The Worst of Road Signs

[jakeroot]

The text written in Transport is unique though. Looks quite decent IMO.

Where's the Transport? The overhead sign is Series...C?

[SignGeek101]

The text written in Transport is unique though. Looks quite decent IMO.

Where's the Transport? The overhead sign is Series...C?

I was talking about the shape of the shield and the arrow. The airport sign's shield posted above looks like the shield on the Streetview.

The airport sign posted above is written in Transport.

[mhh]

The shields look hideous. The shape and the arrows look like Mexican signage.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.9040897,-116.7255374,3a,18.6y,298.41h,101.76t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s0MTqbDYU_QH6rtfUn0qWOA!2e0?hl=en

The text written in Transport is unique though. Looks quite decent IMO.

It looks like Mexican signage because it is Mexican signage.

[Brandon]

The shields look hideous. The shape and the arrows look like Mexican signage.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.9040897,-116.7255374,3a,18.6y,298.41h,101.76t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s0MTqbDYU_QH6rtfUn0qWOA!2e0?hl=en

The text written in Transport is unique though. Looks quite decent IMO.

It looks like Mexican signage because it is Mexican signage.

So there's Mexican signage as Mexican signage in Evansville, Indiana?

Look back at Post #3810 which SignGeek101 was referring to.

[talllguy]

I can't decide if this belongs under the worst or best



Who thought this was an okay semipermanent detour sign? Gotta love Baltimore.

[PurdueBill]

Showing that circular signs containing arrows would have some value, at least for construction areas where things can change a lot and people may not plan ahead.  Just align the arrow however you like and nail or screw it onto the post.  Voila! No awkward sign corners!

[NE2]

Showing that circular signs containing arrows would have some value, at least for construction areas where things can change a lot and people may not plan ahead.  Just align the arrow however you like and nail or screw it onto the post.  Voila! No awkward sign corners!

from http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ri/ri_12/

[jakeroot]

Showing that circular signs containing arrows would have some value, at least for construction areas where things can change a lot and people may not plan ahead.  Just align the arrow however you like and nail or screw it onto the post.  Voila! No awkward sign corners!

http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ri/ri_12/arrowc.jpg

from http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/ri/ri_12/

Image reference by 1995hoo.

[cpzilliacus]

Two bad ones for the price of one.

U.S. 200?

[hotdogPi]

Two bad ones for the price of one.

U.S. 200?

This is one that's so bad that it becomes funny.

(Worst Of is for those that make you cringe, not those that make you laugh.)

[SignGeek101]

I see this sign often, and I cringe every time I see it.



Either the kerning has been expanded to a ridiculous degree, or that is stretched Clearview 6W?
Why didn't they spell out "boulevard?"
Use of Neg-Contrast Clearview (sadly a common occurrence where I live)
Very narrow (Clearview 1B or 2B?) numerals on a very large sign
Huge arrows (much larger than standard)

http://goo.gl/maps/Hl6cQ

I redid it along with the two signs beside it (which aren't much better IMO).

[roadfro]

Even if the sign width allows for it, I'm never really a fan of spelling out the longer street suffixes on a BGS. Something just seems odd about it to me. And from a driver standpoint, it takes extra time to read and process the sign while driving, which means more time with sight off the road.

[machias]

Even if the sign width allows for it, I'm never really a fan of spelling out the longer street suffixes on a BGS. Something just seems odd about it to me. And from a driver standpoint, it takes extra time to read and process the sign while driving, which means more time with sight off the road.

I completely agree with this.  Also, the use of abbreviations should be consistent, for example, all panels in a sequence should use "Blvd" instead of the first one saying "Blvd" and the second one saying "Boulevard", etc.

[Alex]

Granted it was a temporary sign posted during the Q Bridge construction project, but what a pile of garbage!

[PHLBOS]

Granted it was a temporary sign posted during the Q Bridge construction project, but while pile of garbage!

It almost looks like it's a GSV distortion.

[jakeroot]

Even if the sign width allows for it, I'm never really a fan of spelling out the longer street suffixes on a BGS. Something just seems odd about it to me. And from a driver standpoint, it takes extra time to read and process the sign while driving, which means more time with sight off the road.

I completely agree with this.  Also, the use of abbreviations should be consistent, for example, all panels in a sequence should use "Blvd" instead of the first one saying "Blvd" and the second one saying "Boulevard", etc.

I think it's semantics. How long does it really take to process a word? If anything, it will take people longer to discern "Blvd" if there aren't familiar with the naming conventions in the US. Spelling out the whole word is probably the safer bet.

Also, the use of abbreviations should be consistent, for example, all panels in a sequence should use "Blvd" instead of the first one saying "Blvd" and the second one saying "Boulevard", etc.

Agreed, but only from an aesthetic standpoint.

[roadfro]

Even if the sign width allows for it, I'm never really a fan of spelling out the longer street suffixes on a BGS. Something just seems odd about it to me. And from a driver standpoint, it takes extra time to read and process the sign while driving, which means more time with sight off the road.

I completely agree with this.  Also, the use of abbreviations should be consistent, for example, all panels in a sequence should use "Blvd" instead of the first one saying "Blvd" and the second one saying "Boulevard", etc.

I think it's semantics. How long does it really take to process a word? If anything, it will take people longer to discern "Blvd" if there aren't familiar with the naming conventions in the US. Spelling out the whole word is probably the safer bet.

Spelling the message out is better, if it's the main part of the message--the suffix is not as necessary to spell out fully since it modifies the Main Street name.  If your exit is "Adams Boulevard", you're really looking for "Adams" and not "Boulevard", and you won't get tripped up if a sign says "Adams Blvd"--this particular example, you may more quickly hone in on 'Adams' if there are less letters to parse visually.

I think it's for similar reasons that standard street name signs allow the cardinal direction and suffix to be smaller, since the street name is most important.

[freebrickproductions]

Someone at the sign shop didn't use spell check...
Pavillion by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

[Zeffy]

Gorgeous view of Pittsburgh, which is unfortunately marred by a sign that clearly was beaten with the ugly stick...

[odditude]

Gorgeous view of Pittsburgh, which is unfortunately marred by a sign that clearly was beaten with the ugly stick...

gotta love it when contractors misinterpret the height difference between upper- and lowercase characters.

lack of padding on the shields hurts too. at least the newer Exit 2B sign is Clearview done right.

[Alex]

Gorgeous view of Pittsburgh, which is unfortunately marred by a sign that clearly was beaten with the ugly stick...

It used to be much much worse!

[cl94]

Gorgeous view of Pittsburgh, which is unfortunately marred by a sign that clearly was beaten with the ugly stick...

That's actually pretty common in Western PA. Quite a few signs on I-79 and I-80 like that as well.

[1995hoo]

Someone at the sign shop didn't use spell check...
Pavillion by freebrickproductions, on Flickr

Heh. There used to be a sign like that on westbound I-66 advertising the Nissan Pavilion. Someone used brown-out to obscure one of the "l" characters, which just made it worse. The sign has since been replaced since it's now called the "Jiffy Lube Live Amphitheater" (ugh!), but historic Street View may be seen at the link below:

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.799983,-77.54413,3a,75y,264.73h,86.84t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s_PUwijOgJ8IxbQ1-9ukr2g!2e0!5s20081001T000000

[thenetwork]

Gorgeous view of Pittsburgh, which is unfortunately marred by a sign that clearly was beaten with the ugly stick...

It used to be much much worse!

It might be fugly, but I did like how PennDot and/or the contractor "tarped" the BGSs for temporary signage information than bolting temporary panels to the original signs.   It seems its a lot quicker to put it on and take it off. 

Was the tarping just a Pittsburgh-area thing or did they do it elsewhere in PA?

[Alex4897]

I'd like to nominate pretty much everything on DE 141 northbound through Newport.  I drove northbound through here today for the heck of it and these sights beheld me.
Let it be said that I'm not a rabid anti-Clearviewist, but these look ridiculous.

Sorry about the crappy GMSV screencaps.  I'd rather not get myself killed trying to take pictures while driving in the snow.











This one isn't too bad, I'm just curious as to what made them use that arrow for the straight movement.



This one is actually southbound, but I figured I'd list it here too.  I can't imagine those fractions are very legible at highway speeds.