of road, that speed limit remains in force through the thickly settled area unless there is either a different speed limit legally posted or an "END SPEED ZONE" sign posted upon entering the thickly settled area. The prima-facie speed limit of 30 mph for thickly settled areas, or the 25 mph "citywide" limit some municipalities have adopted, only applies to streets and roads within a community that do not have legally posted speed limits.

[SectorZ]

Livingston St in my lovely town used to have a sign for "Dear Crossing" (with pic of 2 people with canes walking) near it's senior housing. It was put up in the early 90's, disappeared sometime in the decade I wasn't living here before moving back in 2014. The area has standard ped signage now.

Appears that concept, though not the sign, exists other places. Lakeville MA senior housing is located at "1 Dear Crossing".

[Rothman]

Heh.  Upon moving to Massachusetts from points west, my parents were amused by the "thickly settled" signs.

[RobbieL2415]

My town likes to use supplementary word signs under pictograms.  Like having the word "hill" underneath a steep grade sign.

[Scott5114]

My town likes to use supplementary word signs under pictograms.  Like having the word "hill" underneath a steep grade sign.

That used to be the standard when the pictograms were new. Eventually the explanatory plaques were done away with. May just be that your town never got the memo that they don't have to post those anymore.

[roadfro]

For 25+ years, its supplemental, yellow PLEASE sign placards placed adjacent to key regulatory and/or warning signs has been a Marblehead, MA standard.

Was sign compliance so bad that the town had to ask nicely for drivers to obey? And did asking nicely result in better compliance? ... Seems like a waste to me.

And I'm not even sure what putting "please" under a crosswalk warning sign is even trying to convey.

[DaBigE]

And I'm not even sure what putting "please" under a crosswalk warning sign is even trying to convey.

Maybe hoping to get more people to cross at the marked crosswalk instead of mid-block?

[kphoger]

Or politely requesting that drivers not run people over.

The warning sign is for traffic on the road, after all.

[jakeroot]

Maybe hoping to get more people to cross at the marked crosswalk instead of mid-block?

As a city-dweller...no. I'm not going to add five minutes to my journey just to use a stupid marked crosswalk. I'm going to wait for cars to clear, but I'll cross wherever I want.