Street Blade Signs Changing (All Uppercase > Mixed Case)?

[froggie]

Closer to the Springfield, IL ones in that the lowercase letters were vertically centered.  But with an even more pronounced size difference between the capital and lowercase letters.

[Kniwt]

The story has reached the mighty metropolis of Terre Haute, Ind., where today's edition of the local newspaper reports a cost of at least $1.2 million. For just a mid-sized city:

Terre Haute's current inventory shows 8,331 signs. About 12 percent of those are estimated to meet the new federal regulations, leaving the city with an estimated 7,290 signs to replace, Hinsenkamp said. However, a new inventory will be required by the city, he said.

[Scott5114]

Should have been amortizing that over the past 8 years, guys! Then you'd only have to be paying $150,000 a year.

[Michael]

I noticed a new street sign at the corner of Schwartz Drive and McIntosh Drive in Auburn today, and it was not in mixed case.  I don't know how long it's been there (I don't pay THAT much attention!), but it's relatively new.

[Brandon]

No idea how they'll handle it locally.  I've seen a newer City of Crest Hill blade in upper and lower case, but unsure if it was installed by the city or a contractor.  Here's their standard:



And the City of Joliet standard.  They also have a wider blade for major streets (I'll have a photo later).

[RJ145]

So does this reg require that all uppercase blade signs be replaced with mixed letters? Or just that after a certain date they can't be made with all uppercase?

[deathtopumpkins]

Both the local cities of Hampton and Newport News are replacing sign blades now. I've seen a few intersections with Clearview ones in Newport News, a city that already used mixed-case FHWA alphabets with white-on-green colors. And now this week Hampton, who also already used mixed-case FHWA alphabets (white on blue), installed a few Clearview blades that have horizontally compressed fonts with way too narrow of margins, and that look absolutely awful. It really surprised me considering that about a month ago they went down our main arterial (Mercury Blvd / US 258) and installed "NEXT SIGNAL" signs of the same format, but with FHWA alphabets.

[mjb2002]

So does this reg require that all uppercase blade signs be replaced with mixed letters? Or just that after a certain date they can't be made with all uppercase?

Yes. This requires all uppercase blade street signs to be replaced with mixed-case blades. The mixed case blades can be in any font. The deadline is January 22, 2012.

[Scott5114]

Not any font. The MUTCD has always required the FHWA Series font to be used on all signage. In addition, Clearview can be used if the agency has approval from FHWA.

[RJ145]

So does this reg require that all uppercase blade signs be replaced with mixed letters? Or just that after a certain date they can't be made with all uppercase?

Yes. This requires all uppercase blade street signs to be replaced with mixed-case blades. The mixed case blades can be in any font. The deadline is January 22, 2012.

Damn, my town must be pissed. They just replaced all of the street blade signs 2 years ago with all uppercase.

[Scott5114]

Actually, I believe the 2012 compliance deadline is for the retroreflectivity standards introduced in the 2003 MUTCD, not mixed case. It's just that with the 2009 MUTCD all new signs have to be mixed case, so any signs that do not meet standards now that it's out will need to be replaced with mixed case signage.

[MichiganDriver]

Correct the compliance date is just for retroreflectivy, there actually three dates as part of the rule. 2012 when assesment/implementations plans complete, warning, regulatory and post-mounted guide sign need to be replaced by 2015 and street name and overhead guide signs by 2018

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

The great street blade sign debate made its way to Columbus today.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/07/copy/signs-of-waste-cities-debate-u-s-rule.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/feb/07/4/street-signs-changing-for-safety-reasons-ar-388847/

[WillWeaverRVA]

I hate to necropost (this thread's not too old, though), but Richmond has finally begun adopting mixed-case signage to comply with the new MUTCD. They actually look quite nice, similar to Chesterfield County's street signage:


New Richmond MUTCD-Compliant Street Signs by Will Weaver, on Flickr

An example of the most recent previous standard (street signs in Richmond have gone through various changes since the Broad Street trolley cars stopped running long ago):


Cary & Belmont by Will Weaver, on Flickr

Now if only they'd fix their shields...

[RJ145]

All caps looks so much better. And IMHO is much easier to read.

[Scott5114]

All caps looks so much better. And IMHO is much easier to read.

Read back to pages 4 and 5, where some studies were discussed that might invalidate your opinion.

[mightyace]

^^^

The studies don't invalidate his opinion, they just mean he's in the minority.

[mjb2002]

Here is a pic of the new street signs in Aiken County, S.C. (they really didn't have to change their signs, as they were already in mixed-case):

[Android]

Is it just me, or do the lowercase 'e's in that Robert M. Bell sign look...wrong!???

[Anthony_JK]

As far as I can tell, Baton Rouge is already in compliance, since they long since upgraded their street blades to mixed case (reflective white on blue).

New Orleans is also already in compliance, since they use mixed case.

Lafayette, though, still uses uppercase, so there will be a big issue there.

Although....the downtown area did for a while do bilingual signs with the street name in French mixed case (the English version just above it in upper). Don't know how they are going to handle that.

Also.....the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus uses special blades (red with black trim on reflective white) to distinguish their boundaries...but that's also in uppercase.


Anthony

[mjb2002]

Is it just me, or do the lowercase 'e's in that Robert M. Bell sign look...wrong!???

The e's are kind of stretched. Tested it out just then, with the Series D font as Aiken County is currently using it on the new signs.

[mjb2002]

The e's on Aiken County's signs are fine as long as the sign has five or less letters. Those with six or more letters, such as the HERITAGE RD sign near my current location in Williston, S.C. are kinda stretched.

[Alex]

Pa. township gets OK to keep small century-old street signs

ARDMORE, Pa. – Federal officials have decided that a tony Philadelphia suburb no longer has to replace the small green-and-gold signs that have marked its streets for almost a century.

The decision by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood came after lobbying by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and officials of Lower Merion Township.

Toomey, R-Pa., thanked LaHood in a statement Tuesday and said the decision would also save the township money.

New Federal Highway Administration guidelines require street signs to be replaced by January 2018 with modern reflective signs that are easier to see, especially at night.

The township said replacing the cast-iron signs, which date back to 1913, would cost $1.5 million.

Other suburban communities have complained about the requirements, and transportation officials are now weighing possible revisions.

[agentsteel53]

very good!  now can we get them to bring back cutout US markers?

[Ian]

Very good indeed! Would have been depressing to see those go as I see those once every other week. In case anyone was wondering, here is what they look like: