When highways are decommissioned, what happens with the shields themselves?

[KCRoadFan]

Something just occurred to me: whenever state highways are decommissioned, what does the state DOT tend to do with the signs along the route in question? Does the state take down the shields and sell them to metal dealers for scrap? Sell them on the open market (e.g. eBay) to any interested buyers? Take the signs to a DOT facility and peel the numbers off, creating new blank shields for future use? Or, might the DOT simply leave the old signs up and let nature take its course? I would be very interested to know what the fate of state highway shields might be after the routes they mark are struck off the state rolls.

[Ned Weasel]

I don't know if they ever keep them around just in case, but when Kansas decommissioned K-150 and then designated a new K-150 elsewhere, they might as well have.

[cwf1701]

There is a urban legend in Michigan, when US-112 was decommissioned,  The state simply pasted over one of the 1 and reused the old US-112 shields as US-12.

[bob7374]

NCDOT indicated when this question came up regarding the decommissioning of Business 40 through Winston-Salem that the shields would be the property of the contractor and they would decide what to do with them.

[Scott5114]

They're usually either sold for scrap or the blanks reused, depending on their condition.

[Bruce]

NCDOT indicated when this question came up regarding the decommissioning of Business 40 through Winston-Salem that the shields would be the property of the contractor and they would decide what to do with them.

WSDOT said the same when asked about the old US 99 sign on the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which is now lost in the abyss.

Seattle DOT at least has a public site where they sell old street signs.

[sparker]

Something just occurred to me: whenever state highways are decommissioned, what does the state DOT tend to do with the signs along the route in question? Does the state take down the shields and sell them to metal dealers for scrap? Sell them on the open market (e.g. eBay) to any interested buyers? Take the signs to a DOT facility and peel the numbers off, creating new blank shields for future use? Or, might the DOT simply leave the old signs up and let nature take its course? I would be very interested to know what the fate of state highway shields might be after the routes they mark are struck off the state rolls.

In the case of sectional relinquishments in CA, the shields are left in place by the local CT district in order to provide continuity between unrelinquished segments.  If an entire route is relinquished (cf. CA 176 near Santa Maria circa 1988), CT usually "harvests" the shields and stores them in the district's corporate yard for use if that number is ever reused elsewhere.  In reality, the shields left in place are often removed (despite state policy to the contrary) by the local jurisdictions if through traffic is to be discouraged (this happened with CA 82 south of I-880 in San Jose, although the BGS's on intersecting freeways still post CA 82 shields).  I have no idea whether those shields were returned to D4 or simply discarded.  Also, even if the locals technically agree to retain the shields, if facility modification (such as "road diets") takes place, often the shields tend to disappear when what they're mounted upon is replaced.  With Caltrans' current general attitude regarding signage and the consistency/continuity of such, it appears they have ceased to care about this "minutiae"!     

[hbelkins]

In the case of KY 1398, decommissioned a couple of years ago, the signs are still in place. I've put in a request that I want one of the markers when they're taken down.

[Max Rockatansky]

If they end up in scrap it isn't too difficult to obtain them on sources like eBay.  Really it just depends on the state involved.  California and Michigan are big on releasing old signs to scrappers. 

[PHLBOS]

When PA 291 near PHL was relocated onto Bartram Ave., due to a runway extension project, over a decade ago; this set of shields on the abandoned corridor remain to this day.

[Henry]

What I wouldn't give to have an old US 66 sign in my house!

As the older signs come down, their value is determined by the condition they were in at the time of their removal, and the better-looking ones obviously will command the highest value, especially if they were for well-known routes, like the aforementioned US 66 and US 99.

[Ned Weasel]

What I wouldn't give to have an old US 66 sign in my house!

As the older signs come down, their value is determined by the condition they were in at the time of their removal, and the better-looking ones obviously will command the highest value, especially if they were for well-known routes, like the aforementioned US 66 and US 99.

I wonder how much an authentic US 666 shield would go for.  Probably more than an I-238 or an I-99, but the latter two would probably disturb more roadgeeks.   

[kphoger]

Yeah, I bet an I-238 shield would have zero appeal to anyone but serious roadgeeks.

[Scott5114]

They're also still making genuine I-238 shields and not US-666s.

[Max Rockatansky]

Yeah, I bet an I-238 shield would have zero appeal to anyone but serious roadgeeks.

It would definitely be priced as such.  California shield sellers usually try to charge a premium even with modern signs. 

[kphoger]

I've only driven US-666 once, and the only shield I saw at that time was way up on a stoplight mast.

All those stolen shields are somewhere, obviously.  Are people not selling them?

[Scott5114]

I think it's likely that a good number of signs are stolen by people that aren't roadgeeks, and thus have no concept of the idea of a collector market for signs even existing.

I could see a frat boy stealing a US-666 sign to put in his room, cause "woo, 666, lol!", having it hang up until he graduates, then maybe he stops seeing the humor in it after moving a few times and tosses it in a dumpster so he doesn't get caught with stolen state property. The whole time he never realizes that there isn't a US-666 anymore or that someone else might buy it off him.

[Ned Weasel]

I could see a frat boy stealing a US-666 sign to put in his room, cause "woo, 666, lol!", having it hang up until he graduates, then maybe he stops seeing the humor in it after moving a few times and tosses it in a dumpster so he doesn't get caught with stolen state property. The whole time he never realizes that there isn't a US-666 anymore or that someone else might buy it off him.

Thus further increasing the market value of said shields.

[sparker]

When PA 291 near PHL was relocated onto Bartram Ave., due to a runway extension project, over a decade ago; this set of shields on the abandoned corridor remain to this day.

Woo!  Someone could "harvest" 3 shields with one trip!  Just like pre-1970 with CA 69 (as I've iterated previously, I knew one guy from that area who had at least a dozen on his dorm wall!). 

[Max Rockatansky]

I've only driven US-666 once, and the only shield I saw at that time was way up on a stoplight mast.

All those stolen shields are somewhere, obviously.  Are people not selling them?

They end up on eBay all the time.  Just periodically search "Arizona highway sign."

[Harvestman]

I've been to a couple of scrapyards in Ohio that had large shipments of signs purchased from the county.  One had several US-52 shields that I would have been happy to save.  The other sold me a school bus turn warning sign, but made it clear that they usually didn't condone the purchase of old signs.

[1995hoo]

....

I could see a frat boy stealing a US-666 sign to put in his room, cause "woo, 666, lol!", having it hang up until he graduates, then maybe he stops seeing the humor in it after moving a few times and tosses it in a dumpster so he doesn't get caught with stolen state property. The whole time he never realizes that there isn't a US-666 anymore or that someone else might buy it off him.

My brother's fraternity house had a big "NO DUMPING" sign.

It was located, naturally, on the restroom door. (I should note that at William & Mary the fraternities are in on-campus housing, so "restroom" is more accurate–like a dorm restroom.)

[Max Rockatansky]

There is antique store I buy from in Seligman that just got a haul of over 100 ADOT shields from Phoenix.  The contractor who replaced them sold the old signs off as bulk scrap.