Poor Sign Placement

[PHLBOS]

It looks like button copy to me; especially given the old-school porcelain-green background of the signboard.

[agentsteel53]

I'm not quite sure. The clarity from the Google Street View vehicle isn't that good. I may have to go to that spot and photograph it.

I'd like to find out for sure.

[mhallack]

This yield sign has been in this spot forever, I'm thinking the town has completely forgotten about it. (It obviously less visible in spring and summer) And this is the only yield sign for this intersection. Though I took this pic from the sidewalk, it's just as invisible from the road. (It's in Bath, ME)

[agentsteel53]

wow.  first I thought it was just a photo of an unused pole, and the example would be of "poor former sign placement".  then I read your caption, and only then did I spot the YIELD because I was looking for it.

I am hoping that in a moving-car context, it is a tad more visible just due to it appearing to move relative to the branches, because in this still photo it is definitely a "where's Waldo" of a sign.

[mhallack]

I drive this route every day, and it is not any more visible on the road. In fact the first few months that I started taking this turn I had no idea there was a sign. I had only noticed it when I had to stop and yield for other cars. Spring and summer, forget about it cause the leaves on the tree obscure it even more.

My two cents would be to move the sign back a bit and shorten the pole.

[Truvelo]

I wonder if it's a case of poor vegetation control than poor sign placement? Perhaps the sign was clearly visible when it was first installed.

[mhallack]

Good point Truvelo, especially seeing how faded that sign is. I suppose it's still there cause law requires it, not that the city is concerned about it. 

[Billy F 1988]

I wonder if it's a case of poor vegetation control than poor sign placement? Perhaps the sign was clearly visible when it was first installed.

I think the same could be said for that Hamilton/Lewiston BGS in Missoula. Over time, that one area of brush had overgrown so much that half the sign is obscured from view.

[thenetwork]

Well, that problem never existed when that BGS was installed around '74 or '75. Most signs I see in Missoula have been dated as far back as 1975. I guess the tree was REALLY small but now it's at the same height as the post and covering half of that sign.

is that a button copy sign?  I've never seen button copy in Montana.

Button copy was already a rarity when I (briefly) lived in Montana back in 1992!!! If that is indeed button copy, it may be (one of) the last ones in the whole darn state!!!

[Michael]

I was looking around in Street View near Watkins Glen, NY the other day and came across a left-side supplementary stop sign that, according to Google's driving directions, is 200 feet before the stop line.  For reference, the guardrail on the left side ends about 95 feet before the stop line due to the angle of the intersection.

[Kacie Jane]

I was going to say that it's more flat-out erroneous than poor placement -- it should just be a "stop ahead" sign -- but then I went back a few frames in Street View, and found the "stop ahead" sign, complete with bright orange flags.  So this is just silly.

[agentsteel53]

Button copy was already a rarity when I (briefly) lived in Montana back in 1992!!! If that is indeed button copy, it may be (one of) the last ones in the whole darn state!!!

okay, so Montana did use button copy at some point?  that is good to know.  I'd never seen any example - historic or otherwise.  I believe the only states in which I've never seen any evidence of button copy are Virginia, Delaware, and Mississippi. 

[formulanone]

I was looking around in Street View near Watkins Glen, NY the other day and came across a left-side supplementary stop sign...

No, it's just on the side with the racing line...

[roadman65]

In Orlando, FL we have a sign approaching I-4 from NB John Young Parkway that is placed behind the Orange County Correctional Facility's fence and is blocked from view.  True the sign is not needed for the most part as overhead signs exist at the interchange itself, but why place a sign that cannot be read?  The fence was there first and the sign was added when the interchange underwent reconfiguring in 2005.

No the sign is not imprisoned like Casey Anthony was (as that was her home for almost two years), the road widens and the new lane begins where the facility's property moves away from the road more and FDOT took advantage of that to add the lane.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Holden+Heights,+FL&hl=en&ll=28.505524,-81.417435&spn=0.004026,0.006899&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=8.300816,14.128418&oq=holden+he&t=h&hnear=Holden+Heights,+Orange,+Florida&z=17&layer=c&cbll=28.505345,-81.417436&panoid=BFpNdK84rUvCspN2Zarajw&cbp=12,341.35,,0,0

[Brian556]

Ok, I get that this is a reference marker point. But is it really nessessary to install a reasurrance sign just a few feet from the end of the route? Wouldn't it have made more sense to put the reference marker on the reasurrance sign on the opposite side of the road? Just sayin'.

Ferris, TX

[The High Plains Traveler]

^BUSINESS, but not BUSINESS LOOP. Also, no letter suffix, Texas style.

[Scott5114]

Isn't there some TxDOT saying that the reference markers have to be on alternating sides of the road?

[Brian556]

Yes, that is standard practice. However, in this case, they should make a exeption, and put the reference marker on the resurrance sign on the other side of the road, or on a standalone post without any signs. This silliness is what happens when one follows the rules too much.

On FM 407, in Lewisville, there are two reference markers/reasurrance signs in a row on the same side of the road, and there is no good reason for it.

[Road Hog]

Typically TxDOT's practice on two-lane roads is to post reference markers and reassurance signs every 2 miles on opposite sides of the road, or as it works out, markers on one side every 4 miles.

And I too have seen the reassurance signs in many odd places, for example just feet from a junction.

[Central Avenue]

The lane-use sign here:



First, it's on an approach with 6 lanes, but it's against the far right curb. It would be very difficult to see it from the leftmost lanes during heavy traffic.

Second, it's too close to the actual intersection! By the time you would see this and realize you're in the wrong lane, it would be too late to move over.

[vtk]

Seems to me there's usually a lane use sign near where the turn lanes begin, and another much closer to the intersection.  Was there not a sign further upstream from this?

But yeah, with this many lanes, they really should have overhead lane use signs on wire span.

[Central Avenue]

I can't remember if there was, honestly--I snapped the photo months ago and only found it again while cleaning out my phone this morning. I'd imagine there was, though.

[Some_Person]

This is on Airport RD/PA 987 S on the ramp for US 22 East(Street view: http://goo.gl/maps/0b2ZA), and the speed limit on Airport road is 50mph. That speed limit sign shouldn't be placed to the right of the ramp, especially considering it's a loop ramp.

[Central Avenue]

Someone's not entirely clear on the concept of an "advance warning sign".

[vtk]

It's Urbancrest. They don't need advance warning signs because the only traffic is locals.  They blocked the streets out of the west end of their community to make sure of that.