Mystery white square-with-slash sign

[polpo]

A friend in St. Louis, MO sent me this picture of a sign. It's white, square, and has a black backward-facing slash on it, and is placed at a curve.



Here's the location on Google Maps: http://g.co/maps/6z8ds
Here it is in Street View, obscured by trees: http://g.co/maps/nqqta

What the heck could it be? Some kind of outmoded curve sign? The sign is old, as the white surface is peeling from the top.

[NE2]

Perhaps it was a yellow chevron that the top layer fell off of? They don't normally make signs in layers, but it could have been an experiment.

[US71]

A friend in St. Louis, MO sent me this picture of a sign. It's white, square, and has a black backward-facing slash on it, and is placed at a curve.



Here's the location on Google Maps: http://g.co/maps/6z8ds
Here it is in Street View, obscured by trees: http://g.co/maps/nqqta

What the heck could it be? Some kind of outmoded curve sign? The sign is old, as the white surface is peeling from the top.

Maybe it's supposed to be a Hazard Marker, but done "on the cheap" by the local street department?

[1995hoo]

It looks to me like there may once have been something else on that sign. Notice how the color of the white part changes near the top of the black line.

[Alps]

It looks to me like there may once have been something else on that sign. Notice how the color of the white part changes near the top of the black line.

I think that's the peeling part. My guess is that it's an early sort of chevron, with the downward angle meaning to curve to the right.

[agentsteel53]

I think that's the peeling part. My guess is that it's an early sort of chevron, with the downward angle meaning to curve to the right.

I agree with that assessment: the top of the sign appears to have peeled off to bare aluminum. 

but I have no insight past that. 

[realjd]

It's clearly a TacMar pointing to a secret UN military landing zone.

(Google it)

[empirestate]

That's a head scratcher. 

My first guess was snowplow marker, like a hazard marker but specifically for DOT crews. But looking at the Street View I feel it has something to do with the little squared-off grass area right behind the guide rail; some kind of ROW limit? Or designating the change from one street to the other? Something along those lines.

Or perhaps it just signifies that it is not, as it turns out, hip to be square?

[Duke87]

Obviously not related, but it does curiously resemble an inverted LRT signal.

[drrosenrosen]

It reminds me a little of a seat belt reminder sign...  maybe something like this one:

[relaxok]

It definitely looks painted over. Maybe the innocuous black slash is because they figured a pure white sign people would think was just faded and would be distracted trying to figure out if it was something they needed to worry about.  Then again, why not just take it down?

[polpo]

I looked around the area a bit more in Street View.

Here's a blank yellow diamond warning sign, just a little bit northeast of the other sign, on a similar curve: http://g.co/maps/bfky8

I'm wondering if it's just the local street department throwing up any old thing to caution people.

[US71]

I looked around the area a bit more in Street View.

Here's a blank yellow diamond warning sign, just a little bit northeast of the other sign, on a similar curve: http://g.co/maps/bfky8

I'm wondering if it's just the local street department throwing up any old thing to caution people.

I vaguely recall many years ago, seeing some yellow diamonds with a single L to R diagonal slash. There were on streets paralleling I-44 and I would see them in passing as I went whizzing by.

[polpo]

I vaguely recall many years ago, seeing some yellow diamonds with a single L to R diagonal slash. There were on streets paralleling I-44 and I would see them in passing as I went whizzing by.

You know what, I think remember those too. Mostly on the south side of 44.