Normally covered/dark/blank signs

[RobbieL2415]

I have always had a fascination with road signs that are normally blank or otherwise not displaying something except for a specific purpose. I guess it is the mystery behind what they say that interests me.

This does not include VMSs, however it does include signs that have one or more fixed electronic messages, such as "OPEN" or "CLOSED"

Here's a now-removed example, which warned of slippery conditions in a tunnel:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3480807,-72.9669293,3a,53.2y,164.93h,87.23t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s_txSgsfu-F012YH8oyJASw!2e0!5s20110701T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D2.771993784776484%26panoid%3D_txSgsfu-F012YH8oyJASw%26yaw%3D164.93088337630695!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDcwNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

[1995hoo]

Heh. See the sign in the Street View link below. The sign is folded over itself and has been that way at least since 2007 (the earliest Street View available), though I've passed it regularly since 2001 and I have never seen it unfolded. I've always been curious as to what it says.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/nx1KhKP6emSqTAhF7

[Scott5114]

...............

[Big John]

Open and Closed as in weigh station signs? And then there are folding stop signs at some signalized intersections.

[WillWeaverRVA]

There was an overhead sign on eastbound SR 784 in Prince William County, Virginia that I swear never, ever had anything on it. I recall noticing it all the way back in 1989 when I lived in that area. It was removed before 2014 when the other signage was replaced, and the entire gantry was removed in 2020.

[gonealookin]

All the "Alternate US 50" shields on the CA 89/CA 88/Mormon Emigrant Trail routing, removed only when US 50 over Echo Summit has an extended closure:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9yviqjB8jepEcpnF6

[RobbieL2415]

Open and Closed as in weigh station signs? And then there are folding stop signs at some signalized intersections.

Yes, any sign that has electronic Open and Closed messages counts. Folded stop signs count too.

[7/8]

Kitchener-Waterloo, ON has lots of these electronic signs that remain blank until a train/LRT is coming, in which case they light up with a turn restriction (Example of one lit up).

[CoreySamson]

Kitchener-Waterloo, ON has lots of these electronic signs that remain blank until a train/LRT is coming, in which case they light up with a turn restriction (Example of one lit up).

Houston has some signs that are very similar...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/P6xX5DTrfZUBtekA7

In a similar vein with electronic signs on signal poles, Jefferson, TX used to have some electronic signs that would illuminate "LEFT TURN YIELD" while a FYA was being used...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4PANniJUcHWL678d6

[wanderer2575]

Near me, there is a section of road that often floods over and is closed when heavy rain occurs.  There is a folded sign "Halsted Rd Flooded/Closed at 14 Mile" that is opened up when needed.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/7NkrAJvoC7Tm4XkEA

[GaryV]

I presume the new gantry signs for the "regular" lanes on I-96 in Novi go on at some time, but I've never seen them.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XB8wTcTRLNbkzPJE8

[LilianaUwU]

I still don't know why there are blank BGSes (at least two) on autoroutes in Montréal.

Blank BGS, A-40 EB by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

[Henry]

I still don't know why there are blank BGSes (at least two) on autoroutes in Montréal.

Blank BGS, A-40 EB by Liliana Vess, on Flickr

Perhaps they were to direct traffic to a planned highway project, and stayed up long after it was cancelled?

[lepidopteran]

More than 40 years ago, in Dayton, OH on Salem Ave., there was this overhead NO LEFT TURN sign in red, either neon or just backlit -- just the words, not the pictogram, and with "TURN" on a second line, centered.  I think it was only lit for certain hours of the day; I might have seen it turn on once for the evening rush hour.  In any event, it looked like the sign disappeared sometime in the 1980s, and was replaced with a MUTCD No Left Turn sign, probably without any hour restrictions.

[gonealookin]

For about 7 years we had one of those blank BGS in Carson City.  The freeway ended at Fairview Avenue (now Exit 3), and Fairview Avenue served as temporary mainline US 50/US 395.  This photo was taken in 2010:



The final 3-mile segment of I-580 opened in 2017, and here's what that intersection and signage look like now:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/eAfRKrpbVFf3Sewa7

[Bitmapped]

WVDOH used to have flip-down parts of signs for runaway truck ramps that could be used to show when the ramps were in use. They even welded stairs onto the support posts to facilitate workers flipping the sign down: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8DT5N67Fb6QdYeVe7

WVDOH stopped using this style of sign at least a decade ago. New signs no longer have the ability to mark the escape ramp as in use and no longer have the ladder.

[1995hoo]

Near me, there is a section of road that often floods over and is closed when heavy rain occurs.  There is a folded sign "Halsted Rd Flooded/Closed at 14 Mile" that is opened up when needed.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/7NkrAJvoC7Tm4XkEA

I remember when I was a kid, there was a diamond-shaped sign that said "ROAD CLOSED HIGH WATER" on Woodburn Road in Annandale, Virginia. Back then there was a one-lane bridge over Accotink Creek. That bridge was replaced in the late 1980s, but they didn't do anything to solve the flooding problem. Anyway, the warning sign was designed so that it could be rotated 90 degrees so that it would only face traffic when needed. You can guess how diligent the authorities were about doing that. It wound up permanently facing traffic, which gave it a "boy-who-cried-wolf" sort of quality. The sign is gone now and the old Street View images don't show it, so I don't have an image to offer.

Those of us who have lived here long enough simply know not to drive down that part of Woodburn Road on days when we get heavy rain. And yet there is always some dumbass who tries to ford the water and winds up stuck:

[kphoger]

WVDOH used to have flip-down parts of signs for runaway truck ramps that could be used to show when the trucks were in use. They even welded stairs onto the support posts to facilitate workers flipping the sign down: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8DT5N67Fb6QdYeVe7

WVDOH stopped using this style of sign at least a decade ago. New signs no longer have the ability to mark the escape ramp as in use and no longer have the ladder.

typo?

[wanderer2575]

I presume the new gantry signs for the "regular" lanes on I-96 in Novi go on at some time, but I've never seen them.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XB8wTcTRLNbkzPJE8

Only the sign over the flex lane operates all the time.  The other lanes, only if there is an incident ahead that requires messaging (e.g. reduced speed limit, lane(s) closed due to a crash).  MDOT put out a communication that it's being operated this way to avoid information overload and to emphasize messages when there is an incident.  I believe operation of the US-23 flex gantries was changed to this as well.

[fwydriver405]

Folded stop signs count too.

Do these folded Emergency Route signs on I-95 / I-295 (MaineDOT portions) count as well? These only are deployed in case of a freeway closure. Example of what they look like when unfolded.

In a similar vein with electronic signs on signal poles, Jefferson, TX used to have some electronic signs that would illuminate "LEFT TURN YIELD" while a FYA was being used...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4PANniJUcHWL678d6

Downtown San Jose, CA does too along Santa Clara Ave, but with a shared PPLT. It only lights during the permissive phase. The intersections on that street that a(n) FYA conversion had those electronic signs removed with static "LEFT TURN YIELD ON FLASHING YELLOW ARROW" signs.

Near me, there is a section of road that often floods over and is closed when heavy rain occurs.  There is a folded sign "Halsted Rd Flooded/Closed at 14 Mile" that is opened up when needed.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/7NkrAJvoC7Tm4XkEA

Similar concept on SR 99 in Kennebunk, Maine, but warning of snow drifting on this straight portion of the road (Deployed). It's supposted to be folded during the summer months, but its always been deployed for the past few years even during the summer.

[hbelkins]

WVDOH used to have flip-down parts of signs for runaway truck ramps that could be used to show when the trucks were in use. They even welded stairs onto the support posts to facilitate workers flipping the sign down: https://maps.app.goo.gl/8DT5N67Fb6QdYeVe7

WVDOH stopped using this style of sign at least a decade ago. New signs no longer have the ability to mark the escape ramp as in use and no longer have the ladder.

typo?

Nope. If the sign was folded down, that meant that there was a truck already on the ramp and no other trucks could use it until the truck already using the ramp was cleared away.

[kphoger]

Nope. If the sign was folded down, that meant that there was a truck already on the ramp and no other trucks could use it until the truck already using the ramp was cleared away.

Sounds to me like the ramps are in use, but the trucks aren't.