Tall roadside signs

[Snappyjack]

Anyone notice how in some areas, notably the south and mid-west, all the businesses along the highway(restaurants, motels, truck stops, etc) have huge signs along the highway at almost every exit, but yet in other areas, mostly the northeast that I have noticed, lack this? I am sure it is due to signing laws or something, but I myself like seeing what is at the exit before I get there. And it adds something to the trip in my opinion. Anyone else have any thoughts?

[Chris]

You mean billboards.

I think they're ugly. There need to be some restrictions, though it's also nice to know what kind of services are there near an exit. I can always find McDonalds by it's 200 feet big yellow M pole.

[Snappyjack]

No, I don't mean billboards. I mean the 200 foot tall McDonald's sign, or whatever other sign for whatever business is near it.

[florida]

I know what you're talking about and it is kind of obnoxious.

[UptownRoadGeek]

You start to see them once you get well into Mississippi, and into Alabama and Georgia.
I actually like them once you get to Georgia where they get extremely tall (I guess because of the pine trees).  You also see them along any Freeway in Houston.

[Mr. Matté]

I always remember the ones seen along I-95 in Fredericksburg, VA:
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=qc52wb8j7g2j&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=33708415&encType=1

Makes me glad we don't have any ugly things like that along our highways here in New Jersey.
(Oh wait...)

[Chris]

I actually like them once you get to Georgia where they get extremely tall (I guess because of the pine trees).

Yeah, I guess they need to be taller in wooded states like in the southeast than in say, Kansas or Wyoming.

Are there laws concerning billboards and other signs in the United States? They're mostly banned here in the Netherlands, but you can see some excessive advertising in eastern Europe, like in Poland or Russia where every damn overpass looks like an advertorial...

[Bryant5493]

Places in Georgia where I've noticed those tall store identification signs are in Newnan at S.R. 34 (Bullsboro Drive) *and I-85*, and along U.S. 19/S.R. 400 (Turner McDonald Parkway) at S.R. 20 (Buford Highway).

*EDIT*


Be well,

Bryant

[FLRoads]

Anyone notice how in some areas, notably the south and mid-west, all the businesses along the highway(restaurants, motels, truck stops, etc) have huge signs along the highway at almost every exit, but yet in other areas, mostly the northeast that I have noticed, lack this? I am sure it is due to signing laws or something, but I myself like seeing what is at the exit before I get there. And it adds something to the trip in my opinion. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Yes, in some areas, there are signing laws in effect in regards to height restrictions on roadside signs at interchanges. And sometimes it is on a county by county basis. I grew up in southwest Florida and remember that when Interstate 75 was built through there in the 1980's that there were sign height restrictions put in place once the interchanges started sprouting commercial sites. Such was the case in Lee County. They felt that the height for one would not prove sturdy in case of a tropical system, and two they felt that it was not very attractive to have the interchange surrounded by 80 to 100 foot signage for businesses.

I am not sure if the same laws are in effect in Lee County, but I do know that they do exist in other areas of the country.

[Bryant5493]

^^ To piggback on your comment a bit, Peachtree City (GA) seems to have sign restrictions. Business signs are very small, so if you don't know the area, you would pass the business, because some are obscured by bushes.


Be well,

Bryant

[Alex]

Sign height restrictions vary from area to area. In rural areas, you are more apt to find taller signs than in municipalities.

Recently there was some discussion about enacting height restrictions for business signs within the city of Daphne, AL. At stake is the removal/lowering of signs within the vicinity of the Exit 35 interchange of Interstate 10. On the opposite site is Spanish Fort, AL, and they would have different rules from Daphne. So this could be a case where one side of the freeway has tall signs and the other does not.

[BigMattFromTexas]

in San Angelo theres an ordinance that signs, billboards, ect can't be taller than a certain hieght, but i have seen huge signs in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, ect. in fact theres this one spot in San Antonio right off of I-410 where theres like dozens of signs. and theres one McDonalds sign in San Antonio the sign looks like a thing of fries, i thought it was funny.

[exit322]

If I'm in a city government and we're looking for additional revenue sources (without the added pain of asking taxpayers to pay more in taxes), I'm selling any space I can for advertising.  Overpasses, city buses, whatever it takes.

I like the advertising, by the way.  It's fun to see what kinds of wacky signs there are all over the place.

[Duke87]

Are there laws concerning billboards and other signs in the United States? They're mostly banned here in the Netherlands

Not on any large scale. Municipalities often have ordinaces about how big of a sign you can put and where, but no state or national laws address the matter except for restrictions on advertisements for alcohol and tobacco. Well, and public indecency laws which cover more than just billboards. 

you can see some excessive advertising in eastern Europe, like in Poland or Russia where every damn overpass looks like an advertorial...

I-95 north of downtown Philadelphia has a noticably high concentration of billboards. They're lined up like a marching army down there.

[TheStranger]

I remember reading a while back that in Walnut Creek, the Gemco discount department store that was there in the early 80s put up such a huge sign (80 feet high?) near I-680 that people started thinking that Gemco was the name of the city, forcing the community to respond by making the store shrink their sign.

Then again, one of my favorite large signs near a freeway would be the huge Safeway sign from the 1950s not too far from the Central Freeway segment of US 101 in San Francisco...that thing is probably 70 feet high.

[agentsteel53]

I shopped at that Safeway several weeks ago!

[rickmastfan67]

Well, if the tall signs are for the gas stations at the exit and they give the price before I pass the ramp, I have no problems with those. lol.

[burgess87]

Well, if the tall signs are for the gas stations at the exit and they give the price before I pass the ramp, I have no problems with those. lol.

Agreed here, now that it's easier to change the price on the bigger signs.  I see many of them using LED displays.

[Truvelo]

It's not only the height of the signs in the US that gets me, it's also the size of them. Look at the McDonalds sign in the distance, it's not that high up but compare it to the size of the cars and it must be enormous. Here in the UK there are strict limits on the size and height of signs and all our McDonalds signs are tiny in comparison.

[Chris]

Dutch McDonalds signs: pretty huge along freeways.

[mightyace]

I see tall signs all along the route from Nashville to Bloomsburg (I-65 to Louisville, I-71 to I-76 West of Akron, I-76 to I-80 west of Youngstown and I-80 the rest of the way.)

And the terrain varies from wooded mountains and hills (Pennsylvania).  Occasionally wooded hills (TN, KY and eastern OH) and flat land (I-71 between Cincinnati and Columbus).

[Ian]

I kinda like the tall signs like that. I see them going on most trips to vacation spots and it wouldn't be the same without them. Areas in PA have them, especially once you get out of the urban areas.

The Massachusetts Turnpike has tall restaraunt/gas signs at its service plazas:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Iansignal/MassachusettsTrafficSignalsAndRoadSigns#5322876083540765650

One that I specifically like is the one along I-84 north of Willington, CT. Its for one of those Travel America Centers and this one is the one my family always stop at on the way up north:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=willington,+ct&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.435463,78.662109&ie=UTF8&ll=41.916936,-72.26532&spn=0.015328,0.038409&t=h&z=15&layer=c&cbll=41.917031,-72.265258&panoid=FidpAu1mFRRGaUBJU_hhCA&cbp=12,72.62,,1,-7.62

[BigMattFromTexas]

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=nx2h2b6sc7yx&style=b&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&scene=6098595&encType=1 Here is an intersection in San Antonio, Tx where if you scroll around you can see alot of tall signs
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=29.417535,-98.649073&spn=0,359.990398&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=29.417956,-98.649685&panoid=vXN4i2oreZT2P06mSJesyA&cbp=12,225.6,,0,0.68

[getemngo]

Houghton, MI has some very unnecessary tall signs for Taco Bell and Dairy Queen.  Sure, they're not right on the main highway, but it's way too small a town to need these signs.  Arby's requested a tall sign when they built their store (the previous Mancino's had a fairly high sign) but it was denied.

[Bryant5493]

^^ All I see is a neighborhood. I don't see the signage.


Be well,

Bryant