Oldest freeway signs you can find in your city

[vdeane]

Rochester: the oldest signs are generally on the Inner Loop or NY 104 east approaching Webster.  I'm amazed the NY 104 signs have been around this long through Region 4's recent sign replacement projects.  The Inner Loop signs... let's not talk about that.

Rome: the signs on NY 365 at the interchange with NY 49 for downtown Rome are REALLY showing their age.  Their days are probably numbered.  Region 2 has been replacing a lot of signs lately.  Even the boxed street names are becoming endangered.

Albany: let's say that Region 1 is NOT a friend of old signs and leave it at that.

[thenetwork]

In Akron, this beauty was finally replaced with Clearview (yuck) last year after somehow it escaped the 2003 mass replacement of old button copy on I-76 from the Central Interchange westward to Barberton.

Judging from some of the more recent GSV photos I have seen, there looks to be some stray 1970's first generation BGSs on SR-8 through the (Cuyahoga) Falls area, albeit a few with only the shields replaced that are older than the I-76 signs. 

Meanwhile, back to my current hometown:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtual_freeway_tours/4450867843/in/set-72157607060860706/

This sign is on the Endangered Species list not because of it's age per se, but because there is legislation in high gear that is trying to rename the Colorado National Monument as a full-blown National Park (Could be renamed Colorado Canyons NP or Rim Rock Canyons NP).  Not only will this sign be replaced, but pretty much all BGSs announcing Colorado National Monument will either be replaced or patched with the new name within a year or two.

Honorable Mention is this sign, which remained after the DDI construction at BL-70 and I-70 west of town:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtual_freeway_tours/4451012863/in/set-72157618286679418/

Because it stayed, it will probably be around for quite some time.  The sign is now about 30-some feet further on the left of the bridge to coincide with the new "reverse" traffic movements under the bridge.

[PurdueBill]

Sign replacement on Route 8 had stalled out but was completed last year.  All the old ones are gone now, but fortunately not in Clearview.  Somehow Route 8 and I-277 got FHWA font signs--maybe they were designed years ago. Driving up Route 8 semi-frequently I got used to seeing the mixture of old and new and then poof--old ones finally gone by last fall.

For example, the two right-hand signs were removed from the old gantry and placed on the new one without their lighting about 3 years ago; the pull-through was changed from an old one with "8 NORTH / Cleveland" to the one seen there acknowledging route 59.  It took over two years for the replacement signs for the exits to appear.

I have wondered if confusion over exit numbering was the delay; the new northbound signs for Tallmadge Ave initially said Exit 3B, implying Glenwood Ave would be 3A and Cuy. Falls Ave would be 3C, since Howe Ave was already Exit 4 southbound (unless they did 4A-4B northbound, which is silly because Howe Ave is a much more major exit and should have the same number both ways).  The pic below shows the interim confusion--it took another year after that before all signs were finally replaced, with Glenwood as Exit 2 (NB only), Tallmadge Ave as 3A (NB) and 3 (SB) and Cuy. Falls Ave as 3B (NB only).  Only the Innerbelt sign replacement, stalled out for years now, has lasted longer (and still isn't done).

[rickmastfan67]

The oldest signs in the Pittsburgh area would have to be on PA-28 around Exit #9.

On NB PA-28, they still have an overhead with the route name in text instead of a shield (PA 28). http://goo.gl/maps/Gzlb6
Meanwhile, on SB PA-28, this sign for Exit #8 (SB doesn't have an Exit #9 as it's a partial interchange) for Fox Chapel Road still lives on. http://goo.gl/maps/IhKtB

====

As for Jacksonville, FL, I know of only 3 (for sure) Button Copy signs left.  All 3 are around the Clark Road interchange (SB on-ramp only) to I-95.  Two of them are the "Clark Rd" signs on the overpass (NB: http://goo.gl/maps/P5tfG - SB: http://goo.gl/maps/l3tsl), and the sign on WB Clark Road for the ramp to I-95, which, somehow survived after a roundabout was built (found this out just looking @ Google Imagery since I haven't been in that area since '09) just beyond the ramps to I-95. http://goo.gl/maps/nLym5  You would have thought that when they added the new roundabout, they would have replaced the I-95 ramp signage as well.  Amazingly, one of the new ground mounted I-95 signs was a State Named shield!! http://goo.gl/maps/ZTQ2W

[1995hoo]

Here's another old I-66 one. What I'm really focused on is the old electronic sign and the gantry.
They may be very very old or am I just exaggerating?

I believe that has been replaced with a new one that lights up. Much easier to read.

I-66 between that exit and I-495 opened just before Christmas in 1982, so the sign in your picture likely dated to then.

Following up from the previous page, I found a dashcam video that shows the new assembly and here's a screen capture. Looks like they simply replaced the VMS panels (a sorely-needed upgrade) because if they'd replaced everything, the sign for Lee Highway would be in Clearview and the word "WEST" would have a larger initial capital letter.

[US71]

This was the oldest in my area. It was one of the last signs to be replaced on the I-540 reconstruction.

It was replaced about 2 weeks ago

[roadfro]

A lot of freeway signs in Reno have been replaced in the last few years, so finding older signs is a bit difficult.

Here's a pic from AARoads taken in 2005, of US 395 south entering Reno from the north. It's the last of the dark green porcelain signs in the area (and probably the state). I haven't been out that way for a while, but was still standing a couple years ago and there hasn't been any recent construction out there that would suggest it's been removed.

[Zeffy]

A lot of freeway signs in Reno have been replaced in the last few years, so finding older signs is a bit difficult.

Here's a pic from AARoads taken in 2005, of US 395 south entering Reno from the north. It's the last of the dark green porcelain signs in the area (and probably the state). I haven't been out that way for a while, but was still standing a couple years ago and there hasn't been any recent construction out there that would suggest it's been removed.

Was the destination legend on that pullthrough still Sparks-Reno? It looks like the greenout version is in Series E and not E-modified.

[roadfro]

I'm not sure what the destination legend was. The sign was like that when I came to Reno for college in 2001, and this pic on AARoads is the oldest one I've found.

[JMoses24]

I don't know of any overheads that still are up. They're disappearing faster than cake in front of a hungry child.

That said, there are ground mounts still in existence, including this one at Shepherd Lane and Lockland Road, Lockland, Ohio (photographed by me in October 2013 and, far as I am aware, still there).

[Alex]

The way FDOT replaces signs so often, this one is probably the oldest in Manatee County. This likely is also the last cutout-style state road marker posted on the I-75 mainline.

[Takumi]

The oldest freeway signs in the Petersburg/Colonial Heights area date back to the late 1980s. The older state-name I-85 and I-95 trailblazer unisign is still there too.

[1995hoo]

These are neither in my city nor on a freeway, but they are some very old (and very nice) BGSs that are about the oldest ones I see on a regular basis other than the I-66 sign bridge in DC mentioned earlier in this thread (and actually I usually see the back side of that one because I usually pass it going the other way).

Southbound US-1 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The thru route ahead of the camera point hasn't been US-1 ALT since 1971.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.318598,-77.472002,3a,75y,214.39h,89.62t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1skutTr_7EqO9PTmf9OjvXWw!2e0

[rickmastfan67]

The way FDOT replaces signs so often, this one is probably the oldest in Manatee County. This likely is also the last cutout-style state road marker posted on the I-75 mainline.

You know Alex, you would have thought that FDOT would have replaced all the signs on I-295 @ I-95 (JAX Airport), but they didn't.  They only replaced the signs that had 9A on them and left the I-95 exit ramp signs as is (per StreetView). http://goo.gl/maps/piDxf

[Alex]

The way FDOT replaces signs so often, this one is probably the oldest in Manatee County. This likely is also the last cutout-style state road marker posted on the I-75 mainline.

You know Alex, you would have thought that FDOT would have replaced all the signs on I-295 @ I-95 (JAX Airport), but they didn't.  They only replaced the signs that had 9A on them and left the I-95 exit ramp signs as is (per StreetView). http://goo.gl/maps/piDxf

Saw that those were still in place back in January. That interchange is slated for more upgrades though, so they are on borrowed time:

http://northfloridaroads.com/projects/details.asp?ProjectID=575

I-95 North at I-295 interchange is now in fiscal year 2016 at an estimated $145 million. The improvements will replace the left hand exits with flyover ramps increasing capacity. The improvement also allows both I-95 and I-295 at this interchange to be expanded in the future by providing a horizontal window for future widening. The project is anticipated to be bid in summer 2016.

[roadman65]

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.425873,-81.42299,3a,75y,150.03h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1suT76GiMEnJyRTUBk2nSSjA!2e0
The oldest one that is in the Orlando area as its been there even longer than I have lived there.  Most of the signs, if not all, on all the freeways around Orlando were replaced over the 24 years I have been here.  In fact FL 429 and FL 417 were even constructed since then along with many road widenings since then.

[Takumi]

The oldest freeway signs in the Petersburg/Colonial Heights area date back to the late 1980s. The older state-name I-85 and I-95 trailblazer unisign is still there too.

Driving home from work tonight I saw the replacement signage for these overheads on a truck. As I passed them I saw the lights for them were out.

[countysigns]

These are original to the Willys Parkway interchange (late 1960's):
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.68353,-83.570504,3a,49.3y,126.83h,91.02t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sZfhw2qrWDrLjc6TOdr812A!2e0
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.681326,-83.571566,3a,75y,270.9h,81.2t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1seb8E7mN6CG-_Fq8m9y1Ovg!2e0

The CLOSED sign has been removed from the last one, but the BGS remains.

UPDATE: The second sign is now off the bridge and on the ground next to North Cove Boulevard, probably being readied for replacement.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Some of the oldest in the Toronto area:

[Alex4897]

I know I'm five years late on this but...



...this picture that was posted on the first page of this thread, where was this sign?

[Alex]

I know I'm five years late on this but...



...this picture that was posted on the first page of this thread, where was this sign?

The file name reveals the location.

U.S. 13 north & 40 east at I-295.

[Alex4897]

I know I'm five years late on this but...



...this picture that was posted on the first page of this thread, where was this sign?

The file name reveals the location.

U.S. 13 north & 40 east at I-295.

Oh, whoops.
I clearly wasn't paying attention.

[machias]

Rome: the signs on NY 365 at the interchange with NY 49 for downtown Rome are REALLY showing their age.  Their days are probably numbered.  Region 2 has been replacing a lot of signs lately.  Even the boxed street names are becoming endangered.

The overhead signs in Rome on NY Routes 49/365 will be replaced this autumn. They are part of the same contract as the new overhead signs that will be installed on NY Route 49 EB at the Marcy-SUNYIT Parkway interchange. Those button copy signs are original to the construction of the freeway there; I remember them being installed in spring '79.

There's a bunch of button copy overhead signs on Interstate 790 dating back to 1988 or 1989. There's a few really old overhead signs from the early 1970s in downtown Utica on NY Route 5S. They have the all-text legend (i.e. N Y 5s EAST) that I miss.

[vdeane]

Turns out there is some button copy left in Albany, now that I've been here long enough to see more signs.  US 9 near Latham Circle has some, and the gore sign on I-87 south at I-90 is button copy as well.  There signs just past the exit 24 toll barrier entering the Thruway are also button copy.

There's also button copy Thruway signage at the overhead signs for I-790.

[cl94]

Buffalo:
After the recent NYSDOT/NYSTA mass replacement of signs, taking out just about all of the button copy anywhere near Buffalo, there isn't much left. Of them, this is probably the oldest. Located on I-90 W within exit 50, it may be the oldest sign remaining on the Thruway. I was pretty shocked to see this, as the entire area is Clearview. It is non-reflective button copy. Don't expect it to last long, as the interchange will likely be reconstructed in the coming years.

Google Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.950089,-78.76259,3a,53.2y,250.78h,81.11t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sxroVYmlD33o3rX-TCzHjpg!2e0

NY 198 and NY 33 had everything replaced last year, unfortunately. One remains on the ramp from I-990 S to I-290 W, there's one on Audobon Parkway on the University at Buffalo north campus, a couple more on the northbound North Grand Island Bridge, and one on Walden Avenue EB at I-90.

Albany (my hometown): Very little, mostly within the I-87/I-90 interchange, as Region 1 hates old signs. There used to be button copy on the NB thruway at the interchange, likely gone with the recent reconstruction. As mentioned, there are signs just north of the toll booth and a couple hanging out on NYSDOT-maintained sections just east of there. There's a state name I-87 shield on a side road a short distance SE of Exit 8. There was (and may still be) a state name I-787 shield on NY 7 W/I-787 S at the eastern end of the Collar City Bridge and there's a ton of goodies near 787 in downtown Albany.