Daily conversation: What is the worst possible answer?

[Scott5114]

September 28th, 2025

Why do 3 digit US highways sometimes not meet their parent route?

The parent route got way too into YouTube and now believes so many crackpot theories that they're unpleasant to intersect with.

[1995hoo]

September 28th, 2025

Why do 3 digit US highways sometimes not meet their parent route?

They were traumatized by Ben Stiller's experience.

[Mav94]

September 28th, 2025

Why do 3 digit US highways sometimes not meet their parent route?

The parent routes' Facebook feeds are full of AI slop and conspiracy theories.

[xonhulu]

September 28th, 2025

Why do 3 digit US highways sometimes not meet their parent route?

Old person smell.

[Scott5114]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

[pderocco]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

If they were red, everyone would stop.

[Big John]

Kermit the frog ran MUTCD and gave that order.

[GaryV]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

It is a little-known fact of history that the Green Party started way back when, and as their first efforts at recognition they got the franchise for printing highway signs.

[Max Rockatansky]

Kermit the frog ran MUTCD and gave that order.

It ain't easy being green...

[Roadgeekteen]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

To promote America's large amount of green spaces compared to Europe's more built up continent.

[kphoger]

Definitely short, but let's get one out.

9/26/25: You're in charge of a major project to speed up travel between two cities along a major highway amid congestion issues. The highway narrows in a small town, creating a bottleneck for cross-city travel, snarling freight during peak hours. What is your best plan moving forward?

Pass a local ordinance that prohibits businesses in town from operating between the hours of 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM.


but...

Definitely short, but let's get one out.

9/26/25: You're in charge of a major project to speed up travel between two cities along a major highway amid congestion issues. The highway narrows in a small town, creating a bottleneck for cross-city travel, snarling freight during peak hours. What is your best plan moving forward?

Further road diet to add bike lanes.

You win! 

[kphoger]

September 28th, 2025

Why do 3 digit US highways sometimes not meet their parent route?

To confuse and disorient a potential invading army.

[kphoger]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

To blend in with the scenery, less likely to distract drivers into looking at them.

[xonhulu]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

They're the official sign sponsors of the Green Bay Packers.  Go, Pack, go!

[1995hoo]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

It's the anti-metric lobby at work. They figure green signs will remind people of money and will cause people to realize how incredibly expensive it would be to convert US road signs to metric units, which they assume will result in the public actively opposing any such conversion.

[kphoger]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

Because they're used on roads that were designed according to Green Book guidelines.

[TheCatalyst31]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

They got sick after eating roadkill.

[Henry]

2025-09-29:

Why are U.S. guide signs green?

Here's a little-known fact about the FHWA: It was started one spring in Boston, when two small groups of highway enthusiasts were looking for inspiration. One group went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, and the other went to a Celtics game at Boston Garden. That inspiration was found when they noticed a certain large wall in left field and some green painted areas on the wood parquet floor and said: "Hey, that's our color!" The next day, they assembled into one larger group, drove to Washington and pitched the idea to the government officials. The officials liked their suggestion so much that the folks from Boston were hired for new positions in the USDOT, which they called the FHWA. And for the rest of their lives, they would get free Red Sox and Celtics tickets as thanks for their contributions to the American highways and byways.

[kphoger]

Here's a little-known fact about the FHWA: It was started one spring in Boston, when two small groups of highway enthusiasts were looking for inspiration. One group went to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, and the other went to a Celtics game at Boston Garden. That inspiration was found when they noticed a certain large wall in left field and some green painted areas on the wood parquet floor and said: "Hey, that's our color!" The next day, they assembled into one larger group, drove to Washington and pitched the idea to the government officials. The officials liked their suggestion so much that the folks from Boston were hired for new positions in the USDOT, which they called the FHWA. And for the rest of their lives, they would get free Red Sox and Celtics tickets as thanks for their contributions to the American highways and byways.

For the first three years, in fact, FHWA stood for Fenway Highway Aficionados.

[kphoger]

30 SEP 2025

What does this sign mean?

[1995hoo]

The road is only open for eight hours each day in the peak traffic direction at the respective eight-hour windows.

[hotdogPi]

It's reminding people of a specific baseball game, similar to the MA 3/MA 28 signs in Boston being a reference to Super Bowl LI.

[kphoger]

Nice!  I appreciate how you two have avoided the obvious answers and got more creative.

[GaryV]

30 SEP 2025

What does this sign mean?

Drive backwards until you find US 8

[kurumi]

30 SEP 2025

What does this sign mean?

Back in the day, NJ public schools were not as highly ranked as today (usually top 5 nationwide). NJDOT volunteered to pitch in by including simple arithmetic problems on its highway signs. Negative numbers were included.

West Virginia adapted the idea and extended it to fractions. Wisconsin and Missouri taught rural kids the alphabet.

Trucking companies also started to say "I'm doing my part!" The Yellow shipping line was a fleet of trucks that were, unfortunately, given orange logos.

In California, however, a fleet of 2,136 different trucks are teaching Japanese vocabulary: