Damaged Signs

[vtk]

Are you sure it's not intentional? I'd expect downward-tilted signs to suffer glare problems at night due to specular reflection of headlights.

To be clear, we're referring to overhead sign mountings being tilted not ground-mounted signs. I don't believe there are any vehicles that have headlights that high from the ground.

Yes, I was referring to overhead signs. Headlights certainly don't shine a great deal of light that far upwwards, but enough that shiny things at just the right angle would noticeably reflect light back at the driver.  And the problem is that, while retroreflected light is colored green or white depending on which part of the sign reflected it, light reflected by simple specular reflection is not. I thought I read some years ago on MTR that, for this reason, signs aren't generally angled towards the road, but sometimes away from the road slightly.  In Ohio it seems signs usually aren't angled at all, so I'm not familiar with installations where signs are angled towards the road (downwards, in the case of overhead signage).

On the other hand, signs angled upwards could be more susceptible to the much more significant problem of specular reflection from the sun, particularly if they're facing east or west. Signs mounted with no tilt suffer similarly, but at lower sun angles when the sunlight isn't quite as bright...

[Jim]

A well-worn sign in eastern Mass. near Exit 30 of I-95.  Taken January 14, 2012.

[SidS1045]

A well-worn sign in eastern Mass. near Exit 30 of I-95.  Taken January 14, 2012.

...and in spite of all the re-signing that's been going on in that area for the last few years, it's still there (drove by it yesterday).

[PHLBOS]

No pic, but when a tornado went through Sturbridge, MA last year; one fairly-new cantilever sign gantry along I-84 West was knocked over, sign and all.  A small, temporary ground-mount sign is presently there... an approach sign for Exit 2 (TO MA 131 Sturbridge-Southbridge).

[Ian]

No pic, but when a tornado went through Sturbridge, MA last year; one fairly-new cantilever sign gantry along I-84 West was knocked over, sign and all.  A small, temporary ground-mount sign is presently there... an approach sign for Exit 2 (TO MA 131 Sturbridge-Southbridge).

I remember seeing that on my way to New Hampshire last year. I wish I could've gotten a photo of it, but we were heading the other direction.

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Located along the short US-101/CA-152 duplex in Gilroy. Picture taken northbound.

[Alps]

Keeping up with the times... I think the MUTCD disallows control cities and street names on the same signs now.

Discussion following this point now has its own thread.

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Not damaged at the time of the picture, but both of these signs have now fallen over the last time I've passed them.

The city limit sign, not the gantry.

This sign just stumps me that it has no border. It just looks...weird.

[agentsteel53]

This sign just stumps me that it has no border. It just looks...weird.

that sign is from about 1959-1963 and it at one point had a retroreflective perimeter, which has flaked and fallen off.  if you could get a close look, including the date code on the back, that would be very useful.

[bulkyorled]

This shit. Not a highway sign but it still goes under the damaged category

[CentralCAroadgeek]

^ There are lots of those here in Salinas. Also, I notice that they barely turn the illuminated signs around here at night anymore. Only the new ones do.

[bulkyorled]

The lights are probably burnt out and they aren't fixing them in anticipation that they're going to replace them with LED ones. Burbank did the same, they let the florescent ones go to shit and they started to replace them. A name panel missing is rather rare around these parts.

[bulkyorled]

Here's another I pass often but never think to get a pic real quick. I-5 South at the CA-2 crossing. Shield was kinda busted looking before but a few months ago it disappeared all together

[vtk]

Several D-series signs and route markers are broken (presumably by wind) or missing along OH-4 between Bucyrus and Sandusky. They have been that way for at least the last 10 months.  No pics because I'm always working when I'm up there...

[BamaZeus]

On I-459, a few of the northbound signs in Bessemer are completely falling apart.  The exit tab signs are faded almost completely white, almost like someone took a large brush and painted over half the sign with white paint.

I'd link Street View, but the images are 4 years old now and won't show just how bad the signs are right now.  I even looked on the 2012 satellite shot and it isn't recent enough to show.

[agentsteel53]

I even looked on the 2012 satellite shot and it isn't recent enough to show.

was there an event which caused a lot of damage in very little time?  a storm or something?

[formulanone]

Hurricane Charley, passing through the Turnpike and US 192, in August 2004:

[CentralCAroadgeek]

Here's another I pass often but never think to get a pic real quick. I-5 South at the CA-2 crossing. Shield was kinda busted looking before but a few months ago it disappeared all together

I got a picture of that sign (more like the whole gantry) before the shield fell off. Back in July of last year, this thing looks like it's gonna fall off soon.

[bulkyorled]

Here's another I pass often but never think to get a pic real quick. I-5 South at the CA-2 crossing. Shield was kinda busted looking before but a few months ago it disappeared all together

I got a picture of that sign (more like the whole gantry) before the shield fell off. Back in July of last year, this thing looks like it's gonna fall off soon.

Yea that one is in kind of bad condition now. The picture you have makes it look a million times better. The sign with the 2 on it looks like some truck exploded smog on it now. I think they're likely to update it soon anyways with a new reflective sign as they have through that area on the 5. As you can see on the left ahead they had already replaced it with a new one. They just recently (about 2 weeks ago) replaced ALL the signs in the construction zone between Glenoaks Blvd all the way to Western Av with brand new ones thank god, the old ones were no bueno. They should do it with that crusty crust next.

[BamaZeus]

I even looked on the 2012 satellite shot and it isn't recent enough to show.

was there an event which caused a lot of damage in very little time?  a storm or something?

I'm not really sure.  As many storms as we've had roll through the last several months, anything is possible.  The signs themselves are not physically damaged (i.e. leaning over, half broken-off, etc), it's as if the paint had a 30 year lifespan and at 30 years and one day it faded to white.  I'm guessing those signs in question are original ones from the road construction in the early 80s.  It's really kinda bizarre, considering all the other signs in the area are just fine, although the southbound signs are much newer, IIRC.

[kphoger]

I remember this sign being in this condition in March 2011, and it is still standing as of six days ago.

[national highway 1]

Which SR 35 shield is that? I don't think I've seen them before.

[kphoger]

It's a rural (tertiary) route shield in México.

[RJ145]

Found this in Sedona, AZ

[the49erfan15]

It's a rural (tertiary) route shield in México.

Is rendering the tilde as a straight line common on Mexican road signs?