The Worst of Road Signs

[WillWeaverRVA]

I think I see some Clearview 95's...

You do. I didn't think that interchange's signage could get any worse, but it did.

[1995hoo]

Here is another view of that same spot. I was driving my wife's car earlier today and I took this picture below and to the right of the location in the prior photo–I was on Commerce Street heading south and was waiting at the red light to pass underneath the overpass where I took the previous one (see the lights running along the overpass in the other picture). Picture was taken holding the camera out the sunroof and you can see that other stub of a mast arm I mentioned before. I confirmed on Street View that the stub arm used to be much longer and was the sole mast arm at that location. They shortened it and installed the other earlier this year when they added the extra signs. (The old arm also used to have signals with two red indicators per signal, though Street View doesn't show that.)

The part of this installation that offends me the most is putting a mast arm with lights and signs directly in front of another sign assembly.

[Alps]

That looks like an old television screen.

+1

Same here, although those rounded corners of a TV screen are a thing of the past. Last week, my daughter and I were watching some old Looney Toons, and the phrase "don't touch that dial" was mentioned. "Daddy, what's a die-all?" ...they haven't been relevant to me since 1985, when our little 9" B&W set broke.

Tears involuntarily escaped my eyes when I read that. You realize kids don't know that phones are connected to walls? They have no idea what a cassette tape is, or a VHS, or why we're all so nervous about passing cameras through airport detectors.

[agentsteel53]

Tears involuntarily escaped my eyes when I read that. You realize kids don't know that phones are connected to walls? They have no idea what a cassette tape is, or a VHS, or why we're all so nervous about passing cameras through airport detectors.

Steve, you're approximately as old as I am.  (I was born 5/18/81.)  I barely have any idea that phones are connected to walls... I listened to cassettes only because they were cheaper than CDs... and I've never once owned a film camera.

[J N Winkler]

Young people starting college today have no memory of a world without the Web.

[Alps]

Tears involuntarily escaped my eyes when I read that. You realize kids don't know that phones are connected to walls? They have no idea what a cassette tape is, or a VHS, or why we're all so nervous about passing cameras through airport detectors.

Steve, you're approximately as old as I am.  (I was born 5/18/81.)  I barely have any idea that phones are connected to walls... I listened to cassettes only because they were cheaper than CDs... and I've never once owned a film camera.

It's the Gen X/Y boundary. I identify with Gen X despite being a couple years "after" the changeover (it's of course a fuzzy concept). You could very well be Gen Y by the same token.

[agentsteel53]

It's the Gen X/Y boundary. I identify with Gen X despite being a couple years "after" the changeover (it's of course a fuzzy concept). You could very well be Gen Y by the same token.

good point.  I'm very likely Gen Y, though the fact that my musical tastes stop around 1993 may beg to differ.

[vtk]

Do we need to start a thread in the OT board about how old we are and how much about the past young people don't know?

[formulanone]

good point.  I'm very likely Gen Y, though the fact that my musical tastes stop around 1993 may beg to differ.

I'm a gen-X, but yes, my musical tastes end somewhere generally around 2000 or so; I pretty much realized recently that there's very few bands/soloists I'll listen to that weren't releasing albums before that time. Although, it's been somewhat rewarding to find stuff that predates my understanding of music in return.

The part of this installation that offends me the most is putting a mast arm with lights and signs directly in front of another sign assembly.

This one might really get you, then:



(Street View)

[agentsteel53]

this one is pretty bad, too.



one of only two '57 spec shields in Arizona.  the other one is on the opposite side of the gantry.  this one, facing south, would be much more ideal to photograph, but there's almost no way one can approach it successfully given the placement of the light post.

[vtk]

How on Earth did a shiny new Clearview sign get a '57 spec Interstate shield?

[Lightning Strike]

The part of this installation that offends me the most is putting a mast arm with lights and signs directly in front of another sign assembly.

This one might really get you, then:

I'm sorry but, how you put a mast arm in front of a sign?!    Especially that close. On a close inspection, it almost looks like the left end of the mast arm has brushed against the sign, by the discoloration, though I could be wrong.

[agentsteel53]

How on Earth did a shiny new Clearview sign get a '57 spec Interstate shield?

I don't know.  I was going to say 'California contractor' but that wouldn't explain the Clearview.

[thenetwork]

The part of this installation that offends me the most is putting a mast arm with lights and signs directly in front of another sign assembly.

This one might really get you, then:

I'm sorry but, how you put a mast arm in front of a sign?!    Especially that close. On a close inspection, it almost looks like the left end of the mast arm has brushed against the sign, by the discoloration, though I could be wrong.

No, that mast arm is clearly against that BGS.  What is interesting to see is how much that mast arm can move when exposed to hurricane-force winds -- that arcing scratch on the sign can attest that the mast arm has survived a few major windstorms.

[roadfro]

The part of this installation that offends me the most is putting a mast arm with lights and signs directly in front of another sign assembly.

The signs on the signal mast arm are "combination lane-use/destination overhead guide signs", a new type of sign introduced in the 2009 MUTCD. While not explicitly stated in the manual for that section, I believe the intent of these signs was to be used upstream of the intersection to aid in lane assignments in advance of the intersection. Had that use been applied here, the conflicting views of the two sets of signs could've been avoided, and the street name sign on the extra mast arm could be on the signal mast as usual.

[1995hoo]

This is easily the ugliest Virginia shield I've ever seen, by far. It's on the ramp from the Inner Loop of the Beltway to Telegraph Road and Pershing Avenue. I parked at the Holiday Inn and climbed a small hill to get the picture, but it's still zoomed in a bit far for a mobile-phone camera. Hence the graininess.

[US71]

Would this qualify as a "worst" or simply "most creative re-use" ?

[1995hoo]

Wow. Where is that?

[US71]

Wow. Where is that?

Deepwater, MO

[Takumi]

This is easily the ugliest Virginia shield I've ever seen, by far. It's on the ramp from the Inner Loop of the Beltway to Telegraph Road and Pershing Avenue. I parked at the Holiday Inn and climbed a small hill to get the picture, but it's still zoomed in a bit far for a mobile-phone camera. Hence the graininess.

That dates back to at least May. I saw it on my way back from Baltimore, but the picture didn't turn out because it was in front of the sunset.

[1995hoo]

This is easily the ugliest Virginia shield I've ever seen, by far. It's on the ramp from the Inner Loop of the Beltway to Telegraph Road and Pershing Avenue. I parked at the Holiday Inn and climbed a small hill to get the picture, but it's still zoomed in a bit far for a mobile-phone camera. Hence the graininess.

That dates back to at least May. I saw it on my way back from Baltimore, but the picture didn't turn out because it was in front of the sunset.

Yeah, I had seen it earlier this year but wasn't prepared for it and so wasn't able to get a picture given its location and on other trips I didn't have time. I almost never use that ramp because it's out of the way for where I live and normally if I use it, I'm bailing out of traffic. Yesterday on my way home from Old Town I was aware of it and had time to stop to get a picture.

[Takumi]

From the new Meadowville interchange. *insert political "far-left" pun here*

[Lightning Strike]

Wow that sign has a lot of empty space, couldn't they have shrunk the sign? A little more vertical would have probably did the job just as well. Reminds me of the exit sign for 290/Il-53 as you're going WB on 90. The shield used for 290 seems an older style, but there also seems like a lot of un-used space.

[Takumi]

The oddest part about it is that it's only like that on the overheads that are right at the exit. (My photo of the southbound one was blurry, but it looks the same.) The overheads farther in advance have the shield in the correct spot.

[74/171FAN]

The oddest part about it is that it's only like that on the overheads that are right at the exit. (My photo of the southbound one was blurry, but it looks the same.) The overheads farther in advance have the shield in the correct spot.

As soon as I saw that I knew that it could be posted here.  I would have posted it if you didn't beat me to it.