The Worst of Road Signs

[Android]

But then when you happen to see one pointing down, it just looks "wrong", or at least it does for me.   This is an on-ramp sign, and whenever I'm at this intersection the down arrows always draw my attention that way, especially since this onramp goes uphill.   I'm was surprised that in going through my photos that I only could find I had only ever taken just this one rather poor picture here: 

[texaskdog]

Its like "eat your cake and have it too" which is more accurate, it just sounds wrong.

[Ian]

Brand new arrow per lane diagrammatic sign on I-95 northbound approaching exit 4 in Portsmouth, NH. It just doesn't look that great to me.

[texaskdog]

But then when you happen to see one pointing down, it just looks "wrong", or at least it does for me.   This is an on-ramp sign, and whenever I'm at this intersection the down arrows always draw my attention that way, especially since this onramp goes uphill.   I'm was surprised that in going through my photos that I only could find I had only ever taken just this one rather poor picture here: 

Does seem to work better up above than so low

[myosh_tino]

Brand new arrow per lane diagrammatic sign on I-95 northbound approaching exit 4 in Portsmouth, NH. It just doesn't look that great to me.

That new sign seems so massive compared to what I see here in California.  I hope that sign never detaches from the sign bridge because it looks like it can do some pretty hefty damage to anyone or anything below it.

[agentsteel53]

Its like "eat your cake and have it too" which is more accurate, it just sounds wrong.

made even worse by the fact that "have" is a synonym for "eat", at least in American English.  ("here, have a bite")

[texaskdog]

Its like "eat your cake and have it too" which is more accurate, it just sounds wrong.

made even worse by the fact that "have" is a synonym for "eat", at least in American English.  ("here, have a bite")

Well you could say "here, have a package of hostess cupcakes" and I could take it and put it away....but then again it would be of little use if it wasnt eaten

[Scott5114]

The phrase is "You can't have your cake and eat it too" because after you eat the cake, you no longer have the cake. You can't use the cake up and continue to possess it.

Just saying.

[NE2]

Actually the original phrase is 'eat your cake and [then] have it too'. This helped them catch the Unabomber: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002762.html

[CL]

Cedar City, 7 July 2011:



These two signs are horrendous in and of themselves, but the worst part is that left sign replaced a first-generation button-copy pull-through. Observe:


AARoads

That right sign for the SR-56 exit wasn't particularly pretty even back then, but at least it wasn't in E(M)(M)(M). Seriously, who designed the new signs? Let's not forget that the St. George pull-through was the last button-copy BGS on I-15 in the state. What a shame.

[Brandon]

^^ The older signs were better, IMHO.

[Dougtone]

Here's a couple of awful road signs that I've seen on US 1 in Fairfield County, Connecticut...


In Greenwich...


In Westport...

Feel free to gag.

[agentsteel53]

Cedar City, 7 July 2011:

[photos and commentary snipped]

wasn't there a northbound button copy I-15 sign at that junction?  I have photos from 12/24/2010 with the northbound sign being button copy.  (I believe southbound was too, but didn't photograph.)

[CL]

Yeah, and that's been replaced as well. I'll post a photo of it on Flickr in the coming week. It looks the exact same as this one, except with "Salt Lake City" as the control city.

The southbound sign was still also button-copy by the time December 2010 came around. I passed by it the day before you were northbound.

[Ian]

I-95/Maine Turnpike northbound in Wells. Cramped sign and all caps control cities...


I-295 northbound in Freeport, ME. Odd route shield and exit tab placements:

[agentsteel53]

I-95/Maine Turnpike northbound in Wells. Cramped sign and all caps control cities...

wow, that is awful.  I don't think I could gather all the information on that sign at freeway speed.

[okroads]

A couple of new signs I photographed this afternoon:

All-caps "SALINA":


Oklahoma Clearview (need I say more?)

[vtk]

All-caps "SALINA":

Actually, I think that's "small-caps".  They appear to have given it the same treatment as the cardinal direction banner on the top line.

Come on, sign design people, it's not that hard:  mixed-case for names of places and roads; all-caps for everything else!  I don't think there are any exceptions to that rule anywhere in the MUTCD, so it should be easy to follow!

[architect77]

That new sign seems so massive compared to what I see here in California.  I hope that sign never detaches from the sign bridge because it looks like it can do some pretty hefty damage to anyone or anything below it.

These in NC are massive also:



Fixed your quote tags. A slash ends a quote, not begins it. -DTP

[Dougtone]

Here's a few awful signs on I-87 in Latham that were up in 2009-2010 (since corrected to proper font size).

[xcellntbuy]

I noticed these signs late last year on several return trips to New York.  The "Albany Airport" is in two sizes.   

[hbelkins]

How often have they had to change those North Carolina signs, anyway? I don't think they are current anymore, since regular I-40 has been routed back through downtown Greensboro to replace Green I-40.

[texaskdog]

A couple of new signs I photographed this afternoon:

All-caps "SALINA":


Oklahoma Clearview (need I say more?)

Of course who wants to exit in Kansas or Oklahoma anyway?  Those are more "drive thru" states

[US71]

There is no "East Sedalia"

[Ian]

Topsham, ME:


Brunswick, ME: