Width of word "INTERSTATE" on 3di shields

[Roadsguy]

Has anyone else noticed more and more 3di shields featuring the word INTERSTATE written in a wider series font to fill the width of the shield? This is compared to the normal style where the word is just as wide as it is in a normal 2di shield. An example of both styles can be seen in this Street View image (which is weird since I would think both signs would have been fabricated at the same time).

Off the top of my head and confirmed by a Street View search, almost every new I-295 shield in PA and NJ installed for the extension of the route around Trenton to the new I-95/PA Turnpike interchange features the wider word. Not every shield, though; the guide signs on NB I-95 approaching the interchange have the narrower word, as do all trailblazer style assemblies I found on side roads.

This isn't just limited to PA. I've seen a few of them in Street View in other states, though I can't remember where off the top of my head. Is this a new actual signage practice or just a bunch of shields fabricated incorrectly? I think it looks far better with the narrower word.

[thspfc]

I haven't noticed anything like that, but the next time I'm in Milwaukee I'll have to look for it since there are all new shields on I-894 as of last year.

[MNHighwayMan]

The standard 3 digit Interstate shield, as specified in the FHWA Standard Highway Signs guide, is supposed to use Series E for the "INTERSTATE." However, many fabricators didn't follow the standard until recently, using a narrower font. I suspect the reason for this is that the standard for 3 digit Interstate shields didn't use Series E until the most recent version–does anyone have an older copy of Standard Highway Signs to confirm this?

[Ben114]

There are a bunch of these wide ones on I-495 in MA.

[J N Winkler]

The standard 3 digit Interstate shield, as specified in the FHWA Standard Highway Signs guide, is supposed to use Series E for the "INTERSTATE." However, many fabricators didn't follow the standard until recently, using a narrower font. I suspect the reason for this is that the standard for 3 digit Interstate shields didn't use Series E until the most recent version–does anyone have an older copy of Standard Highway Signs to confirm this?

I have a print copy of SHS 1978 and Series C is specified regardless of digit count.  (The drawing shows just the two-digit shape, but has dimensions for both two- and three-digit shapes.)  I suspect the drawing is unchanged from SHS 1971.  I don't know if the Interstate shield was included in SHS 1961.

[PHLBOS]

An example of both styles can be seen in this Street View image (which is weird since I would think both signs would have been fabricated at the same time).

Even weirder is the fact that the I-276 shield with the Series E INTERSTATE lettering has Series C numerals but the other I-276 shield with the narrower (Series C?) INTERSTATE letters has elongated Series D numerals.

This is not the first time similar has happened.  Some of the recent NJ Turnpike projects along the dual-carriageway portion features signs with identical messages in different fonts and even route shields (see Exits 7A, 7 and even Exit 6 for examples).

I-95/NJ Turnpike northbound approaching Exit 7
Note the different varying font & shield styles on what should be identical signs.

If there's any consolation, the fore-mentioned EAST 276 sign has since been changed to read NORTH 95 since last September's opening of the I-95/PA Turnpike connector/interchange ramps.