The Worst of Road Signs

[The High Plains Traveler]

(Not repeating the photo)

The 'To' and left arrow tabs on the US 20 sign look like they've been taken from a trailblazer assembly and just pasted on the green sign blank.

Nevada does that in a couple of locations along I-80, where there are junctions with Alternate U.S. 93, 50 and 95. The Alternate is the freestanding supplemental plate, placed on the guide sign above the properly rendered cutout U.S. marker. I think the direction plate was also so posted.

[WNYroadgeek]

Is it an interstate or a US route? The world will never know.

Just be thankful it isn't a state-named shield. Would be even more confusing!

[roadfro]

(Not repeating the photo)

The 'To' and left arrow tabs on the US 20 sign look like they've been taken from a trailblazer assembly and just pasted on the green sign blank.

Nevada does that in a couple of locations along I-80, where there are junctions with Alternate U.S. 93, 50 and 95. The Alternate is the freestanding supplemental plate, placed on the guide sign above the properly rendered cutout U.S. marker. I think the direction plate was also so posted.

On I-80 at Fernley, the BGSs for US 50 Alt and US 95 Alt have the ALT banner (and "SOUTH" banner for US 95 Alt) affixed directly to the green sign. As near as I can tell, the actual shield is part of the BGS.

The signs for US 93 Alt at Wendover are standard design with white on green "ALT".

[Jim]

On I-80 at Fernley, the BGSs for US 50 Alt and US 95 Alt have the ALT banner (and "SOUTH" banner for US 95 Alt) affixed directly to the green sign. As near as I can tell, the actual shield is part of the BGS.

The signs for US 93 Alt at Wendover are standard design with white on green "ALT".

Here's an example from Fernley, but not on I-80:

[Ian]

Seen inside the Crossgates Mall near Albany, NY:



Taken on November 26, 2009.

Well I was just by here this afternoon. The I-87/90/Thruway sign on the right is gone and the one on the bottom has been moved under the left sign. Next to the assembly is an I-87/90/Thruway shield assembly that looks more normal.

[Scott5114]

On I-80 at Fernley, the BGSs for US 50 Alt and US 95 Alt have the ALT banner (and "SOUTH" banner for US 95 Alt) affixed directly to the green sign. As near as I can tell, the actual shield is part of the BGS.

The signs for US 93 Alt at Wendover are standard design with white on green "ALT".

Here's an example from Fernley, but not on I-80:

The 2009 MUTCD now explicitly forbids using plaques on BGSes in that manner.

[hbelkins]

The 2009 MUTCD now explicitly forbids using plaques on BGSes in that manner.

Which is yet another reason I think so little of arbitrary federal guidelines for state signage.

[DBrim]

Oh, MA...


(not my picture)

[yakra]

HA! I think that should be in "Best of"...
But that's just, like, my opinion, man...

[roadfro]

Here's an example from Fernley, but not on I-80:

The 2009 MUTCD now explicitly forbids using plaques on BGSes in that manner.

I just drove by that roundabout earlier this evening and was looking at the similar sign posted on the opposite approach (which has more banners and shields). All of the guide signs at that junction are horribly designed; they're extremely hard to read even at the 35mph speed on each approach. The banner plates on the green background is a big part of the problem.

Actually, a big issue with that roundabout is that there are way too many signs, especially when you add in all the pedestrian warning signs that are there.

[roadman]

Oh, MA...


(not my picture)

This picture was featured in the Boston Globe the other day.  For those not from the Boston area, the VMS is on a local parkway in Boston called Morrissey Boulevard.  The road is barely above sea level, with the result it floods out very easily during any storm that occurs during the time of high tides.

It is still unclear whether the sign was hacked to read "Wicked", or if it was deliberately programmed that way by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the local agency that owns and maintains the parkway.

[Takumi]

I've seen some horrible signage in the past couple weeks. Unfortunately the pictures aren't much better.

Sometime this summer the last few state-name I-95 shields from the 1980s were replaced with...these. The blurriness of this picture hides it a little bit, but there's a LOT of space between the numbers and the ends of the shield. It looks fat.


This is on northbound US 1/301 in Colonial Heights, where the height notice is for a span wire signal just ahead. Southbound is even uglier, with the 14' notice stuck to an orange traffic barrel.


This monstrosity still exists, having been posted earlier in the thread. In addition to the 9 in I-95 being really crooked, the US 301 shield's numerals are justified too far to the left.


Just ahead of the previous picture on US 301 southbound. It's more weird to me than it is ugly, but that font is definitely not standard.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Sometime this summer the last few state-name I-95 shields from the 1980s were replaced with...these. The blurriness of this picture hides it a little bit, but there's a LOT of space between the numbers and the ends of the shield. It looks fat.

These have been popping up everywhere. There's a bunch near Richmond on the new gantry-mounted overhead signage VDOT is installing to replace many bridge-mounted signs (which tend to get hit by large trucks and fall onto the road). They're really unsightly.

[hbelkins]

This is on northbound US 1/301 in Colonial Heights, where the height notice is for a span wire signal just ahead. Southbound is even uglier, with the 14' notice stuck to an orange traffic barrel.

What's wrong with this?

[WillWeaverRVA]

I don't think there's anything "wrong", per se, but it looks awkward given that most locations in Virginia usually include the inches in low clearance signs, even if the height is X feet 0 inches. Of course, VDOT didn't install this sign, so...

[D-Dey65]

Here's something else that bothers me, although I don't have any pics for it;
Westbound on the Long Island Expressway near former Exit 54, the main road and the service road are cluttered with sign gantries with empty spaces that could be easily be filled by taking a few gantries down and moving them to the ones with empty spaces. Even on the eastbound service road, there's a big overhead gantry right next to a ground-mounted BGS for Washington Avenue that could be moved to that gantry... or at least there was the last time I was there.

[SidS1045]

Oh, MA...


(not my picture)

This picture was featured in the Boston Globe the other day.  For those not from the Boston area, the VMS is on a local parkway in Boston called Morrissey Boulevard.  The road is barely above sea level, with the result it floods out very easily during any storm that occurs during the time of high tides.

It is still unclear whether the sign was hacked to read "Wicked", or if it was deliberately programmed that way by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the local agency that owns and maintains the parkway.

According to this past Sunday's Globe, the sign was programmed that way by DCR.  The spokesperson freely admitted that they went for a bit of humor and local color (in the Boston area "wicked" is an acceptable substitute for "very," as in:  "That is a wicked awsome movie!").

[yakra]

Don't say it unless you play for the Red Sox or you're from New England.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-euti6iPr9g

[ctsignguy]

Oh, MA...


(not my picture)

This picture was featured in the Boston Globe the other day.  For those not from the Boston area, the VMS is on a local parkway in Boston called Morrissey Boulevard.  The road is barely above sea level, with the result it floods out very easily during any storm that occurs during the time of high tides.

It is still unclear whether the sign was hacked to read "Wicked", or if it was deliberately programmed that way by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the local agency that owns and maintains the parkway.

I am glad you mentioned where it was from. i would have thought maybe California if the sign read "Wicked High Tides, Dudes!'

[empirestate]

According to this past Sunday's Globe, the sign was programmed that way by DCR.  The spokesperson freely admitted that they went for a bit of humor and local color (in the Boston area "wicked" is an acceptable substitute for "very," as in:  "That is a wicked awsome movie!").

Anybody else remember when "wicked" was just an adjective, even in its slang form? i.e., "That movie was wicked!"

(May never have been the case in Massachusetts, but that's the usage I remember from the 80s.)

[SidS1045]

According to this past Sunday's Globe, the sign was programmed that way by DCR.  The spokesperson freely admitted that they went for a bit of humor and local color (in the Boston area "wicked" is an acceptable substitute for "very," as in:  "That is a wicked awsome movie!").

Anybody else remember when "wicked" was just an adjective, even in its slang form? i.e., "That movie was wicked!"

(May never have been the case in Massachusetts, but that's the usage I remember from the 80s.)

These days "wicked" is usually paired with another Boston-area localism:  "pissa," meaning really good, great, wonderful, etc., as in "The paint job on that cah is wicked pissa!"

[busman_49]

A couple of state route signs I found in Marion, Ohio:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/busman_49/6431690017/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/busman_49/6431692241/

For one, the state outline is misshapen.  For two, the font is way too big.  It doesn't look so bad on the route 4 sign, but the 423 is hideous.  These things are all over town.

[vtk]

A couple of state route signs I found in Marion, Ohio:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/busman_49/6431690017/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/busman_49/6431692241/

For one, the state outline is misshapen.  For two, the font is way too big.  It doesn't look so bad on the route 4 sign, but the 423 is hideous.  These things are all over town.

The font isn't too big, it's the standard size.  The nonstandard state outline just doesn't leave enough room for multiple correct-sized digits.

[hbelkins]

States that use their border outlines for their route markers shouldn't try to widen them (or contract them, if applicable) to fit three-digit numbers in them. They should instead use a narrower font.

And in the case of Kansas, whoever saw an oval sunflower?

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

States that use their border outlines for their route markers shouldn't try to widen them (or contract them, if applicable) to fit three-digit numbers in them. They should instead use a narrower font.

And in the case of Kansas, whoever saw an oval sunflower?

It seemed to me that ODOT put the widened shields in "wide" use in the mid to late 80s. I remember wide shields (both state outline and federal design) being few and far between when I was a pre-schooler in the 1970s (out east of Cleveland). Even after moving here to Central Ohio, I only saw wide shields on major routes. Local routes were left with the "narrow" shields.

P.S. I never liked the narrow font, "small" shield combination for 3 digit routes, and as I stated above, that was standard proceedure here in Ohio for many years.