Unique, Odd, or Interesting Signs aka The good, the bad, and the ugly

[74/171FAN]

On US 13 NB in Suffolk, VA

US 13 NORTH 1 MILE SOUTH OF AIRPORT by Mark Moore, on Flickr

On Courthouse Rd at Ashland St in Hopewell, VA

COURTHOUSE RD AT ASHLAND ST by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[kphoger]

Must be an atypical ink formulation then. Still unique, odd, or interesting!

All three, I'd say!

[plain]

On US 13 NB in Suffolk, VA

US 13 NORTH 1 MILE SOUTH OF AIRPORT by Mark Moore, on Flickr

On Courthouse Rd at Ashland St in Hopewell, VA

COURTHOUSE RD AT ASHLAND ST by Mark Moore, on Flickr

At least Hopewell used the correct shield this time 

[formulanone]

Near NC 42 east of Clayton, NC.

PUBLIX DR AT FLOWERS PKWY by Mark Moore, on Flickr

Say it with me: unenforceable!

Even stop signs go through that phase in life.

[kphoger]

Near NC 42 east of Clayton, NC.

Say it with me: unenforceable!

Let's see...

Does it have a city inventory sticker like this one at the Merchant Ave intersection with NC-42?

Nope, it doesn't.  Therefore, not a city-installed sign.

It's just a decoration installed by the property owner, like these.

The North Carolina vehicle code requires that, when you're "about to enter or cross a highway from an alley, building entrance, private road, or driveway", you "shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicles approaching on the highway to be entered".  Yield, not stop.

Unenforceable, unless the driver also fails to yield at all.

[LilianaUwU]

Near NC 42 east of Clayton, NC.

Say it with me: unenforceable!

Even stop signs go through that phase in life.

It's not a phase, MOM!

[formulanone]

Near NC 42 east of Clayton, NC.

Say it with me: unenforceable!

Even stop signs go through that phase in life.

It's not a phase, MOM!

"Monochrome, goth, emo...just don't dress that that when the 1935 Edition comes to visit. She'll turn yellow!"

[kphoger]

The North Carolina vehicle code requires ...

By the way, that's a big ol' list of vehicles that drivers in North Carolina are required to yield to.  This is the first such state code I've read that includes vehicles operated by such as these:

organ procurement organization or agency
county fire marshals and civil preparedness coordinators
Division of Marine Fisheries of the Department of Environmental Quality
Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

[Scott5114]

organ procurement organization or agency

Presumably they mean body parts and not musical instruments.

[kphoger]

Presumably they mean body parts and not musical instruments.

I had abbreviated.  Yes, the full text of the statute makes it clear that it refers to human tissue rather the keyboard instrument.

"vehicles used by an organ procurement organization or agency for the recovery or transportation of human tissues and organs for transplantation or a vehicle operated by a transplant coordinator who is an employee of an organ procurement organization or agency when the transplant coordinator is responding to a call to recover or transport human tissues or organs for transplantation"

[ClassicHasClass]

organ procurement organization or agency

Presumably they mean body parts and not musical instruments.

If someone's barrelling down the road with a fricking big pipe organ in the back, I'm always going to give them the right of way.

[kphoger]

If someone's barrelling down the road with a fricking big pipe organ in the back, I'm always going to give them the right of way.

When I was a kid, my dad was pastor of a church in town and a church out in the country.  The country church caught fire during lunch on Missions Sunday one year due to old electrical wiring and burned to the ground while we all watched from across the road, and then the two congregations merged.  With the merger, a new and bigger sanctuary was built onto the church in town.  I was living next door in the parsonage at the time.  We had a Lithuanian-American couple come and custom-build the pipe organ for the new sanctuary, which was a months-long process.  They lived out of a camper in the parking lot during that time and worked out of a trailer.  I got to go over next door to the church and see them working every so often, bit by bit, week by week, till it was finished.

My point in telling the story is that pipe organs come in pieces, and you wouldn't be able to see from the outside what the vehicle is carrying.

[TBKS1]

A purple boat landing sign.

It appears to have faded from brown to purple over time.

See, that's what I thought, too, but brown normally fades to more of a verdigris green color.

Reminds me of that AR 722.1A shield on US 165 in Drew County. The sign was supposed to be brown but it's been weathered over time and now appears green.

[74/171FAN]

At a shopping center by US 13, NC 42, and NC 561 in Ahoskie, NC

AHOSKIE SHOPPING CENTER by Mark Moore, on Flickr

On VA 10 EB at City Point Rd in Hopewell

VA 10 EAST AT CITY POINT RD (1) by Mark Moore, on Flickr

VA 10 EAST AT CITY POINT RD (2) by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[Dirt Roads]

My point in telling the story is that pipe organs come in pieces, and you wouldn't be able to see from the outside what the vehicle is carrying.

Unless you can identify the boxes and boxes of air valve solenoids...

[74/171FAN]

On SR 1150 (Trailing Rock Rd) in Prince George County, VA

SR 1150 WEST WEST OF SR 1380 by Mark Moore, on Flickr

On US 202 NB near Germantown Pike heading north of Norristown, PA.

US 202 NORTH AT HOSPITAL AND SHOPPING CENTER SIGNAL by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[RobbieL2415]

Found these peculiar brown MA paddle signs out in Truro:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.0375682,-70.0846933,3a,15.4y,187.77h,93.03t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0zfDrT5cPOy0pBn5Yu1Jbg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-3.025782135876355%26panoid%3D0zfDrT5cPOy0pBn5Yu1Jbg%26yaw%3D187.77070066361858!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUyMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.035866,-70.081993,3a,15y,338.22h,91.36t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0lUyH7Ee4fJQWDRjCsMbVA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-1.3561394042489923%26panoid%3D0lUyH7Ee4fJQWDRjCsMbVA%26yaw%3D338.2151614624089!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUyMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[ClassicHasClass]

There's a few in Provincetown also. They've posted them for awhile.

[74/171FAN]

On PA 309 NB just before the Souderton Bypass

PA 309 NORTH AT BERGEY RD AND BETHLEHEM PIKE (2) by Mark Moore, on Flickr

And a special PA segment marker on it (J-Band was the product used here)

PA 309 NORTH J-BAND SEGMENT MARKER by Mark Moore, on Flickr

Within the borough of Leechburg, PA.

DO NOT DUMP TIRES SIGN by Mark Moore, on Flickr

LEECHBURG RIVERFRONT PARK (3) by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[Rothman]

Lock 20 on the Erie Canal:

Erie Canal Lock 20 5 - Lock Limit

[74/171FAN]

On PA 18 SB/PA 65 SB in New Brighton

PA 18 AND PA 65 SOUTH NEAR 8TH ST by Mark Moore, on Flickr

[Harvestman]

NY strikes again:

Marketplace Mall guide sign by Harvestman Man, on Flickr


And no, nothing has ever graced the lonesome right side of this sign.

[steviep24]

NY strikes again:

Marketplace Mall guide sign by Harvestman Man, on Flickr


And no, nothing has ever graced the lonesome right side of this sign.

It's time for that sign to be put out of it's misery.

[CoreySamson]

^^^
I like this sign idea way more than I probably should. I feel like a variant of that sign would be extremely useful for suburban areas with malls/large stores with multiple entrances so drivers could know how to get into their parking lots effectively. You could even make some larger logo signs like this on off ramps instead of the lame ones the US currently uses. You would have to avoid message overloading, but if done correctly (as I feel this sign does), it would be awesome.

[Scott5114]

It might be vaguely useful, but signs that large are very expensive, and I wouldn't want the government spending that money to promote private businesses unless those businesses paid the cost. (Which they won't, because nobody wants to invest in malls in 2025.) There's also the lane-closure silliness that would ensue when one of the stores closes/changes names/changes logos. You could mitigate that somewhat by moving it to the side of the road instead of being overhead, though.

The malls/businesses themselves could take the initiative to provide a sign at each entrance that lists only the stores best accessed from that entrance instead of just listing every possible store at every possible entrance. But they usually don't do that, because they don't care about their customers' convenience, just getting as many people to decide to enter the parking lot as possible. If they can't be bothered to care about their customers' convenience, why should we?