The Worst of Road Signs

[Brandon]

http://goo.gl/maps/Lbjcm

Zoom out. There are clearly remnants of two other loop ramps, which were graded, if not actually paved. There was at some time a plan to complete a cloverleaf and continue the road to the north, though the structures now in the way would preclude that.

True, but I think the sign has been replaced once since the ramps were graded.  One would think it would just be removed to save on replacement and lighting.

[vtk]

Sign replacement projects rarely include critical thinking.

[Michael]

Can it get any worse than this?



Thread over. I win. 

I forgot to comment on this when I first saw it, but I literally LOL'd.



The exit gore sign at the ramp from I-481 northbound to I-690 westbound just east of Syracuse looks pretty bad.  It has both a deformed arrow and number 4.

[amroad17]

Who, in their right mind, put that monstrosity together?

[cjk374]

Can it get any worse than this?



Thread over. I win. 

I forgot to comment on this when I first saw it, but I literally LOL'd!

I don't know who this guy is....a bit of history for those of us who are clueless?

[cpzilliacus]

I don't know who this guy is....a bit of history for those of us who are clueless?

Mr. Rogers is someone who incessantly posts stuff to the Usenet group misc.transport.road. 

He frequently posted (and posts) messages asking things like "What is viatology?" [Answer: study of roads] and touts "new additions" to his so-called Worldwide Transportation Library (WWTL) and refers to himself in the third person. 

I am not aware that he has ever been allowed to post messages on AAROADS.

[cjk374]

3rd person???  HOLY CRAP!!    

[Takumi]

I knew about most of his antics, but I'd never heard of referring to himself in the third person.

[Alps]

I don't think he has any reason to come here. If he did, we would allow it provided he follow our rules, but all of his update posts would go in one convenient thread.

[Billy F 1988]

I don't know if this qualifies, but I was puzzled at all of these panels with varying border thickness. This was in Gardiner, MT on the southern end of the bridge during my holiday break with family.

[Takumi]

It could fit on one sign, yes, but certainly not terrible.

[Michael]

I'd say that varying border thicknesses is more of a design error.

Who, in their right mind, put that monstrosity together?

I'd say NYSDOT did.  The sad part is that if you close Street View and look on the right side at the end of the ghost ramps, that building is a NYSDOT garage.

Also, I forgot to mention in my previous post that I would think that that Carl Rogers Rd. sign is probably in Alanland, but I found it in Street View when I first saw it, but I can't find it again.

P.S.: That double "that" looks funny, but it doesn't make sense without it.

[Alps]

It could fit on one sign, yes, but certainly not terrible.

That is pretty terrible, it looks like they kept thinking "that's not enough! that's still not enough!". Should be two signs.

[agentsteel53]

It could fit on one sign, yes, but certainly not terrible.

That is pretty terrible, it looks like they kept thinking "that's not enough! that's still not enough!". Should be two signs.

I bet it has to do with stroke thickness being scaled as a function of a sign's height.  the stroke is certainly proportional to the height on all those signs.

I know Inkscape rescales stroke thickness if you rescale an item; I'll bet the other vector design programs do as well.

[1995hoo]

This isn't a road sign, but I think it's more akin to a bad sign than it is to "outrageous lane control." This is at the Van Dorn Street Metrorail short-term parking in Virginia. I make a right turn out of the right lane here just about every weekday (you can't see it in the picture, but the lane I'm in is marked right-or-straight). During the evening rush hour, it's amazing how many people can't understand the arrows painted there and get confused by the erroneous double yellow lines such that they try to make a left out of the far right lane. There are three lanes here: (a) One lane entering the facility, in use by that minivan here; (b) A left-turn only lane; (c) The "right-or-straight" lane where I'm driving in this picture. This is the type of thing where even if you think the lines are confusing (and they're certainly weird), all you have to do is follow all the other traffic (I'd estimate 90% of the drivers use the lanes as intended).

Here's an overhead "Bird's Eye" view from Bing: http://binged.it/Ydea2p

[kkt]

This isn't a road sign, but I think it's more akin to a bad sign than it is to "outrageous lane control." This is at the Van Dorn Street Metrorail short-term parking in Virginia. I make a right turn out of the right lane here just about every weekday (you can't see it in the picture, but the lane I'm in is marked right-or-straight). During the evening rush hour, it's amazing how many people can't understand the arrows painted there and get confused by the erroneous double yellow lines such that they try to make a left out of the far right lane. There are three lanes here: (a) One lane entering the facility, in use by that minivan here; (b) A left-turn only lane; (c) The "right-or-straight" lane where I'm driving in this picture. This is the type of thing where even if you think the lines are confusing (and they're certainly weird), all you have to do is follow all the other traffic (I'd estimate 90% of the drivers use the lanes as intended).

Hope you sent this along to Metrorail or whoever is in charge of marking the lot.  Of course drivers get confused by confusing nonstandard road markings.  It should be an easy fix to restripe the lines.

[1995hoo]

Hope you sent this along to Metrorail or whoever is in charge of marking the lot.  Of course drivers get confused by confusing nonstandard road markings.  It should be an easy fix to restripe the lines.

I haven't yet, may get around to it this weekend.

[agentsteel53]

honestly, that is a pretty bad error.  I would have to do a double-take before realizing that the left turn lane is to the left of an ostensibly forbidden crossing.

if there was enough traffic, and I wouldn't see the turn arrows, only the double stripe - and in the absence of a white regulatory sign confirming the lane assignments, which appears to be the case - I may very well either make the left turn from what I think is the only lane, or I might go straight and get lost.

that needs to get fixed, ASAP.  anyone wanna go down there with a bucket of black paint?

[1995hoo]

The only reason I don't think it's a severely problematic error is that it's not a very long line at all. It's not too apparent from the picture I've posted, but it's a very short double yellow line, maybe two or three car lengths at most (unless you're talking about a Smart, of course). In the aerial view I linked from Bing Maps, the lead car is pulled up beyond the stop bar, so the line looks longer than it really is.

The bigger problem there lately is the traffic lights (a) not being synchronized and (b) sometimes simply not working at all (some days the light in front of me in that picture simply will not turn green, period, and you get some people who simply refuse to ignore the red light and go anyway), but the lights are maintained by a different agency than the parking.


Edited to add: I just filled in their online form and included the picture's URL with the following comment. Wanted to keep it as simple as possible given that it's the Transit Authority and not an entity that normally maintains roads to any great degree.

Please see picture linked below of the entrance/exit to the Van Dorn Street Metrorail stop "Kiss and Ride" area. I took it out the front window of my car this morning. There should not be a double yellow line separating the two turn lanes. A double yellow line separates traffic going in opposite directions. The line should be solid white. This may seem like it's not a big deal, but I routinely see confused drivers either straddling both lanes (and blocking the rest of us from turning right) or turning left from the right lane, presumably because they see a double yellow line and automatically stay to the right of it. Then by the time they see the arrows, it's too late.

This should be a simple fix involving sending someone out there with a can of paint and a roller.

(image URL omitted from this quote)

[Scott5114]

BC-5, Coquilhalla Highway, apparently...

[myosh_tino]

BC-5, Coquilhalla Highway, apparently...

Doing a quick Google search, the Coquihalla Highway/BC-5 opened in 1986 as a toll road with the expectation that tolls would be removed once the highway was paid for.  Construction bonds were paid off in September 2008 which means the toll plaza in the above photo has been removed.

[Takumi]

Slow down, someone's daddy works there.

[vtk]

British Columbia or Baja California? (Funny how they have same initials, both border US, and both are on Pacific coast...)

[cjk374]

BC-5, Coquilhalla Highway, apparently...

Reminds me of the checkout registers at Wal-Mart.   

[Billy F 1988]

BC-5, Coquilhalla Highway, apparently...

Comic Sans anyone?