The Worst of Road Signs

[kurumi]

This miscolored, neutered, non-cutout thing can be found in (select one):

• Auburn, Alabama
• Braselton, Georgia
• Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Sunnyvale, California

[Molandfreak]

^I don't think that's too bad. Especially for city installations that fuck up the standard interstate shield design 9 times out of 10, I don't mind them. It does resemble a business route sign, but meh.

[KEK Inc.]

This miscolored, neutered, non-cutout thing can be found in (select one):

• Auburn, Alabama
• Braselton, Georgia
• Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Sunnyvale, California

Guessing from the streetlight in the background (and the nature of this thread), it has to be Sunnyvale, CA.  Yikes. 

[Zeffy]

Somehow this topic got locked. We're not actually sure how that happened, but regardless, the thread is now reopened.

[PHLBOS]

"Greetings from G inger Hill!" -- heading west on I-70 between Washington and Greensburg in PA.

That's more of a design/fabrication error.

While that BGS does have some other issues (squashed Series C text in the PA 917 shield (should be Series D) and the oversized EXIT tab); I've seen worse examples.

[kkt]

This miscolored, neutered, non-cutout thing can be found in (select one):

• Auburn, Alabama
• Braselton, Georgia
• Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Sunnyvale, California

Guessing from the streetlight in the background (and the nature of this thread), it has to be Sunnyvale, CA.  Yikes. 

I was thinking Sunnyvale based on that bush.  It has a very California south bay area sort of look to it.

[myosh_tino]

This miscolored, neutered, non-cutout thing can be found in (select one):

• Auburn, Alabama
• Braselton, Georgia
• Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Sunnyvale, California

Guessing from the streetlight in the background (and the nature of this thread), it has to be Sunnyvale, CA.  Yikes. 

I was thinking Sunnyvale based on that bush.  It has a very California south bay area sort of look to it.

I've seen temporary construction signs (black on orange) that look like that but I don't recall seeing a white-on-green one anywhere.  With that said, it's entirely possible it is in Sunnyvale because of the type of light pole (concrete with embedded pebbles, very common in Sunnyvale), the overhead power lines, the bushes and the street light in the background.

[NE2]

There are only two entrances to SR 85 north in Sunnyvale, so it's not hard to check the Goog.

[national highway 1]

This US 280 shield on the AARoads Facebook page leaves much to be desired... 

[KEK Inc.]

It's on homestead east of CA-85 if you want to see it on street view.  That streetlight column design is common in California. 


iPhone

[Darkchylde]

This US 280 shield on the AARoads Facebook page leaves much to be desired... 

I'd be nominating that for bests, but that's me.

[KEK Inc.]

Here's one from SDOT!

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5715635,-122.3316804,3a,28.7y,93.34h,89.98t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sYgEJ7V6cP-9oOWs9Xa-aqQ!2e0

[jakeroot]

Here's one from SDOT!

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5715635,-122.3316804,3a,28.7y,93.34h,89.98t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sYgEJ7V6cP-9oOWs9Xa-aqQ!2e0

I took a photo of this yesterday because I had the same thought:

Only now do I notice the prior off-slip arrow. I don't think they did a bad job covering it up, necessarily, but the text is massive and that detracts.

[hbelkins]

This US 280 shield on the AARoads Facebook page leaves much to be desired... 

That style is pretty common in Georgia.

[Billy F 1988]

Here's one from SDOT!

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5715635,-122.3316804,3a,28.7y,93.34h,89.98t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sYgEJ7V6cP-9oOWs9Xa-aqQ!2e0

I took a photo of this yesterday because I had the same thought:

Only now do I notice the prior off-slip arrow. I don't think they did a bad job covering it up, necessarily, but the text is massive and that detracts.

I can sense the "4" is close to 40+ inches in size. The rest of the line is close to 36 inches in my estimation. That's just waaay too big for a sign like this.

[jbnv]

I'm just going to go ahead and give a general Worst Of award to Louisiana's state highway shields. It's no secret that the LA shields vary widely in quality and aesthetics. What prompted me to post this was what I saw today in just one short roadtrip: Undersized numerals. Improperly kerned numerals. Misaligned numerals. Fairly young signs that are fading, including one that is almost illegible. Young signs with numerals that are peeling off. The suffix "-1" slapped on what was originally a good-looking LA 89 sign. A four-digit number that looked like it was in poorly-kerned Clearview, perhaps because it's peeling.

I wasn't able to stop and get pictures of these various fails, but happened to walk right underneath this particular sign and get a snapshot.



Oddly enough, the older white-on-green-on-white songs that I encountered on this route were in good shapes. The newer black-on-white-on-black ones were the ugly decomposing ones.

(For the curious: My route covered most of LA 3073 in Lafayette, LA 96 from LA 182 to LA 347 in St. Martinville, and the small parts of US 90 and LA 182 in between.)

[cl94]

Last posted in this very thread a few years ago, but this piece of crap, courtesy of the City of Tonawanda, NY, is still there. Its identical sister sign is barely visible in the background.

[NE2]

Last posted in this very thread a few years ago, but this piece of crap, courtesy of the City of Tonawanda, NY, is still there. Its identical sister sign is barely visible in the background.

That's so bad it's good.

Someone at the sign shop shat a brick.

[cl94]

Last posted in this very thread a few years ago, but this piece of crap, courtesy of the City of Tonawanda, NY, is still there. Its identical sister sign is barely visible in the background.

That's so bad it's good.

Someone at the sign shop shat a brick.

I almost said that when I posted it. Tonawanda's signs are notoriously subpar, whether they be name blades or this thing straight out of Minecraft.

[KEK Inc.]

Here's one from SDOT!

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5715635,-122.3316804,3a,28.7y,93.34h,89.98t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sYgEJ7V6cP-9oOWs9Xa-aqQ!2e0

I took a photo of this yesterday because I had the same thought:

Only now do I notice the prior off-slip arrow. I don't think they did a bad job covering it up, necessarily, but the text is massive and that detracts.

I can sense the "4" is close to 40+ inches in size. The rest of the line is close to 36 inches in my estimation. That's just waaay too big for a sign like this.

Spokane Wy is maintained by Seattle, not WSDOT.  It fits the style of streetblades in the city. 


iPhone

[jakeroot]

Another Seattle-area gem...this one near the Tacoma Dome along I-5 South. The old signs, which were mounted on either side of the southbound carriageway were replaced by shoulder-mounted gantries so that construction in the median could take place. This section of I-5 did not have a median (it's three carriageways) and, in order for the HOV lane construction to commence, they needed the space in the middle. All the lanes have shifted to the right (and have also narrowed significantly).

Needless to say, the job was less than spectacular:

- no control cities
- no suffixed exit number (the first sign is pointing to two exits despite there only being one exit number...wtf)
- double-length 45-degree shaft was a poor choice
- very little green-space, particularly on the first sign.
- also on the first sign, placing the "only" between the two angled arrows would only be correct at the gore point (since the left lane doesn't have to exit at the first exit)

[thenetwork]

Here's one from SDOT!

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5715635,-122.3316804,3a,28.7y,93.34h,89.98t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sYgEJ7V6cP-9oOWs9Xa-aqQ!2e0

I took a photo of this yesterday because I had the same thought:

Only now do I notice the prior off-slip arrow. I don't think they did a bad job covering it up, necessarily, but the text is massive and that detracts.

I can sense the "4" is close to 40+ inches in size. The rest of the line is close to 36 inches in my estimation. That's just waaay too big for a sign like this.

Spokane Wy is maintained by Seattle, not WSDOT.  It fits the style of streetblades in the city. 

On the flip, the advisory curve sign is unusually small, IMHO...or maybe it looks small compared to the gargantuan overhead.

[Eth]

Last posted in this very thread a few years ago, but this piece of crap, courtesy of the City of Tonawanda, NY, is still there. Its identical sister sign is barely visible in the background.

Hey, where have I seen that before?

[JoePCool14]

Last posted in this very thread a few years ago, but this piece of crap, courtesy of the City of Tonawanda, NY, is still there. Its identical sister sign is barely visible in the background.

Hey, where have I seen that before?

Depends, which came first? If it was the suggestion thread, I'm guessing that DOT needs to stop looking at this forum for ideas.

[talllguy]

Something about this just doesn't seem right.