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

[darmstarm]

That's a Pennsylvania acorn and they're more common than you might think.

Interesting... never heard of that! Do you know of other examples, or where this is documented? Having a bit of trouble finding information online.

[hotdogPi]

That's a Pennsylvania acorn and they're more common than you might think.

Interesting... never heard of that! Do you know of other examples, or where this is documented? Having a bit of trouble finding information online.

alpsroads.net/roads/pa has them, although mixed in with everything else in the state.

[Declan127]

That's a Pennsylvania acorn and they're more common than you might think.

Interesting... never heard of that! Do you know of other examples, or where this is documented? Having a bit of trouble finding information online.

alpsroads.net/roads/pa has them, although mixed in with everything else in the state.

Iirc there's a bunch on the US 6 page

[kphoger]

Of course, the MUTCD isn't exactly perfect when it comes to US Route shields, either.  Remember how hideous the examples were in previous editions?

https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/millennium/12.18.00/2E.pdf

[CoreySamson]

Well, screw it... here's some weird local signs near me in the Brazosport area...

This is a very weird pseudo-mileage sign/pull-through hybrid on TX 288 SB in Angleton, TX, with up arrows instead of distances and the inclusion of the local airport. It also does not mention that the airport is in 3 exits when it would probably behoove them to do so:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/gCzccNv7uKTmwzfv7


Like several signs in the area (ask me and I can give more examples), it seems to have been installed to replace an old sign without modernizing it or fixing its flaws... the old sign had the same issues, and the inclusion of the airport was tacked on. This also means the new sign is actually a unisign.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/39HjCq7xCCHsRYWFA

The sign also happens to have a cousin (based on the airport part of the original SB sign) going NB in the same general area that also happens to be fairly vague:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/iKywbQs5Pq6W8yXF9



Speaking of vague, here's a sign for the Lake Jackson city hall, stating that it is on the left in 3 blocks:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/7dfA4zziw2AnLLjC7


The problem is, if you look at the satellite image of Lake Jackson, using the word "block" to describe the city layout is awfully creative. Also, it seems like it should say 4 blocks instead of 3. The placement of the sign is also odd.


Lastly, the city of Clute cannot craft a good-looking school speed limit sign:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/L64Qos396MsyFQJs5


(this one is wretched)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/AqJPNn9RY7zcPA8D6

[Rothman]

Arrow signs like those, including the city hall one, are pretty common.

[CoreySamson]

Arrow signs like those, including the city hall one, are pretty common.

I would at least argue that the first two signs are at least odd (especially for Texas) for being on the mainline of a freeway rather than on a ramp. Perhaps you're right about the city hall one, but it is unique in the area.

[epzik8]

I was just going through my pictures from my June trip to Connecticut, which involved me going through NEPA, and according to this sign there were apparently no services in either direction at exit 131 along I-81 in Schuylkill County.

[Declan127]

I was just going through my pictures from my June trip to Connecticut, which involved me going through NEPA, and according to this sign there were apparently no services in either direction at exit 131 along I-81 in Schuylkill County.

Huh. Never seen the top sign for an exit before, usually it's just a blank services sign
Also never seen a Clearview services sign

[74/171FAN]

I was just going through my pictures from my June trip to Connecticut, which involved me going through NEPA, and according to this sign there were apparently no services in either direction at exit 131 along I-81 in Schuylkill County.

I guess the Comfort Inn did not want to pay to be on the blue sign.

[epzik8]

I was just going through my pictures from my June trip to Connecticut, which involved me going through NEPA, and according to this sign there were apparently no services in either direction at exit 131 along I-81 in Schuylkill County.

Huh. Never seen the top sign for an exit before, usually it's just a blank services sign
Also never seen a Clearview services sign

Most of Virginia's Interstate service signs are in Clearview. In PA it's probably a rarity.

[Declan127]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

[Scott5114]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

NYCDOT was using it for street blades for a while. They've since stopped, though.

[Declan127]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

NYCDOT was using it for street blades for a while. They've since stopped, though.

They stopped? Haven't seen any new ones lately
Honestly I forgot about the street signs since we still have a small number of older ones around

[Scott5114]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

NYCDOT was using it for street blades for a while. They've since stopped, though.

They stopped? Haven't seen any new ones lately
Honestly I forgot about the street signs since we still have a small number of older ones around

Did it not go all caps FHWA→mixed case Clearview→mixed case FHWA? That was the impression that I got.

[Declan127]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

NYCDOT was using it for street blades for a while. They've since stopped, though.

They stopped? Haven't seen any new ones lately
Honestly I forgot about the street signs since we still have a small number of older ones around

Did it not go all caps FHWA→mixed case Clearview→mixed case FHWA? That was the impression that I got.

I'm going to be honest, I can't tell the difference between Clearview and the thinner highway Gothic series sometimes, you're probably right

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xTuo2D6x9unWP7qs7

Also here's an interesting sign. I genuinely have no idea why anyone would care that Atlantic Avenue ends in 100 feet, unless the DNE signs weren't there when this sign was put up or if when the block ahead was made one way people kept going down anyway and they had to put that sign up

Still wouldn't really help anyone since it's welllll into the right turn bay and the remaining block is closer to the left.

[Scott5114]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

NYCDOT was using it for street blades for a while. They've since stopped, though.

They stopped? Haven't seen any new ones lately
Honestly I forgot about the street signs since we still have a small number of older ones around

Did it not go all caps FHWA→mixed case Clearview→mixed case FHWA? That was the impression that I got.

I'm going to be honest, I can't tell the difference between Clearview and the thinner highway Gothic series sometimes, you're probably right

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xTuo2D6x9unWP7qs7

Also here's an interesting sign. I genuinely have no idea why anyone would care that Atlantic Avenue ends in 100 feet, unless the DNE signs weren't there when this sign was put up or if when the block ahead was made one way people kept going down anyway and they had to put that sign up

Still wouldn't really help anyone since it's welllll into the right turn bay and the remaining block is closer to the left.

Another interesting sign at that intersection, which is using the Switzerland road sign font for God knows what reason. https://maps.app.goo.gl/3UD2AbArroyRSRSEA

[Declan127]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

NYCDOT was using it for street blades for a while. They've since stopped, though.

They stopped? Haven't seen any new ones lately
Honestly I forgot about the street signs since we still have a small number of older ones around

Did it not go all caps FHWA→mixed case Clearview→mixed case FHWA? That was the impression that I got.

I'm going to be honest, I can't tell the difference between Clearview and the thinner highway Gothic series sometimes, you're probably right

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xTuo2D6x9unWP7qs7

Also here's an interesting sign. I genuinely have no idea why anyone would care that Atlantic Avenue ends in 100 feet, unless the DNE signs weren't there when this sign was put up or if when the block ahead was made one way people kept going down anyway and they had to put that sign up

Still wouldn't really help anyone since it's welllll into the right turn bay and the remaining block is closer to the left.

Another interesting sign at that intersection, which is using the Switzerland road sign font for God knows what reason. https://maps.app.goo.gl/3UD2AbArroyRSRSEA

oh no thats just standard in Oceanside
Barely any of the towns in Nassau use Highway Gothic, and even the County itself doesn't

[Scott5114]

oh no thats just standard in Oceanside

All of the other signs on that street seem to be Highway Gothic...? 

[Declan127]

oh no thats just standard in Oceanside

All of the other signs on that street seem to be Highway Gothic...? 

You know i knew that and happened to conveniently forget despite having been on Atlantic dozens of times 

That being said that is pretty standard on Long Beach Rd in Oceanside, at the very least there's another one just like it at Daly Blvd on the other side of town. LBR is a County highway but I doubt that has anything to do with it

[ObsidianTheFox]

I'm mainly not used to Clearview since I live in NYC and we only have a few Clearview signs (specifically here in Rockaway we have one pointing to the Marine Pkwy Bridge from Rockaway Pt Blvd and some of our Belt Pkwy shields ("Belt" is in Clearview, "Pkwy" is in I believe Helvetica but might be Arial)

NYCDOT was using it for street blades for a while. They've since stopped, though.

They stopped? Haven't seen any new ones lately
Honestly I forgot about the street signs since we still have a small number of older ones around

Did it not go all caps FHWA→mixed case Clearview→mixed case FHWA? That was the impression that I got.

I'm going to be honest, I can't tell the difference between Clearview and the thinner highway Gothic series sometimes, you're probably right

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xTuo2D6x9unWP7qs7

Also here's an interesting sign. I genuinely have no idea why anyone would care that Atlantic Avenue ends in 100 feet, unless the DNE signs weren't there when this sign was put up or if when the block ahead was made one way people kept going down anyway and they had to put that sign up

Still wouldn't really help anyone since it's welllll into the right turn bay and the remaining block is closer to the left.

Another interesting sign at that intersection, which is using the Switzerland road sign font for God knows what reason. https://maps.app.goo.gl/3UD2AbArroyRSRSEA

I was expecting that to be DIN 1451 (which IMO would be a better font for US signs than either of the ones we use now - Mittelschrift specifically), but got jumpscared by it being Helvetiway Gothic instead. (And the font that Switzerland uses now just looks like discount Clearview.)

[Scott5114]

I was expecting that to be DIN 1451 (which IMO would be a better font for US signs than either of the ones we use now - Mittelschrift specifically), but got jumpscared by it being Helvetiway Gothic instead. (And the font that Switzerland uses now just looks like discount Clearview.)

The Swiss font is called SNV. Somehow, it's been up popping up randomly across the US for no reason I can discern, especially in Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. I need to put together a thread listing instances of that because I'm baffled as to why it keeps happening.

(Speaking of nice European fonts, check out Norway's.)

[CoreySamson]

I was expecting that to be DIN 1451 (which IMO would be a better font for US signs than either of the ones we use now - Mittelschrift specifically), but got jumpscared by it being Helvetiway Gothic instead. (And the font that Switzerland uses now just looks like discount Clearview.)

The Swiss font is called SNV. Somehow, it's been up popping up randomly across the US for no reason I can discern, especially in Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. I need to put together a thread listing instances of that because I'm baffled as to why it keeps happening.

(Speaking of nice European fonts, check out Norway's.)

Interesting... what are these examples of SNV? I feel like I might have seen it before but am not sure where.

[Scott5114]

Interesting... what are these examples of SNV? I feel like I might have seen it before but am not sure where.

Started a thread: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=37485.0

[74/171FAN]

On US 6 EB in Ridgeville Corners, OH

US 6 EAST AT TR 20A AND CR X by Mark Moore, on Flickr