Standard Road Signs That Are Rare In Certain States

[thenetwork]

There are some standard road signs I have found that in certain states are NOT commonly found, except in local jurisdictions.  For example, here in Colorado:

The symbolic NO U TURN sign is not used on most interstate highways at median turn-arounds.  Rather those turn-arounds in the median are only signed as EMERGENCY/AUTHORIZED VEHICLES ONLY.

The yellow NO PASSING ZONE pennant, and to a lesser extent, the related DO NOT PASS sign on the right side of the road are damn near impossible to find in the Colorado wild as well.

Yet, both are everywhere in neighboring Utah.

Others??

[hotdogPi]

Massachusetts: Speed limit 70, 75

[KCRoadFan]

The "NO PASSING ZONE"  signs seem to be rather rare in Missouri, as well. (In Iowa and Minnesota, by contrast, they're very common.)

[webny99]

Interchange sequence signs, like this one, are noticeably absent in New York. And of course, any speed limit sign higher than 65 mph applies here as well.

[vdeane]

Interchange sequence signs, like this one, are noticeably absent in New York. And of course, any speed limit sign higher than 65 mph applies here as well.

As are signs that simply say "speed limit 55", as they're all supposed to say "state speed limit 55".

Regarding the sequence signs, there are more of them than there used to be, though they're still not really common.

[STLmapboy]

The "NO PASSING ZONE"  signs seem to be rather rare in Missouri, as well. (In Iowa and Minnesota, by contrast, they're very common.)

Illinois also has the arrow-shaped No Passing Zone sign in proliferation compared to MO.

Otherwise, I can't think of many. MO is pretty good when it comes to uniform standard signage. If my state were CA or something I might have more examples.

[tdindy88]

Michigan had a lot of "Pass with care" signs when I recently traveled that way designating stretches of roadway where you could pass along with the normal yellow arrow-shaped No Passing Zone signs. I don't think I've seen "Pass with care" signs in other states but I haven't noticed much so it could be more common. Certainly not in Indiana though.

Minnesota had "Bypass lane" signs for where through traffic can move around left-turning vehicles at various intersections. In Michigan and Indiana these lanes had no signage. Again maybe the sign is used elsewhere.

[interstate73]

I would assume "U and Left Turns ->" and "All Turns Right Lane" are pretty rare outside of New Jersey but abound here for obvious reasons.

[wriddle082]

The "NO PASSING ZONE"  signs seem to be rather rare in Missouri, as well. (In Iowa and Minnesota, by contrast, they're very common.)

Illinois also has the arrow-shaped No Passing Zone sign in proliferation compared to MO.

Otherwise, I can't think of many. MO is pretty good when it comes to uniform standard signage. If my state were CA or something I might have more examples.

I have always noticed a severe lack of Merge signs throughout MO.  Here in SC they are often times forgotten, or are posted so far back (for example, BEFORE the over/underpass) that they're not very helpful.  And many states like SC, TN, and sometimes NC, will post Merge signs when Added Lane is more appropriate, and vice versa.

[index]

No passing zone pennants are essentially nonexistent here in NC. I have never seen one before except this lone one in Mecklenburg County. No clue where it was.

[jakeroot]

Not sure this counts: "sign salads" (as they are sometimes called) are not used in WA. All junctions between state highways are marked by guide signs. Individual cities can use piece-meal assemblies, but the state never does.

Example here. This sign would normally be a couple of shields with arrows and cardinal directions, but guide signs are used instead. It's nice to have destinations assigned to the routes, but the intersections are normally not marked, so it's up to you to figure out when to actually turn (especially if the guide sign is well before the actual junction).

Reassurance assemblies are the closest thing we have to sign salads. They are almost always unisign assemblies. Sometimes really weird stuff happens (still unisigns, though). Sometimes we have actual sign salads but these are rare.

So when I leave WA, I always find it interesting the manner in which multiple shields are posted next to each other, since I never see that around here.

[tylert120]

. Sometimes really weird stuff happens (still unisigns, though).

Actually, I kind of like that...

[hotdogPi]

Some more I can think of for Massachusetts:

Speed limit 60 (we have plenty of 55s and 65s but very few 60s)
County line signs (we go by town, not by county)
Interchange sequence signs
If yard signs count: yes/no on 3 (we only have two questions on the ballot). I've seen much more activity on question 1 than question 2, so even yes/no on 2 might qualify.
Route 11, 15 (exists but unsigned), 17, 26, 29, 34
No services next X miles
Any sign that shows 3 or more through lanes of traffic in the same direction on a surface road

[Mapmikey]

No passing zone pennants are essentially nonexistent here in NC. I have never seen one before except this lone one in Mecklenburg County. No clue where it was.

These are rare in NC and the reason I know that is I still remember where I saw some decades ago.

US 401 in the Raeford area - https://goo.gl/maps/gQx5FgAGaDTiqUYcA

US 401 from Fayetteville westward had these when US 401 was still 2-lane.  Here is a leftover one on Old Raeford Rd - https://goo.gl/maps/XB2ZHTaoxDWmcD19A

[1995hoo]

I am unaware of any county route pentagon-shaped shields anywhere in Virginia, primarily because the overwhelming majority of roads here are maintained by VDOT or else are privately owned and maintained (HOA-owned streets are a common example of the latter). Arlington and Henrico Counties maintain most of their own streets, however, as do the independent cities, so in theory the county route shield could be used if those jurisdictions wanted to assign numbers to their own streets and post them (to the extent those streets don't already have numbers as part of the Interstate, US, or primary state highway systems, of course). I'm not aware that any of them have ever done so, but in theory that wouldn't prevent it in the future, perhaps for some more important routes like George Mason Drive in Arlington.

[froggie]

At a statewide level, the yellow pendant "NO PASSING ZONE" is actually rather uncommon.  I believe there are more states that DON'T use it than states that do.  The only Northeastern state that routinely uses it is New Hampshire, and even there it's only on state highways and not every state highway at that.  Rare in Vermont, and here they are only used when law or ordnance specifically prohibits passing on a given roadway segment (the regulatory "DO NOT PASS" sign is occasionally used instead).

Most (if not all) of the Southeast doesn't use "NO PASSING ZONE" either...in my experience, only Mississippi does to some extent, and that's only when they're doing a pavement overlay job that may involve a lack of centerline striping...they'll post temporary orange "NO PASSING ZONE" signs (as well as "DO NOT PASS" and "PASS WITH CARE") in those construction zones.

In my experience, the states where "NO PASSING ZONE" is most commonly used are all in the Midwest...Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas.  In Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa in particular, it is also use extensively at the county level...not just at the state level.

On the flip side, the white regulatory "DO NOT PASS" sign is rare in Minnesota....the only jurisdiction I can think of offhand that uses it routinely is Hennepin County.  MnDOT does not use it (or only rarely).

[kphoger]

The "NO PASSING ZONE"  signs seem to be rather rare in Missouri, as well.

Such was quite annoying to me before they finished four-laning US-60 across south-central Missouri.  The last remaining two-lane stretch had its share of long hills, and I was never quite sure how much room I had to pass.  More than once, I decided it was still safe to pass, then encountered a solid yellow line mid-maneuver and a car cresting the hill.

[ethanhopkin14]

There are some standard road signs I have found that in certain states are NOT commonly found, except in local jurisdictions.  For example, here in Colorado:

The symbolic NO U TURN sign is not used on most interstate highways at median turn-arounds.  Rather those turn-arounds in the median are only signed as EMERGENCY/AUTHORIZED VEHICLES ONLY.

The yellow NO PASSING ZONE pennant, and to a lesser extent, the related DO NOT PASS sign on the right side of the road are damn near impossible to find in the Colorado wild as well.

Yet, both are everywhere in neighboring Utah.

Others??

Same situation here in Texas.  I didn't really even know about the "No U-turn" in interstate medians until visiting other states.  "Authorized Vehicles Only" or "Emergency Vehicles Only" are all I see, or sometimes the state just acts like the turnaround just isn't there.  I remember "Diving on Median Unlawful" signs in the 80s.  Now the "No Passing Zone" yellow pennant is an extreme rarity in Texas, but not 100% unseen.  It will show up in random places where no other road has it, and it's not present the entire length of the road.  Funny thing is, many moons ago when I was studying for my drivers exam, the pennant was examined extensively in the driver's handbook, despite TxDOT not really erecting the sign.  "Be aware of this sign, even though if you never leave Texas, you will probably never see it."  The yellow pennant is all over the place in New Mexico.  The may not have a reassurance shield for 30 miles just to let you know you have been on the correct road, but damnit, you will know exactly when you can pass.

"Hill Blocks View" or "Hidden Driveway" is non-existent on Texas state highways.  I have seen "Blind Hill" on a small amount of county roads, but that's it.  Pretty much if you have an obstructed view in Texas, deal with it. 

"Trucks Follow In Cab Signal" and corresponding weight system is in almost every state but Texas, so much to the point that I am not 100% sure what is going on with that.

"Next Rest Area XX Miles" has made a recent showing to the point almost all Rest Area guide signs in Texas have it.  It wasn't long ago none had it and if you thought, "I can make it to the next rest area" but didn't know the next rest area was 110 miles away, uh oh. 

BBSes (is that a term here for Big Blue Signs on interstates?) with "Attractions" doesn't exist in Texas.

The flip, Texas always labels clearance on bridges unless they are stupid high, with a rectangular sign, with black writing on a yellow field.  Sometimes there is a clearance diamond sign mounted next to the bridge.  I only see that setup in a few states, where in others either they aren't signed or it will be white writing on a green field or black writing on a white field.  I guess that doesn't qualify as "standard" since there seems to be none, but something I always felt should be standard. 

[roadman]

Massachusetts: Speed limit 70, 75

Not rare.  Non existent.

[jakeroot]

. Sometimes really weird stuff happens (still unisigns, though).

Actually, I kind of like that...

The Southwest Region of WSDOT does things a little differently. They also like to use exit tabs that sit on top of the sign. No other part of WSDOT uses exit tabs that sit on the sign (instead they are part of the main sign, like Illinois).

[Scott5114]

Count Oklahoma as another state which doesn't use the No Passing Zone pennant. As in Texas, they are depicted in the driver's manual. Kansas uses them a lot, so there's the chance of running into them up there.

Oklahoma very rarely posts on bridges the name of the road the bridge carries. Whereas, up in Kansas, damn near every single bridge is labeled.

Interchange sequence signs used to be rare here. We do have more now, but they aren't posted anywhere nearly as consistently as in Texas, Kansas, or Missouri.

[STLmapboy]

Ooh I got one!

MUTCD standard traffic signal signs are rare in Missouri, save for a stretch of long road without one (a possible "stop ahead when flashing" scenario).

[Scott5114]

Even then, I remember MO using "[      ] SIGNAL AHEAD" signs, where the bracketed portion has the word RED in red LEDs that light up when the signal is red.

[kphoger]

Even then, I remember MO using "[      ] SIGNAL AHEAD" signs, where the bracketed portion has the word RED in red LEDs that light up when the signal is red.

Yep.  Like this.  However, those are preceded by normal warning signs.

[STLmapboy]

Even then, I remember MO using "[      ] SIGNAL AHEAD" signs, where the bracketed portion has the word RED in red LEDs that light up when the signal is red.

Yep.  Like this.  However, those are preceded by normal warning signs.

Forgot about those! Yeah, I don't get down to Southwest Missouri too often (though I may drive to Branson for a weekend soon).