The Worst of Road Signs

[allniter89]

Found this a few years ago, put up by the city of Rome, GA.

amused but not surprised

[BamaZeus]

That reminds me of the  "slow children playing" sign.   I expect to see children running past me in slow-motion trying to catch a football or something

[topay]

Is that a white warning sign, or just really faded yellow?  The quality of the black legend leads me to believe the background is indeed white (a no-no for a warning sign).  And also, look how little vertical clearance there is from the bottom of the warning sign to the ground...I'm guessing this was installed some time after the Speed Limit sign.

[roadfro]

^ And the speed limit sign looks to be mounted at lower than normal height as well. My guess would be this is either a private job, or some county/rural job where adhereance to MUTCD standards is not top on the priority list.

[sp_redelectric]

And then there's the Yamhill County, Oregon Department of Public Works, who takes ugly to a new standard, with their mutant Arial speed limit signs.  Not only is the font ugly, but the spacing and proportions are completely out of whack.

Yamhill County is pretty bad which I don't understand - McMinnville seems to have a pretty decent sign shop (or use a good vendor) but everyone else goes through the county and has those miserable signs.

Tigard is another example of a city that just doesn't get it.  Lately they've been taking old signs and recycling them with new reflective sheeting, but at night you can actually see whatever the old sign was underneath it.  While Tigard seems to try and use a MUTCD typeface the signs just simply look horrible.  But Beaverton and Tualatin both do a pretty good job with their signs as does Washington County and especially Clackamas County.

[Kniwt]

Accompanying a story in today's (Terre Haute, Ind.) Tribune-Star about the local rerouting of US 40:



The full story is here:
http://tribstar.com/local/x1095938508/Recent-change-in-road-designation-causes-confusion-on-Terre-Haute-s-east-side?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

[NE2]

This is why it's silly to tie route numbers to maintenance.

[agentsteel53]

not that the font on those street blades are anything to smile about, either.

[Central Avenue]

not that the font on those street blades are anything to smile about, either.

Is that Franklin Gothic? That's a rather...unusual choice.

[Quillz]

I found this strange US Route shield on the MUTCD page:



Also notice the non-standard font being used.

[roadfro]

This is why it's silly to tie route numbers to maintenance.

I'm surprised the route doesn't have another name by which homes and businesses are addressed... The town/county could create a new street name "S. Indiana 46 Street" if the state doesn't budge.

But seriously, was there an actual need to change the highway designations in the first place? Was it just because of the maintenance?

[J N Winkler]

Also notice the non-standard font being used.

That artwork dates from the Millennium edition of the MUTCD and there were so many protests from the traffic engineering community (since all previous editions of the MUTCD had been, more or less, pattern-accurate) that all subsequent editions of the MUTCD have been pattern-accurate.  FHWA also provided draft illustrations for the 2008 rulemaking process that preceded issue of the 2009 MUTCD and those, too, were pattern-accurate.

[US71]

Not sure if this qualifies as "worst", but it's an ugly 66 shield, IMO

[tdindy88]

This is why it's silly to tie route numbers to maintenance.

I'm surprised the route doesn't have another name by which homes and businesses are addressed... The town/county could create a new street name "S. Indiana 46 Street" if the state doesn't budge.

But seriously, was there an actual need to change the highway designations in the first place? Was it just because of the maintenance?

That route does have another name, Wabash Avenue. The sign I would guess by the area points toward I-70, where US 40 now is. Still doesn't dismiss the fact that that is an interstate shield shape and US 40 is not an interstate.

[thenetwork]

I found this strange US Route shield on the MUTCD page:



Also notice the non-standard font being used.

That diagrammatic sign looks so bad, yet it's in use on I-190 en route to Niagara Falls.

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[myosh_tino]

This is on the transition from El Camino Real/The Alameda to Coleman   I snapped this picture about a week ago on my weekly run to Costco.  While I like the outline US 101 shield (which may qualify this photo for the Best of Road Signs thread), I don't care too much for the white-on-green bubble I-880 shield nor the font the city of Santa Clara used.

Here is what the signs used to look like...

[Ian]

Clearview in California, eh?

[DBrim]

KDOT goof that's been up for a few years after one of the freeway exits west of Wichita (eastbound east of Garden Plain, IIRC):
<snip>

You've got to take what you can get, right?   We need more US Route cutout shields.  All that US-54 sign needs is an outline and it's excellent.

There are a handful of outline-less cutout US 3 shields on the US 3 freeway that runs between the NH line and Burlington, MA.

I've also seen BGS cutouts for 1 (Intersection of 24 and 93) and 20 (117 over 95).

[Quillz]

Clearview in California, eh?

I've noticed several Clearview signs in Orange County, and a couple elsewhere throughout the state. I think as the really old signs get replaced, Clearview is beginning to make appearances.

[brownpelican]

What was MDOT thinking when they made this sign?

[myosh_tino]

Clearview in California, eh?

I've noticed several Clearview signs in Orange County, and a couple elsewhere throughout the state. I think as the really old signs get replaced, Clearview is beginning to make appearances.

I suspect the clearview usage is limited to the local level.  All recent Caltrans sign installations that I have seen have used the FHWA font.  If the cities want to use it for street blades and signs, fine.  Just keep it off of the route shields and guide signs.

[Quillz]

Well, Clearview is officially only approved (on an interim basis) for positive contrast guide signs. It's not supposed to be used on route shields, street blades, etc. I believe studies showed that negative contrast Clearview is actually less legible from a distance than Series E(M).

[vtk]

Well, Clearview is officially only approved (on an interim basis) for positive contrast guide signs. It's not supposed to be used on route shields, street blades, etc. I believe studies showed that negative contrast Clearview is actually less legible from a distance than Series E(M).

I got the impression that a study showed that, in negative contrast, E(M) is more legible than one of 5B or 5W (I'm not sure which was tested) and it really wasn't a thorough study.  Still, E(M) is rarely used in negative contrast anyway -- more often it's D or E, which I suspect are less legible in negative contrast than 4B or 5B.

Here's what they really should do:.. Develop an alternative spacing table for Series E to give it essentially the same tracking as E(M), and declare it a preferred replacement for E(M) for mixed-case in positive contrast; call it E(G).  Develop official versions of Series B(M), C(M), D(M), and F(M), with appropriate weight and tracking differences from their base series modeled on the difference between E and E(M); declare these to be preferred replacements for Series B, C, D, and F in negative contrast.  Develop spacing tables for B(G), C(G), D(G), and F(G) as was done for E(G), and declare them preferred replacements for B, C, D, and F for mixed-case in positive contrast.  Then test B-F against 1W-6W for legibility of all-caps common sign words and numbers in positive contrast; B(G)-F(G) against 1W-6W for mixed-case placenames in positive contrast; B(M)-F(M) against 1B-6B for all-caps common sign words, mixed-case placenames, and numbers in negative contrast.  I have a hunch the results would be so close, neither font family could be called superior.

[mobilene]

Accompanying a story in today's (Terre Haute, Ind.) Tribune-Star about the local rerouting of US 40:

I lived in Terre Haute for a number of years. Eastbound 40 used to follow Ohio Street to 11th, where it turned north until it reached Wabash Ave (the National Road) and then headed east out of town.  The sign that used to be on this spot was a bona fide US 40 shield with an accompanying arrow.  So this "To US 40" thing is newer.

[roadfro]

Here's what they really should do:.. Develop an alternative spacing table for Series E to give it essentially the same tracking as E(M), and declare it a preferred replacement for E(M) for mixed-case in positive contrast; call it E(G).  ...

There was a mockup of this made up some time ago by a member of this forum, posted to and discussed in either "The Clearview Thread" or "Road Related Illustrations" threads. The Series E with new tracking actually looked quite good, and achieved some of Clearview's purpose without using the new font.