The Worst of Road Signs

[agentsteel53]

gone.  but there are some green signs that say "US 611" in Doylestown.  I do not remember if they are on 202 or on 611.

there's also this sign in New Jersey, which, as far as I know, is still around.



I don't remember exactly where it is, other than in Columbia, on a ramp in that tangled intersection of US-46, I-80, and NJ-94.

[NE2]

The ramp from US 46 east to the bridge, I believe.

[agentsteel53]

did US-611 ever enter New Jersey?

[NE2]

Yes, along I-80.

[agentsteel53]

Yes, along I-80.

not a very long distance at all.  and not before I-80 was built?  I'm wondering about the possibility of a NEW JERSEY/US/611 shield.

[Ian]

gone.  but there are some green signs that say "US 611" in Doylestown.  I do not remember if they are on 202 or on 611.

These are on PA 611, but are soon to be replaced with the construction of the US 202 parkway...

[kphoger]

Spotted this sad excuse for a US shield in Cumberland two weeks ago. Looks sort of like an acorn...

There's a US 15 shield like that after the Harrisburg West toll plaza off the PA Turnpike. Drives me f'n insane every time I drive past it. Maybe I'm a tad bit OCD...

I have CDO.  It's like OCD, except the letters are in alphabetical order.  As they should be.

[hbelkins]

vtk, you are referring to the '70 spec US shield. 



that was devised by Pennsylvania around 1965, and adopted by other states mainly starting in 1970 when it became a federal standard.

Pennsylvania's development of the wide (24x30) US route marker is a far worse thing and a more unforgivable sin than Pennsylvania's development of Clearview. I hate the wide US shield. And the wide circle-stretched-into-an-oval-or-ellipse Kentucky state route marker.

[agentsteel53]

Pennsylvania didn't develop the wide US shield.  New York had one by the 1930s.



MA also had two different sizes for one/two versus three digit route markers, as early as 1930.

California was using wide shields in the sense we know them (same general shape, just wider) by 1956 or so.



what Pennsylvania did wrong was to devise a terribly ugly shield shape: both the narrow and wide variants just plain suck.

[Alps]

The ramp from US 46 east to the bridge, I believe.

Other way. 94 SB continuing onto the bridge.

[national highway 1]

PTC seems to like Clearview, darn them:



Maybe PennDOT is just fortunate enough to have some people who know what they are doing in the right places. 

Why bother listing the same place name twice? I don't know if all-caps Clearview is apparoved for use or not.

[PurdueBill]

PTC seems to like Clearview, darn them:
Maybe PennDOT is just fortunate enough to have some people who know what they are doing in the right places. 

Why bother listing the same place name twice? I don't know if all-caps Clearview is apparoved for use or not.

Top line is the name of the interchange, while the lower one is the control city.  The names are sometimes the same and sometimes different. 

Steve's pages are one location with some pics of various signs of the PA Turnpike style with the interchange names.  My favorite is the Norristown Interchange for Norristown, with no route number or anything. 

[PHLBOS]

My favorite is the Norristown Interchange for Norristown, with no route number or anything.

Back when US 422 ran along Germantown Pike, the older interchange signs included Philadelphia as a control city along with Norristown.  About 15 years ago, there was still one old BGS along I-276 Eastbound standing that had the 2 control cities listed but the US 422 shield above it either greened-out or removed (leaving a shadow).  When I-476 south of there was completed, the PTC shabbily slapped on an I-476 shield (not sure if it had a small TO lettering to the left of it) on the upper-left corner of the BGS. 

[Roadsguy]

That explains it! I always thought it was weird that only one of the BGSes said TO 476. (There is a TO on it.)

[PHLBOS]

That explains it! I always thought it was weird that only one of the BGSes said TO 476. (There is a TO on it.)

That one BGS you're referring to indeed replaced the former-mentioned BGS that once had US 422 on it that I was referring to.

Which brings me to another bone of contention w/PTC.  Why not just sign the main BGS' along eastbound I-276 to include I -476 South.  The BGS should read something like:

EXIT 333
NORRISTOWN (interchange name heading)
476 SOUTH (or TO 476 SOUTH)
Norristown
Chester

Yes, I'm aware that PTC has I-476 shields for EXIT 326 (Valley Forge) BGS' in both the eastbound & westbound directions (the latter is completely unnecessary since there already is a direct exit to I-476 South from I-276 West just prior to the Norristown exit); but those were placed about a year prior to the Mid-County interchange/toll plaza being completed and opened to traffic.  Personally, for Turnpike eastbounders, there should be a supplemental BGS' for I-476 prior to the Valley Forge exit and the I-476 shields should be taken off the Valley Forge exit BGS' and replaced w/US 422 shields.

The supplemental I-476 BGS panel(s) could read something like:

TO 476
Plymouth Meeting (or Mtg.)      Conshohocken
Allentown                               Chester
USE 276                                 USE 76

With a vertical divider between the 2 messages if only one large panel is used.  Note: a supplemental BGS stating EXIT 333 Plymouth Meeting (or Mtg.) should be placed on both I-276 Eastbound and Westbound.

Rant over.

[Sanctimoniously]

So my last submission to this thread was evidently judged to be not worst-of-road-signs material, so I offer this:

[WillWeaverRVA]

Wow. I have no idea what that font is. It's not Comic Sans, but it's probably even worse. It looks like one of those cutesy fonts that got preinstalled with some image processing software I installed a long time ago.

[Central Avenue]

It looks like Arial Rounded, but compressed.

I despise compressed type...

[Scott5114]

Probably closer to VAG Rounded, which Arial Rounded was intending to emulate.

What's the deal with that border?

[national highway 1]

Wow. I have no idea what that font is. It's not Comic Sans, but it's probably even worse. It looks like one of those cutesy fonts that got preinstalled with some image processing software I installed a long time ago.

I think it's the same font Kurumi used on these interstate shields on his '3di numbering conventions' page:

[Central Avenue]

Probably closer to VAG Rounded, which Arial Rounded was intending to emulate.

Oh yeah, I was looking at the "R" but now that I look at the "G" it is much closer to VAG.

[Takumi]

My hall of shame from the same trip.

These are both from Hopewell and have probably been seen in this thread before, but they're still there.




These next two are from Suffolk. The font in the shields, the excess space at the top...ugh.


These shields are just funky.


My view of the aforementioned atrocious street blades.


Norfolk is giving Virginia Beach a run for its money in the awful signage department.







Fixed first Suffolk pic.

[vtk]

These next two are from Suffolk. The font in the shields, the excess space at the top...ugh.

Not sure, but I think that's Blue Highway and/or Blue Highway Condensed, possibly with some extra condensing in the shields.  At least they were trying to get the font right, I hope...

[national highway 1]

My hall of shame from the same trip.

Norfolk is giving Virginia Beach a run for its money in the awful signage department.

Is that stretched Clearview?

[Takumi]

^ Could be. The 6 in the 165 shield certainly looks like a derivative of a Clearview 6.