OSNS on Broadway in Manhattan

[dgolub]

A few years ago, they installed some oversized street name signs on Broadway in Manhattan.  It was a very short section, extending from Columbus Circle down to just north of Times Square.  Last week, I was walking down West 42 Street by Broadway and noticed that they have installed them there as well now.  Tonight, I crossed Broadway at West 34 Street and saw that they have installed them there, both north and south of the pedestrian mall.  Does anyone know what's happening with this?  Have they installed them all the way down to Battery Park?  It's a bit surprising how they've been installing them along the one-way section but not along the divided section on the Upper West Side and in Morningside Heights and Harlem.

[NE2]

Probably makes the most sense to install them where all the commercial signage is making smaller signs hard to spot.

[storm2k]

They definitely don't exist further downtown. My office is at the corner of Broadway and E 9th, and they put up new blades with Clearview and lower case type, but standard NYC sized blades.

[dgolub]

They definitely don't exist further downtown. My office is at the corner of Broadway and E 9th, and they put up new blades with Clearview and lower case type, but standard NYC sized blades.

When you say blades, are you talking about the ones that hang down from the traffic light poles?  Those are called oversized street name signs (OSNS) in NYCDOT terminology.

[dgolub]

I was down at Union Square the other day, and they don't have them there.  It looks like they must end somewhere around West 23 Street.  On the other hand, I did see a couple of them pop up on 6 Avenue in the forties, but it was just two of them as far as I could tell.

[storm2k]

I was down at Union Square the other day, and they don't have them there.  It looks like they must end somewhere around West 23 Street.  On the other hand, I did see a couple of them pop up on 6 Avenue in the forties, but it was just two of them as far as I could tell.

They do have several of them in the Union Square area, but not necessarily on Broadway. There are a number of them on 14th Street.

[dgolub]

I was down at Union Square the other day, and they don't have them there.  It looks like they must end somewhere around West 23 Street.  On the other hand, I did see a couple of them pop up on 6 Avenue in the forties, but it was just two of them as far as I could tell.

They do have several of them in the Union Square area, but not necessarily on Broadway. There are a number of them on 14th Street.

They have them on almost all of the major two-way crosstown streets, except 34, 42, and 106.  (Although West 42 Street does have at 7 Avenue and Broadway, but not anywhere else.)

[storm2k]

Got off the R train at 8th Street to head into work today, and saw something new:



Looks like they've put them up at every intersection in the area. Not sure how far south this goes.

[dgolub]

Now, if only they'd extend them up to the Upper West Side.  Maybe that comes next after they get down to the Battery.

[M3019C LPS20]

That's nothing new. They exist outside in Manhattan of as well. I remember I saw the first ones installed on Staten Island in the early 2000s.

[southshore720]

They're also in the Bronx.  You can see them on the side streets along I-95 near Co-Op City.

[Brandon]

They're only slightly larger than the ones Chicago has been using for decades.  However, these convey less information (no block number).

[storm2k]

They exist most everywhere. Jersey has them all over the place. Has for about 20 years.

[dgolub]

OK, I finished clinching Broadway south of Harlem on foot this afternoon, and I saw that the new signs extend down to around Chambers Street to not quite all the way to the Battery.

[bzakharin]

They exist most everywhere. Jersey has them all over the place. Has for about 20 years.

Yes, it's very convenient. They've also gradually phased in the county route shields for the 600 series of counties on those signs, at least in my part of Camden County (I think in other places they've been there longer). Prior to that, the two CR numbers nearest to me (626 and 627) were pretty much invisible. Of course, no one uses those numbers anyway.

[storm2k]

They exist most everywhere. Jersey has them all over the place. Has for about 20 years.

Yes, it's very convenient. They've also gradually phased in the county route shields for the 600 series of counties on those signs, at least in my part of Camden County (I think in other places they've been there longer). Prior to that, the two CR numbers nearest to me (626 and 627) were pretty much invisible. Of course, no one uses those numbers anyway.

Even NJDOT has started doing it and they don't usually like to acknowledge the 600's in many ways.

[dgolub]

When I walked over to the subway to go to work yesterday morning, I was met with a pleasant surprise: They've now installed OSNS on Broadway on the Upper West Side and in Morningside Heights.  It looks like they've done all of it, except maybe the part up in Harlem where there are elevated subway tracks.

[roadman65]

They're also in the Bronx.  You can see them on the side streets along I-95 near Co-Op City.

Bruckner Boulevard has one EB at E. Tremont Avenue.  I have a photo of it in my collection.

If you are worried about Broadway Uptown, then you should also consider West Street/ Eleventh Avenue/ Twelfth Avenue along NY 9A where the road is 3-3-3-3.

[NJRoadfan]

NYCDOT started installing OSNS back in 2002-03ish. They first appeared on Staten Island.

[noelbotevera]

OSNS is also found on Sutphin Boulevard between Hillside Avenue (NY 25) and Liberty Avenue as far as I can tell. Liberty Avenue itself have OSNS between I-678 and Sutphin. These areas were where I was in, so it seems Queens has it too. There's a ton in Flushing (39th and 40th Avenues are goldmines, maybe 41st, but I'm not sure).

[roadman65]

NYCDOT started installing OSNS back in 2002-03ish. They first appeared on Staten Island.

It seems like NYCDOT uses Staten Island to test everything before going to the rest of the city.  I distinctly remember back in the 1970's when NYC first started using sodium vapor lighting, it was Staten Island where they first installed them.  Then it was mentioned earlier that the latest man and hand crosswalk signals were first changed out in Staten Island, and now this.

I find it so interesting that SI had first get in at least 3 noted things so far.  I guess everything must start someplace and NYC just happens to pick SI, or at least in theses changes.

[empirestate]

NYCDOT started installing OSNS back in 2002-03ish. They first appeared on Staten Island.

It seems like NYCDOT uses Staten Island to test everything before going to the rest of the city.  I distinctly remember back in the 1970's when NYC first started using sodium vapor lighting, it was Staten Island where they first installed them.  Then it was mentioned earlier that the latest man and hand crosswalk signals were first changed out in Staten Island, and now this.

I find it so interesting that SI had first get in at least 3 noted things so far.  I guess everything must start someplace and NYC just happens to pick SI, or at least in theses changes.

It's probably the easiest/cheapest place for them to operate because of its less congested nature. As I recall, GPS bus tracking was launched there as well.


iPhone

[roadman65]

NYCDOT started installing OSNS back in 2002-03ish. They first appeared on Staten Island.

It seems like NYCDOT uses Staten Island to test everything before going to the rest of the city.  I distinctly remember back in the 1970's when NYC first started using sodium vapor lighting, it was Staten Island where they first installed them.  Then it was mentioned earlier that the latest man and hand crosswalk signals were first changed out in Staten Island, and now this.

I find it so interesting that SI had first get in at least 3 noted things so far.  I guess everything must start someplace and NYC just happens to pick SI, or at least in theses changes.

It's probably the easiest/cheapest place for them to operate because of its less congested nature. As I recall, GPS bus tracking was launched there as well.


iPhone

You may have a point there.  Staten Island is the only borough that has "elbow room" to do it. 

[dgolub]

OSNS is also found on Sutphin Boulevard between Hillside Avenue (NY 25) and Liberty Avenue as far as I can tell. Liberty Avenue itself have OSNS between I-678 and Sutphin. These areas were where I was in, so it seems Queens has it too. There's a ton in Flushing (39th and 40th Avenues are goldmines, maybe 41st, but I'm not sure).

Queens has it all over the place.  Generally, it's been a lot more common in the outer boroughs than in Manhattan, although that's changed somewhat.

[roadman65]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Flushing,+Queens,+NY/@40.757885,-73.860777,3a,66.8y,199.57h,87.89t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s-4eNr5Uf2WOlXiUZIYv40w!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c260054dc0633f:0xfaec24d1b474281e

Speaking of Queens here is one of them.  And both roadways have them and on the same pole as the regular street blades.

On another subject, I am saddened that Queens does not use the white on blue blades anymore, as that almost gave each borough its own unique kind of color as Staten Island and Manhattan were duplicated with black on yellow, and Brooklyn with blue on white.  I cannot remember what the Bronx had though.  But everything must change now.  I used to like the Lady Liberty logo on the Midtown Signs between 34th Street and 59th Street as they added something to the blades, which still may be there.  I will head over there on GSV next.