Street Blades: Out with the Old, In With the New

[paulthemapguy]

In a class on the MUTCD, I learned that it's now being required that all mentions of place names, street names, etc. on guide signs are to be mixed-case.  This includes street blades.  Also, the colors used on street blades are now being limited to white, black, green, blue, and brown.  I've known a few towns to implement widespread use of other colors, especially red (e.g. Batavia, IL); it's going to be a rude awakening for them.  And since more municipalities seem to use all-caps street names than mixed-case, it seems the majority of road districts are going to need to change things in some way.

It might be interesting to see how municipalities are adapting to the new regulations, cutting out all-caps street names and cutting out unapproved colors.  That's why I'd like to start a thread here showcasing how municipalities and highway departments are coping with the change.  What do the original and updated street blades look like in your town?  Let's see some before-and-after photos.  Since guide signs on highways will also need to be changed, let's also see how DOT's are changing uppercase to mixed-case with those too!

Here are examples of Old vs. New in New Lenox, IL
Old: https://goo.gl/maps/gjMFUXN3by62
New: https://goo.gl/maps/gHfbHfVMWpy


(Inspired by the existence of an old thread https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16658.0 . Decided to keep this thread separately since it's basically a photo-dump thread)

[opspe]

Old (right) and new (left) on the same signpost in Portland.  The old blades never had street numbers in them, so those always were posted as tabs.  The type size of the directional prefix and street type were also variable; sometimes they'd be the same as the street name, sometimes they'd both be small, sometimes they'd be mixed, as in this case.  The new blades are much more regular, though the numbered avenues still do not have street numbers on them.  In this case, Chávez was originally 39th Av until several years ago, hence the 3900.

https://goo.gl/maps/yjTCiwe4pAF2

[cl94]

Yeah, the order came out with the last MUTCD. At least in New York, most municipalities started changing several years ago. Helped that most signs were due for replacement anyway as they were non-reflective. Most of Erie County, for example, has been mixed-case for a couple of years now.

[Avalanchez71]

Figures Portland would honor a communist.

[opspe]

Figures Portland would honor a communist.

People got quite mad when PBOT tried to rename N Interstate Av after Chavez, so they ended up choosing 39th.

Vancouver BC is doing a similar thing:

Old: https://goo.gl/maps/KPzYv3Y1xJx
New: https://goo.gl/maps/Nzvp4Sq4Wk92

Interestingly, the street numbers are switched, compared with Portland.  Instead of marking the boundary road (as in 39th Av/Chavez Blvd is 3900 blk and Stark St is 500 blk), the signs mark which block they're on.  29th Av is the boundary between the 3600 and 3700 blocks.  There's also a third type of street blade they use, with a pretty unique typeface:

https://goo.gl/maps/2uhsfvogtsH2, https://goo.gl/maps/NN6CVE3sqqr

[Mr. Matté]

Figures Portland would honor a communist.

But why does it look like Cesar Romero?

[opspe]

Figures Portland would honor a communist.

But why does it look like Cesar Romero?

Because you don't know what Cesar Chavez looks like.