Signage pet peeves

[J N Winkler]

One of my personal pet peeves is dark-to-dark and light-to-light color boundaries.  These make the sign message difficult to interpret, especially in poor-visibility situations such as extreme backlighting.  Where a dark-to-dark color boundary is involved and one of the colors is nonretroreflective (e.g. black), this arguably also results in the sign failing to meet the MUTCD requirement to have similar appearance by night as by day.

Examples of dark-to-dark color boundaries include shields or black-on-yellow warning messages outlined in black and then laid on a retroreflective green background.

I also dislike color pairs with poor contrast, such as yellow on blue (or vice versa).  This is not a problem in the US since this particular color combination is not used, but in Britain it is used for driver location signs.

[Dr Frankenstein]

RJ145: Not a lot of states or provinces trim BGS corners, but NY does. I've also been told that Québec used to.

[NE2]

I also dislike color pairs with poor contrast, such as yellow on blue (or vice versa).  This is not a problem in the US since this particular color combination is not used, but in Britain it is used for driver location signs.

New Hampshire uses it: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_imPvElHkh5g/S4vjsyqQzqI/AAAAAAAAIcg/U1wF7h5gfJA/P1010060.JPG

[agentsteel53]

There are two CA-27 outline shields I know of right at 101's Exit 27.

no, those are newer.  there are five of the old-style state route spades: two 2s on 2 southbound approaching 5 on consecutive pull-throughs, a 118 and a 126 in rapid succession on 126 eastbound, and a 107 northbound on I-405.  

the 27s are not the old style.  I think the signs date to 1965.

I also today noted two signs from 1961 that have small outline shields - a 2 and a 42, both on 5 north.  However, the small shields used on upcoming-exit distance signs have the same shape from 1959 to 1972, with just a brief change in color to white 1962-1964.  

(btw, the two outline shields on 126 may be some of the very last ones ever made.  the freeway segment was opened in 1963.  I do not know what the date codes are on the back of the signs but my guess is 1962, as by August '62, CA had adopted the white shields for green sign use.  the 107 on 405 is a '60, and I do not know what the two 2s are.)

[Scott5114]

I don't particularly have a problem with yellow on blue as long as the yellow is bright enough; a more orangey yellow blends in too much. A lot of slot machines have yellow and blue error screens for some reason.

[hbelkins]

Any outline shield.

Then you must really hate Connecticut, because they're everywhere there.

[Duke87]

I despise the use of "Pky" as an abbreviation for "Parkway". The W sound is just too vital to omit. The proper abbreviation is "Pkwy" - "Pky" looks like it wants to be short for "Pucky" or something.

[NE2]

Better Pky than Py.

[mightyace]

I despise the use of "Pky" as an abbreviation for "Parkway". The W sound is just too vital to omit. The proper abbreviation is "Pkwy" - "Pky" looks like it wants to be short for "Pucky" or something.

I agree.  Tennessee has this disease. 


20100125 US 31 S @ TN 396-3CM by mightyace, on Flickr

[kharvey10]

wide exit tabs, center aligned

If you're going to use wide tabs, put them on the left or right but not in the center.

right-aligned cities

center alignment looks better

[mightyace]

^^

I know I'm probably in the minority here, but I like the center aligned exit number better.

If you have to have left/right tabs, don't make 'em full width.

[Sykotyk]

USPS states the abbreviation for Parkway is Pkwy.

http://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/usps_abbreviations.html

Ever wanted to know the abbreviation of an obscure road type,... well that link is the answer.

Sykotyk

[Scott5114]

I despise the use of "Pky" as an abbreviation for "Parkway". The W sound is just too vital to omit. The proper abbreviation is "Pkwy" - "Pky" looks like it wants to be short for "Pucky" or something.

This happens on I-435 in Kansas, too, for Shawnee Mission Parkway, which gets truncated all the way to "Sh Mn Pky". Fortunately at the exits themselves, abbreviations are eschewed entirely.

Norman, OK goes the other way hand has some signs for "ED NOBLE PRKWY".

[Brandon]

wide exit tabs, center aligned

If you're going to use wide tabs, put them on the left or right but not in the center.

right-aligned cities

center alignment looks better

Ah, the Collinsville IDiOT district.  They couldn't figure out how to make a sign if it bit them in the tailpipe.  They need to send their signage people up to District 1 (Chicagoland) and learn how not to make these errors.

[kharvey10]

wide exit tabs, center aligned

If you're going to use wide tabs, put them on the left or right but not in the center.

right-aligned cities

center alignment looks better

Ah, the Collinsville IDiOT district.  They couldn't figure out how to make a sign if it bit them in the tailpipe.  They need to send their signage people up to District 1 (Chicagoland) and learn how not to make these errors.

And they are lazy in fixing up their errors too.

Here is another right-aligned cities on the same highway at the same exit, except its in the southbound lanes.

[mightyace]

^^^

Right aligned exit numbers.  I may not like it, but at least it's MUTCD.

Right aligned control cities?  UGH!

[tdindy88]

I despise the use of "Pky" as an abbreviation for "Parkway". The W sound is just too vital to omit. The proper abbreviation is "Pkwy" - "Pky" looks like it wants to be short for "Pucky" or something.

This happens on I-435 in Kansas, too, for Shawnee Mission Parkway, which gets truncated all the way to "Sh Mn Pky". Fortunately at the exits themselves, abbreviations are eschewed entirely.

Norman, OK goes the other way hand has some signs for "ED NOBLE PRKWY".

So...am I supposed to know what "Sn Mn Pky" means ahead of time if I were driving past that sign?

[Bigmikelakers]

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=en&ll=33.862086,-118.041626&spn=0,0.015407&z=17&layer=c&cbll=33.862257,-118.042083&panoid=VYvWTf-sbFfQiLzfBe81UQ&cbp=12,330.7,,0,2.3

Wonder why they stuck the county line/city limit sign on the wall like that? If youre just looking straight at the road you're probably unlikely to notice.

[hobsini2]

Illinois has started doing this too (the sign on the sound wall) espcially on parts of the Tri-State and North South Tollways.  But that's because IDOT put the sound walls so close to the highway.

[Brandon]

Illinois has started doing this too (the sign on the sound wall) espcially on parts of the Tri-State and North South Tollways.  But that's because IDOT put the sound walls so close to the highway.

Not IDOT, but ISTHA.  ISTHA widened the roads (god forbid IDOT ever think of such a thing) and has very little room left between the sound wall and the shoulder on these roads.

[Dr Frankenstein]

Québec sometimes does that with community limit signs on freeways too, EVEN when they are stand-alone, on a post... they're mounted parallel to the road.

[tollboothrob]

I despise the use of "Pky" as an abbreviation for "Parkway". The W sound is just too vital to omit. The proper abbreviation is "Pkwy" - "Pky" looks like it wants to be short for "Pucky" or something.

This happens on I-435 in Kansas, too, for Shawnee Mission Parkway, which gets truncated all the way to "Sh Mn Pky". Fortunately at the exits themselves, abbreviations are eschewed entirely.

Norman, OK goes the other way hand has some signs for "ED NOBLE PRKWY".

So...am I supposed to know what "Sn Mn Pky" means ahead of time if I were driving past that sign?

I've thought this too on I-295 SB in southern New Jersey and the I-95/295 split in Delaware... "Del Mem Br." Good thing they use other control cities as well, like NJ-NY in Delaware and Baltimore in NJ, but not all the time. Most long distance travelers (as I should know from working weekends in the Interchange 1 toll plaza at the NJTP). They just follow whatever Google tells them.

I second 100x the pet peeve of lack of milemarkers. Part of my job now is assisting motorists on the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, and half these people can't find a milemarker even when they're every tenth of a mile. In my home state of West Virginia, I've noticed they post them every 2/10 on Interstates (I-79, at least) and every mile otherwise, when they have them at all. Makes it difficult to determine a location for disabled vehicles, accidents, etc. I can't tell you how many times I hear "All I see are trees." THAT narrows it down.

[MDRoads]

I despise the use of "Pky" as an abbreviation for "Parkway". The W sound is just too vital to omit. The proper abbreviation is "Pkwy" - "Pky" looks like it wants to be short for "Pucky" or something.

The Census' TIGER map system (base dataset for OSM in the US), uses "Pky" that way, and "Expy" for Expressway.  Strange to insist having it without W, as it's USPS standard.  Since there's no agreement on abbreviations, it's advised to spell everything out on new edits.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Hrm where to start:

- Exit not numbered in a proper fashion when they intend to be.

- Numbered signs mentioning exit renumbering, 10 years after the renumbering. Hrm, I wonder what DOT did that?

- Clearview showing up on shields. Oh, I wonder what DOT did that?

- Signage that is produced in another color unnecessarily.

- Signs that try to load too many exits on to one sign.

- END signs being posted on the BGSs, it wastes space.

- Posting more than one shield within 50 feet of the last one. This drives me nuts in NY, like really, we need 2 within 50 feet.

(Anyone who gets the DOT I am referring to shouldn't be that hard )

[cu2010]

(Anyone who gets the DOT I am referring to shouldn't be that hard )

*cough*PennDOT*cough* (though Michigan also uses Clearview numbers in shields from time to time...and I think I may have even saw Clearview on a shield on a NYSTA sign a few weeks ago)

I was just through PA a couple weeks ago, and I was amazed that several of those old "OLD EXIT" signs still existed...and their use of Clearview is just really bad (especially compared to Ohio and Michigan, which actually looked decent despite still being damn Clearview...though there's some nice new Clearview signs on the NY Thruway that make PennDOT look good!)