Illuminated street name signs

[bulkyorled]

Such as these, I'm curious what places actually have them? This is pictured in Burbank, CA. Most cities in Los Angeles county have them, as well as a lot of other cities in California, but outside of California they seem to be rare to come by. I know Las Vegas and Detroit have them too and potentially New York City too? A few streets I've seen pictured have LED ones instead of florescent lit ones.

As I said, Im wondering if they're common in other places, and when they started to show up in cities. I'm guessing in the 80's? Especially Burbank I remember them when I was a kid and some of them were pretty oxidized from being around for so long.
Also im pretty curious to see if anyone has any pictures of the old ones Burbank had before they replaced them

Thanks for any info! I've always thought these were kind of cool. They're more interesting than the bland metal ones. The city of LA is actually planning on replacing all the metal hanging signs with LED lit ones by 2015. There's currently one in downtown on Main & 1st and there's also another on Exposition Blvd somewhere but I do not have a picture

[Ian]

There are a few places around the Philadelphia area that have them. King of Prussia is one among others.

[Brandon]

They seem to be popping up in more places.  Joliet, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Crest Hill, and Shorewood all have a few.

[bulkyorled]

Hm. It seems its a newer thing outside of California? haha Thats interesting. I always found it hard to find them anywhere else since it just seems like most places no one is gonna care or there's no need for it. Or even not enough money since they're rather expensive. Ive checked out a few of the sites and the company that does the most of them here NuArt Lighting has them priced at about $1200 but the LED lit ones are about $3000 which it seems a lot of cities are replacing their old ones with here now. Its amazing its taken so long to get these to most areas, since they're way easier to see than the cruddy metal ones usually are. 
Pic below is an LED one.

[1995hoo]

They're fairly common in the City of Alexandria, Virginia. Less so in neighboring jurisdictions, though I've seen a few.

[bulkyorled]

I had family who lived there for a short period of time, they must either not have had them yet or we didn't go out at night and I didn't notice 

[jwolfer]

Orlando/Orange County Florida has had them for over 20 years.  They are spreading throughout Florida.  They have them at new traffic light assemblies in Clay County FL and the more urban areas of Jacksonville/Duval County

[agentsteel53]

Ive checked out a few of the sites and the company that does the most of them here NuArt Lighting has them priced at about $1200 but the LED lit ones are about $3000 which it seems a lot of cities are replacing their old ones with here now.

I wonder why so expensive.  I'd have roughly eyeballed each at maybe 600 dollars.  what makes it more complex than a standard fluorescent light?  the primary difference is that these have a legend on them but if I wanted two acrylic panels printed with translucent ink, I could get them for $200 and I wouldn't even have quantity on my side!

[KEK Inc.]

In Vancouver (Washington State), they're only around in the older parts of the city.  They also illuminate "LEFT TURN ONLY" signs.  I estimate the time period was in the early 90s.  The newer signs aren't illuminated. 

[agentsteel53]

there's a few illuminated guide signs (street name with arrow, white background with black text) in Cincy that date to the 50s.

[hm insulators]

The Phoenix area has them, too.

[jemacedo9]

some townships in the Philadelphia western suburbs started adding them.  Upper Merion Twp, Montgomery County (basically King Of Prussia) in the late 90's, and Uwchlan Twp, Chester County in the mid-00's.  But these are rare in PA and in Western NY.

[bulkyorled]

Ah yes I forgot Phoenix, Chandler and possibly Mesa have them too.

And I have no idea why they'd cost so much especially the ones I pictured. Especially the florescent ones. Its not a new concept clearly. There are several companies that do them so it might be that certain ones are of higher quality. Since some of them just look nasty from the start and others clearly look better.

I kinda get why the LED ones cost so much but still, $3000? No idea why. Unless the price they had listed included installation and upkeep but it wasn't mentioned.

[Duke87]

Stamford, CT has them on their newer mast arm signals installed within the past few years. In Clearview, though an implementation of it that actually looks decent.

[Alps]

Newark, NJ has installed a few on their most critical downtown intersections. NY (Manhattan) also has a handful around Midtown.

[Darkchylde]

Don't hold me to this, but I think I remember seeing some of those around Colorado Springs when I lived there.

[bulkyorled]

Don't hold me to this, but I think I remember seeing some of those around Colorado Springs when I lived there.

Possibly in recent years then. I have an uncle who lived there and I don't recall them having it at the time but it's been a while since I was there

Well I guess I was ignorant! haha The places I had been around the US never had them except for the cities I mentioned and Phoenix which I actually forgotten about, I guess if I'm ever in a conversation about it I should instead say they're extremely, and perhaps most common in California. It's more rare to find a city here with metal signs than the illuminated ones.

Most the unincorporated cities had them but I think there was a change and most of them took them out so that's usually a sign (no pun intended) that they're not incorporated.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Don't hold me to this, but I think I remember seeing some of those around Colorado Springs when I lived there.

There are these in the Springs. Pueblo too, though they seem to be vulnerable to wind damage and are replaced with standard signs. Most of the lighted ones are on CDOT signals, but they may be city installations.

[Brandon]

In Vancouver (Washington State), they're only around in the older parts of the city.  They also illuminate "LEFT TURN ONLY" signs.  I estimate the time period was in the early 90s.  The newer signs aren't illuminated. 

Illuminated regulatory signs (Keep right, Left, Right, Thru, etc) exist all over Michigan.

[bulkyorled]

Those are more rare here. A few cities will have them but they're never taken care of. Usually they're burnt out or the white has turned a light tan from being in the elements so long

[US71]

Pensacola, FL has them

[Quillz]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to replace the older metal signs with retroreflective ones rather than LED illuminated ones?

Also, I must say I'll be sad to see the white on blue street signs go, I always thought they were a bit more unique than the standard white on green ones.

[Duke87]

Ive checked out a few of the sites and the company that does the most of them here NuArt Lighting has them priced at about $1200 but the LED lit ones are about $3000 which it seems a lot of cities are replacing their old ones with here now.

I wonder why so expensive.  I'd have roughly eyeballed each at maybe 600 dollars.  what makes it more complex than a standard fluorescent light?  the primary difference is that these have a legend on them but if I wanted two acrylic panels printed with translucent ink, I could get them for $200 and I wouldn't even have quantity on my side!

LED lighting is still a relatively new technology, so much of the extra expense is due to that costs haven't fully come down yet. It isn't really more complex, just different. I'd liken it to digital camera versus a film camera. Fluorescent lighting uses a ballast (essentially just a transformer) to power a tube filled with mercury vapor and phosphor - i.e., it uses chemicals to turn electricity into light. LED lighting, meanwhile, is electronics. It uses a transformer (not unlike the one on the cord to your laptop or cellphone charger) to convert AC to DC and then it uses diodes (which, even if it isn't visible, rest on silicon like any other electronic element) to create light.

Basically, think like it's 1999 and you're looking to buy a digital camera (LED) versus a film camera (fluorescent).

[bulkyorled]

Glendale has white on blue throughout most of the city and Burbank has them too in a few spots. But yes it would be way cheaper. The illuminated ones as said start at about $800 but the metal reflective ones are about $70-100 each. Other than the ones with the lights look better in my opinion you can actually see the name of the street from further away with the lit ones.

LA plans on changing the metal with the LED ones for the reason theyre easier to see, the font is larger and its also for places that aren't as lit well. Darker intersections or wide intersections and such where the regular metal ones just don't do it. Plus I think whatever company they're gonna go through is giving them a deal considering just how many street signs they'd be replacing. I believe its the same company that's supplying the new LED street lights we've been getting here

[bulkyorled]

But I do too like the white on blue. There's an abundance of it here in LA county haha but when I see the green illuminated ones Im like eh... i think i'll stick with the blue. Green seems to be hard to come by here now. La Cañada has green, they're the only ones I know near me that have green that work. Altadena had them but they cut the cords to them so they hang dead