The Worst of Road Signs

[Quillz]

My God, those are awful.

And you also forgot to mention that guide shields on BGS are supposed to omit the black background (although some states keep them there anyway.)

[vtk]

The All-American Quarter Horse Congress has come to Columbus, as it does every year.  When that happens, ODOT patches the second line of all of its "Ohio Expo Center / Ohio State Fair" signs to direct visitors to this specific event.  The problem is "All-American Quarter Horse Congress" is a much longer legend than "Ohio State Fair" (or "Ohio Expo Center" which sets the width of the sign).  A good solution would probably be to use Series B on the patch, possibly in a smaller size.  A better solution might be to put up a separate sign entirely.  ODOT's solution is to use Series E(M) and squish it horizontally until it fits.

I don't have a pic of this, at least from this year.  Maybe in my archives...

[Scott5114]

A better solution would be to just put "Qtr Horse Congress". Presumably the All-Chinese Quarter Horse Congress won't be in town the same week.

[Brandon]

Fresh from the Wausau, Wisconsin road meet:



New US-10 westbound, west of Stevens Point.  Note how WisDOT was lazy and put the County P shield over the US-10 shield.  And this is a newer sign...  

Believe it or not, both this one and the 1 mile advance sign are the same way!

[Quillz]

Wisconsin route shields sure are interesting. I'd have to say those and New York seem to have the most erroneous variations on the template I've ever seen.

[okroads]

[vtk]

That one's understandable.  The contractor probably has several "5" patches that would look just fine on freeway-sized speed limit signs.  So where is that, anyway?  And has that always been a 2-lane road, now being twinned, or are they reconstructing a divided highway, turning it into a 2-lane road temporarily?

[Scott5114]

It definitely looks like somewhere in Oklahoma. My guess is OK-74 between Oklahoma City and Crescent?

[okroads]

That one's understandable.  The contractor probably has several "5" patches that would look just fine on freeway-sized speed limit signs.  So where is that, anyway?  And has that always been a 2-lane road, now being twinned, or are they reconstructing a divided highway, turning it into a 2-lane road temporarily?

It's always been a two-lane road; AFAIK, ODOT is simply realigning the 2-lane road slightly to the east & replacing a couple old bridges.

It definitely looks like somewhere in Oklahoma. My guess is OK-74 between Oklahoma City and Crescent?

It's U.S. 281 north of Alva, OK.

[agentsteel53]

Wisconsin route shields sure are interesting. I'd have to say those and New York seem to have the most erroneous variations on the template I've ever seen.

Florida has a lot of variations as well.  Seriously, how hard is it to draw a dong?

[Ian]

I'd have to say those and New York seem to have the most erroneous variations on the template I've ever seen.

A whole bulk of the signage in New York is done by different state contractors, so that might explain it.

[OCGuy81]

Not sure if this would be the best fit for this or not, but here goes.  A very unusual speed limit sign, IMO.



This is a service road on the southeast side of Disney's California Adventure.  It always struck me as odd.

My wife asked a cast member last time we went, and was told that if it's posted 15 or above, the city of Anaheim would be have to patrol it, so they do this to skirt that issue.  Doesn't sound right, but interesting nonetheless.

[roadfro]

Florida has a lot of variations as well.  Seriously, how hard is it to draw a dong?

Judgin by the "artistic talents" of the many college freshmen in the dorm I worked for last year, nobody can draw a dong the same way...

[formulanone]

My wife asked a cast member last time we went, and was told that if it's posted 15 or above, the city of Anaheim would be have to patrol it, so they do this to skirt that issue.  Doesn't sound right, but interesting nonetheless.

You know, I have heard the same reason down here. My mother lives in a gated community, and they have a 29-mile-per hour speed limit around the loop that connects the subdivisons. I've also seen 14, 8, 9, 12...all sorts of speed limit weirdos, but they've all been on private property, as far as I know.

Florida has a lot of variations as well.  Seriously, how hard is it to draw a dong?

Judgin by the "artistic talents" of the many college freshmen in the dorm I worked for last year, nobody can draw a dong the same way...

Stop criticizing America's Wang!

[Central Avenue]

Well, if we're counting private property, there's also this, at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus:



...Though my understanding is that this has less to do with any legal restriction and is more to draw attention to the posted speed limit.

(Note also "school crossing" sign used to indicate a general pedestrian crossing)

[deathtopumpkins]

There's a sign on some side street in Somerville or Chelsea or Lynn or some other nearby city north of Boston that I always see out the window of commuter trains that's a Speed Limit 11 I believe. Looks fully standard.

And back in Virginia, the entrance and exit roads to Busch Gardens are signed at 18 mph.

[1995hoo]

I used to work at a retirement home in Fairfax that had "Speed Limit 9" signs on the property (they looked like normal speed limit signs).

The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Virginia, posts a 23-mph speed limit on its property. The signs are more scenic-looking, dark green background with white type and a different font from regular signs.

When I lived in Durham, NC, for three years while attending law school in the 1990s, James Street in town had "Speed Limit 27" signs posted. Apparently in 1990 the city council had made 27 mph the speed limit on there. When I visited again in 2002 the signs had been replaced with more conventional 25-mph signs to my disappointment (I never did get a picture of the 27-mph signs). Apparently residents on the street lobbied the city council to make the change and the police department concurred because the 27-mph limit was hard to enforce. I have no idea why they ever posted that strange number in the first place.

Of course, of the above three speed limits, James Street was the only really egregious one because the owners of private property can post whatever limits they like.



Edited to add: Here's a picture from the Homestead back in May 2006. I wasn't keying on the sign when I took the picture.

[agentsteel53]

Trenton, Tennessee has a speed limit of 31 all over their town.

[Ian]

There's a sign on some side street in Somerville or Chelsea or Lynn or some other nearby city north of Boston that I always see out the window of commuter trains that's a Speed Limit 11 I believe. Looks fully standard.

The Riverside MBTA station in Newton has this in the parking lot:

[ethanman62187]

It's unusual that the speed limit is not divisible by 5.

[1995hoo]

It's unusual that the speed limit is not divisible by 5.

Is that you, Captain Obvious???

[Quillz]

My local community college has their parking lot speed limit at 8. But at the university I go, it's an otherwise standard 25.

[DRMan]

The Riverside MBTA station in Newton has this in the parking lot:

Is that speed limit for cars or for the Green Line trolleys?

[deathtopumpkins]

The Riverside MBTA station in Newton has this in the parking lot:

Is that speed limit for cars or for the Green Line trolleys?

Buses, actually. Though the Green Line trolleys use the same signs. All MBTA bus stations to my knowledge have Speed Limit 6 signs (at least the ones I walk through regularly like Ruggles do).

[vtk]

The Riverside MBTA station in Newton has this in the parking lot:

I don't remember seeing that when I was there last May.  Then again, if a speed limit or stop sign is on private property, isn't standard design, and is excessively restrictive, I tend to disregard it entirely.