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Author Topic: School crossing signs  (Read 12134 times)

J Route Z

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School crossing signs
« on: July 31, 2014, 12:46:27 PM »
Are there requirements for posting these signs, near a school and/or crosswalks? Are the yellow ones (non-bright neon ones) being phased out? Also, what happened to the older signs, with the two figures in a crosswalk: http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/mix97-3.com/files/2012/08/School-Crossing-Sign.jpg
Now it seems like the S1-1 signs are being used everywhere, with an "ahead" plate and a down arrow, near the crosswalk. NJ is very inconsistent with signing these.
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Big John

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2014, 12:52:40 PM »
Yes, those changes are mandated by MUTCD starting with the 2003 edition.
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Brandon

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2014, 12:59:25 PM »
The "AHEAD" and arrow are stupid, IMHO.  There was nothing wrong with the previous way of conveying the information with the actual crosswalk shown on the sign at the actual crossing.  If we'd bother to actually teach people what signs mean in drivers' education and make them come back for further education as a requirement of maintaining their driver's license, we'd have no problems like this.
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J Route Z

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2014, 01:14:32 PM »
Agreed. I hate these, especially with the reflective strip in the pole: http://goo.gl/maps/acA3P

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US71

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2014, 02:44:56 PM »
Quote from: J Route Z on July 31, 2014, 01:14:32 PM
Agreed. I hate these, especially with the reflective strip in the pole: http://goo.gl/maps/acA3P


Missouri does that a lot. Also red strips on Stop signs
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Brian556

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2014, 02:53:03 PM »
I actually agree with the rational used for the 2003 change.

What I don't like is that the school symbol with the ahead plaque is still a dual-meaning sign. It can mean school zone ahead or school crossing ahead.
This is stupid, and should be changed.

The school symbol, with the ahead plaque, should only be allowed in advance of crosswalks.

The school speed limit ahead sign should be used in advance of a school zone.

The old diamond-shaped "SCHOOL" sign should be brought back (but in florescent form) to warn of schools where there is no speed zone.
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Brandon

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2014, 04:49:57 PM »
Quote from: Brian556 on July 31, 2014, 02:53:03 PM
I actually agree with the rational used for the 2003 change.

What I don't like is that the school symbol with the ahead plaque is still a dual-meaning sign. It can mean school zone ahead or school crossing ahead.
This is stupid, and should be changed.

The school symbol, with the ahead plaque, should only be allowed in advance of crosswalks.

The school speed limit ahead sign should be used in advance of a school zone.

The old diamond-shaped "SCHOOL" sign should be brought back (but in florescent form) to warn of schools where there is no speed zone.

Actually, I had an idea.  Instead of the children in the pentagon which we use for a school crossing, how about a one-room school building in the pentagon (bell tower and all) for a school zone?  That would be much better than text, IMHO.
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Big John

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2014, 05:42:06 PM »
^^ The pentagon was designed to look like an outline of a schoolhouse.  Maybe a school bell could be printed at the top of the sign :hmmm:
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2014, 08:02:30 PM »
Quote from: Big John on July 31, 2014, 05:42:06 PM
^^ The pentagon was designed to look like an outline of a schoolhouse.  Maybe a school bell could be printed at the top of the sign :hmmm:

Wouldn't help the newer generations much, as many of them have only seen a schoolhouse like that in their history books. The bell might make people think it's a church.
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2014, 08:49:35 PM »
In Huntsville, most of the older school crossing and crosswalk signs had pieces of the yellow reflective material they use placed over the crosswalk stripes on the signs. However, a few are leftalong Governors Drive at the on ramp from I-565.
Here's one of them.
Here's another one.
Here's a photo I took of the last one of them, which is right at the end of the ramp.

Old School Crossing Sign by freebrickproductions, on Flickr
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2014, 08:52:59 PM »
what is our society coming to when Fluorescent Yellow Green is considered "old"?

find me a BC example that is blue with white legend!
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jake@aaroads.com

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #11 on: July 31, 2014, 08:56:21 PM »
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 31, 2014, 08:52:59 PM
what is our society coming to when Fluorescent Yellow Green is considered "old"?

find me a BC example that is blue with white legend!

POST NUMBER FIFTEEN THOUSAND!
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Brandon

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #12 on: July 31, 2014, 09:07:37 PM »
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 31, 2014, 08:52:59 PM
what is our society coming to when Fluorescent Yellow Green is considered "old"?

find me a BC example that is blue with white legend!

Or an Ontario one.
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Big John

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2014, 09:18:39 PM »
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 31, 2014, 08:52:59 PM
what is our society coming to when Fluorescent Yellow Green is considered "old"?

find me a BC example that is blue with white legend!
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ET21

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2014, 01:18:42 PM »
Our school crossings went from the traditional yellow to a yellow/hint of green reflective with arrows pointing at where the crosswalk is. Similar thing happened to the general crosswalk diamond signs. Been like that for at least 7 years now from my perspective
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jakeroot

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #15 on: August 03, 2014, 10:37:42 PM »
Quote from: Brandon on July 31, 2014, 09:07:37 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 31, 2014, 08:52:59 PM
what is our society coming to when Fluorescent Yellow Green is considered "old"?

find me a BC example that is blue with white legend!

Or an Ontario one.

I've lived in BC off and on, and have never seen one, so good luck. I'm looking around GMSV right now, quite furiously, and have not been able to find anything. The BC MOT and local jurisdictions have recently put lots of money into roads and many older signs have been replaced (if you like Clearview on stop signs, come to BC...they're everywhere). As far as I know, the white-on-blue school zone/crossing signs are an old standard. While still legal, they have been mostly phased out in favour of fluorescent-green pentagonal signs.

What I have learned is that most school crossings are just normal crosswalks that happen to lie within school zones. That is to say, the crosswalks are marked with the standard white crosswalk sign. School zones are (almost) always marked with a fluorescent-green pentagonal school sign with a 30 km/h sign posted below. There are also playground zones, which are diamond-yellow warning signs with a child chasing a ball. These playground zones are not always posted with a speed limit change, but sometimes have a 30 km/h posted below if such a speed is recommended.

Also, AgentSteel, why do you never capitalize your sentences?
« Last Edit: August 04, 2014, 01:37:22 AM by jake »
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roadfro

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #16 on: August 10, 2014, 06:21:17 PM »
Quote from: Brian556 on July 31, 2014, 02:53:03 PM
I actually agree with the rational used for the 2003 change.

What I don't like is that the school symbol with the ahead plaque is still a dual-meaning sign. It can mean school zone ahead or school crossing ahead.
This is stupid, and should be changed.

The school symbol, with the ahead plaque, should only be allowed in advance of crosswalks.

The school speed limit ahead sign should be used in advance of a school zone.

The old diamond-shaped "SCHOOL" sign should be brought back (but in florescent form) to warn of schools where there is no speed zone.

I actually had to look at the MUTCD and see the difference between these definitions. I would actually be curious to see how many jurisdictions actually use the S1-1 symbol sign to mark a school area or school zone--I've only ever seen it used for school crossings, with school zones having the appropriate school speed limit assembly.

One potential option to reduce the confusion could be to reintroduce the version of the sign with crosswalk markings (maybe switching to zebra-style markings for greater clarity). Use the crosswalk version in combination with "Ahead"/"XX Feet" and downward arrow plaques to mark all school crossings. Use the original symbol sign with a "School"/"School Area"/"School Zone" plaque for those limited applications where only a school area needs to be signed.
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #17 on: August 24, 2014, 03:10:32 PM »
Quote from: Brian556 on July 31, 2014, 02:53:03 PM

The old diamond-shaped "SCHOOL" sign should be brought back (but in florescent form) to warn of schools where there is no speed zone.

Schools with no speed zone?  I thought they all had speed zones.
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #18 on: August 24, 2014, 03:13:47 PM »
Quote from: cjk374 on August 24, 2014, 03:10:32 PM
Quote from: Brian556 on July 31, 2014, 02:53:03 PM

The old diamond-shaped "SCHOOL" sign should be brought back (but in florescent form) to warn of schools where there is no speed zone.

Schools with no speed zone?  I thought they all had speed zones.

If the speed limit on the road is already 20, though (maybe due to curves), there would be no speed zone.
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J Route Z

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #19 on: August 24, 2014, 10:03:43 PM »
Sometimes these signs are used in place of a "Children at Play" or "Watch Children" sign, where children may  be present in a residential neighborhood.
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #20 on: August 24, 2014, 11:42:58 PM »
Fort a few years, Connecticut had these unusual signs....this one is "SCHOOL ZONE", but i do remember "SCHOOL CROSSING" signs of this shape as well...



and this similar warning sign  as well....

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J Route Z

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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #21 on: August 25, 2014, 02:01:36 PM »
Quote from: ctsignguy on August 24, 2014, 11:42:58 PM
Fort a few years, Connecticut had these unusual signs....this one is "SCHOOL ZONE", but i do remember "SCHOOL CROSSING" signs of this shape as well...



and this similar warning sign  as well....


Those are freaking awesome!! Do you still own these?
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #22 on: August 25, 2014, 07:31:16 PM »
Quote from: J Route Z on August 25, 2014, 02:01:36 PM
Quote from: ctsignguy on August 24, 2014, 11:42:58 PM
Fort a few years, Connecticut had these unusual signs....this one is "SCHOOL ZONE", but i do remember "SCHOOL CROSSING" signs of this shape as well...



and this similar warning sign  as well....


Those are freaking awesome!! Do you still own these?

Yessir......neither of them were ever mounted....somehow stashed away and forgotten for many years....
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Re: School crossing signs
« Reply #23 on: October 02, 2014, 03:40:28 AM »
Quote from: Brandon on July 31, 2014, 09:07:37 PM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on July 31, 2014, 08:52:59 PM
what is our society coming to when Fluorescent Yellow Green is considered "old"?

find me a BC example that is blue with white legend!

Or an Ontario one.

After MONTHS of searching, I finally found one in Mitchell, near Steinbach, Manitoba. Just outside Mitchell Elementary School:

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