The Worst of Road Signs

[formulanone]

Sorry, gentlemen but the Orlando Tragic sign is still the worst we've seen all week.

[paulthemapguy]

Lol are we going to start holding weekly contests for the most egregious traffic control elements?  I'm down.

[JoePCool14]

Lol are we going to start holding weekly contests for the most egregious traffic control elements?  I'm down.

The Best of the Worst?

[Scott5114]

I'm most bothered by the option lane arrowheads not being the same size as the other four.

I imagine it probably looks particularly weird to your eyes since KDOT actually enlarges the arrowhead size on splitting arrows.

[mrsman]

Oh, and if that's not enough? There's one going the other way, too!

So if I want to get to Amarillo, I take the centermost lane? But I'm in the leftmost lane! What shall I do!?!

P.S. This sign would be fine without the I-40 reassurance and if it was centered over the exit. But I guess accuracy or precision is overrated.

I would be OK with this sign if the three straight arrows were removed.

I like this sign as well, but I would make the left of these into an option type arrow.

For a multi-lane highway with maybe only an exit in the right two lanes (or right lane with an option lane in the next to right lane), I feel that Ontario Canada has the right approach of only signingthe lanes for the exit, since all can assume that the majority of lanes will keep you on the freeway.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7716908,-79.3000977,3a,75y,279.44h,103.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8CFsCS5kmGt6gftiO5z10A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

This is clear on the overhead sign as well as being clear on the ground mounted.  And it only references the right two lanes without mentioning any of the others; because they aren't necesary.

[kphoger]

I like this sign as well, but I would make the left of these into an option type arrow.

[jakeroot]

My South Africa inspired alternative:

[Ned Weasel]

My South Africa inspired alternative:

ODOT and Caltrans both really need to hire some graphic designers to do their signs.  Probably NMDOT, too.

[Max Rockatansky]

Junction CA 207 from CA 4 eastbound:

207CAa by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

207CAb by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[plain]

Those signs might as well been ground mounted and made larger.

Also, a 24% grade???? YIKES!!!

[STLmapboy]

24% is the steepest grade I've ever seen. Previously it was 20, around Yosemite.

[ozarkman417]

24% is the steepest grade I've ever seen. Previously it was 20, around Yosemite.

Max posted a 26% UPhill sign here.. and whatever goes up, most come down.

[Max Rockatansky]

Given how many snow poles are on the Side of the highway I suspect the concern is the shield would get blocked by winter drifts.  And yes, it really is 24% downhill ahead on CA 4 towards Ebbetts Pass.  Sonora Pass has a 26% gradient sign. 

[STLmapboy]

24% is the steepest grade I've ever seen. Previously it was 20, around Yosemite.

Max posted a 26% UPhill sign here.. and whatever goes up, most come down.

A quick Google shows the steepest road in the US as Canton Ave in Pittsburgh, with a short but mighty 37% grade. 2007 GSV shows that there used to be a house at the base of it (with a wimpy guardrail in front). Bad idea, and the house is now gone. Can't imagine that it wasn't the subject of an accident or two.

[andrepoiy]

Just use Ontario style arrows like you see on my signature. Haha.

[mrsman]

I like this sign as well, but I would make the left of these into an option type arrow.

Something like that, with a shorter straight arrow.

Just use Ontario style arrows like you see on my signature. Haha.

Indeed.  That would work well for most option lane exits that are 1.5 lanes.  It would work well for the I-40/ K Turnpike sign upthread that promted the discussion.

I-40 west can still be mentioned, but it doesn't need (and should not have) straight arrows since the majority of the lanes still go there.

[D-Dey65]

Okay, MDOT. I understand that you rebuilt Maryland House in the early-2010's, and as much as we all love button copy signs, too many of them age poorly and have to be replaced. But did you really have to replace the big red sign facing wrong way traffic at the northbound entrance with something so damn small?
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Overhead_NB_Wrong_Way_Sign_@_Maryland_House;_2019.jpg

[Takumi]

24% is the steepest grade I've ever seen. Previously it was 20, around Yosemite.

Max posted a 26% UPhill sign here.. and whatever goes up, most come down.

A quick Google shows the steepest road in the US as Canton Ave in Pittsburgh, with a short but mighty 37% grade. 2007 GSV shows that there used to be a house at the base of it (with a wimpy guardrail in front). Bad idea, and the house is now gone. Can't imagine that it wasn't the subject of an accident or two.

That house looks like it was about to collapse whether or not a car went through it.

[STLmapboy]

This is not cRAig CounTy but it comes close.

[SectorZ]

This is not cRAig CounTy but it comes close.

Is that in Comic Sans?

[Brandon]

This is not cRAig CounTy but it comes close.

Is that in Comic Sans?

No.  It's a mix of Clearview and FHWA, as well as upper and lower case letters, and font widths as well as a misaligned "y" to boot.

It sure as hell qualifies for this thread.  "EXpressway"

[CNGL-Leudimin]

This is not craIG county but it comes close.

FTFY

It appears this sign came up after the Ohio River Bridges project was completed. Before 2016, an all-Clearview sign that had been up since ca. September 2007 was in its place.

[CardInLex]

This is not craIG county but it comes close.

FTFY

It appears this sign came up after the Ohio River Bridges project was completed. Before 2016, an all-Clearview sign that had been up since ca. September 2007 was in its place.

The signs on this stretch have been painful to see for years. The Muhammad Ali Blvd 1/2 mile features a homemade 2 and an upside down W as an M. And further up, an Indianapolis uses an uppercase P.

However, the past few weeks there have been a lot of new overhead panels installed in Louisville. So, maybe these will get replaced. (New APLs on 71, 264, and other new overhead on 64).

The crazy "expressway"  is left over from the Ohio River Bridges project. During construction the word "expressway"  was removed to put downward arrows in place to help maintain traffic.

[J3ebrules]

This is not cRAig CounTy but it comes close.

It looks like they originally forgot the Y and had to slap it on from the top of a tractor trailer pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey style as they drove under the sign.

[formulanone]

This is not cRAig CounTy but it comes close.

There's an air of "temporary" in those signs, yet they've been up a few years now...



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