Favorite state route shields?

[Ian]

^ Nice, LeHay font!

[agentsteel53]

not quite, but close

[Ian]

I've seen some other older BC shields and always thought it was LeHay. They do look unbelievably similar!

[CL]

I don't like Utah's because the sentiment behind it.

This is the most absurd thing I've ever read on this forum.

[NE2]

I don't like Utah's because the sentiment behind it.

This is the most absurd thing I've ever read on this forum.

What's wrong with hating on Mormons for being communists and representing their ideal community by a beehive?

[Scott5114]

Let's not discuss religion. Thanks.

[thenetwork]

I loved the old Ohio Cut-out shields.  Nowadays, I like the Colorado shields, since they take the cake as to the number of colors used on a single shield.

[Riverside Frwy]

California is simply the best for it's originality yet simplicity. It's simple(No complex designs, just an outline, basically), works well on highway signs because of it's color, yet it connects to California's history.(Spade shape)

[ctsignguy]

Th

I loved the old Ohio Cut-out shields.  Nowadays, I like the Colorado shields, since they take the cake as to the number of colors used on a single shield.

This one?


Or this one?


Or this one?


Or this one?

[1995hoo]

....

Secondary numbered highways in Virginia are not county highways, they are state highways.  With two exceptions (Arlington County across the Potomac from D.C. and Henrico County just north of Richmond), the rest of the counties of Virginia do not maintain any of their public roads - all of them, down to the smallest subdivision street in Fairfax County and the narrowest (public) gravel road in Fauquier County are numbered and part of the state secondary highway network. ....

Actually, this is not entirely true. Some subdivision streets are not part of the state network, or the "VDOT System" as it's known in the context of development proffers and the like. The street on which I live is not part of the "VDOT System," for example–it is the responsibility of our homeowners' association to maintain the pavement and to plow it during snowstorms. It leads to two interesting situations where (a) the HOA plow often arrives and plows our street BEFORE the VDOT plow arrives to clear the road leading in and out of our neighborhood, so we have this nice freshly-plowed street and then VDOT comes along and blocks it off with snow from the other road (which usually leads to a shovel/snowblower brigade of neighbors clearing the end of the block); and (b) our street that is maintained by the HOA is in much better shape than the VDOT-maintained street that leads in and out because the HOA is more on-the-ball about maintaining the surface due to the smaller budget.

That sort of thing isn't uncommon in Fairfax County, but in general it depends on the age of the community whether the street are VDOT responsibility or someone else's. Most older communities have all their streets maintained by VDOT; many newer ones do not because the Commonwealth and the county figured out that it was a way to save themselves some money. What happens now are "development proffers," where in order to get the land zoned for a project the developer has to agree to build various things and turn them over to the county or the Commonwealth (often extending or improving nearby arterial routes to handle the increased traffic might be a common, and reasonable, example).



OK, anyway, to return to the original topic, I've always found Virginia's primary route shield to be exceptionally boring. Nothing about it says anything about Virginia. It's also maybe not the easiest shape to describe if you're giving someone directions and the person isn't familiar with the roads and so you want to give as many details as you can.

In terms of ones I like best, I like Nova Scotia's marker for the 100-series highways with the flag on top, Quebec's autoroute shield, and Alaska's marker with the Big Dipper and the North Star.

[StogieGuy7]

As a former L.A. resident, I am strongly biased toward the California miner's spade.

Hi everyone - first time poster here.  This is a very interesting thread and I felt the need to weigh in....

For one thing, I am not so enamored of the fact that the CA miner's spade is green.  Because of that, the shields blend in with green guide signs on freeways, etc.   In fact, it enabled CalTrans to go with outlines on such signs for decades after almost every other state changed to cut-outs.  Ugly, in my view.   

And it's a shame because the old white spade, with the bear, was one of the most attractive shields ever!   I'd love to see it come back in some form. 

Then again, it's still better than the plain square - especially the plain square with the state name in it as seen in RI, IN and IL.  TX could also do a LOT better - as they do with their Toll, FM and RM roads.  Even the circle is better in my view.  Simple but somewhat elegant.

As for most attractive, that one is more difficult.  I like distinctively-shaped shields as you see in NH, UT, ND, VA, WA, PA, etc.  WI should be better, but the 'box' so overwhelms the triangle now that the shape almost looks square on some signs.  Also, state-shaped shields look good as long as they remain true to the shape of the state.  AZ and AL fail for the reason that they end up being altered to fit the highway numbers.   

Best overall: probably Kansas as it has so many great attributes. 

[bugo]

I like green signs.  California, South Dakota, Louisiana's old signs.  I think Vermont also uses a green shield.

[Ian]

Another unique shield design that I'm partial to: Prince Edward Island's provincial route shield.

[Alps]

Another unique shield design that I'm partial to: Prince Edward Island's provincial route shield.

[Ian]

^ That too

[cpzilliacus]

....

Secondary numbered highways in Virginia are not county highways, they are state highways.  With two exceptions (Arlington County across the Potomac from D.C. and Henrico County just north of Richmond), the rest of the counties of Virginia do not maintain any of their public roads - all of them, down to the smallest subdivision street in Fairfax County and the narrowest (public) gravel road in Fauquier County are numbered and part of the state secondary highway network. ....

Actually, this is not entirely true. Some subdivision streets are not part of the state network, or the "VDOT System" as it's known in the context of development proffers and the like. The street on which I live is not part of the "VDOT System," for example–it is the responsibility of our homeowners' association to maintain the pavement and to plow it during snowstorms.

I did not mean to imply that private streets in an HOA were part of the VDOT system, for clearly they are not.

My townhome in Montgomery County is also on a private street - fortunately, our streets are well-delimited from the nearby ones that are maintained by Montgomery County DOT, Maryland State Highway Administration, and even the Maryland Transportation Authority (now that we have the ICC next door), though we have had our private streets plowed-in a few times.

It leads to two interesting situations where (a) the HOA plow often arrives and plows our street BEFORE the VDOT plow arrives to clear the road leading in and out of our neighborhood, so we have this nice freshly-plowed street and then VDOT comes along and blocks it off with snow from the other road (which usually leads to a shovel/snowblower brigade of neighbors clearing the end of the block); and (b) our street that is maintained by the HOA is in much better shape than the VDOT-maintained street that leads in and out because the HOA is more on-the-ball about maintaining the surface due to the smaller budget.

We have been "plowed-in" a few times after a heavy snowfall by the county or its contractors, though I have always been able to "break through" with my truck if needed, but I know what you mean.

That sort of thing isn't uncommon in Fairfax County, but in general it depends on the age of the community whether the street are VDOT responsibility or someone else's. Most older communities have all their streets maintained by VDOT; many newer ones do not because the Commonwealth and the county figured out that it was a way to save themselves some money. What happens now are "development proffers," where in order to get the land zoned for a project the developer has to agree to build various things and turn them over to the county or the Commonwealth (often extending or improving nearby arterial routes to handle the increased traffic might be a common, and reasonable, example).

Pretty common in all of the counties around the Capital Beltway and at least one ring of counties beyond, to include Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford Counties in Virginia, and Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, Calvert and Charles Counties in Maryland, especially for developments approved after about 1975 (I am sure there are pre-1975 developments too, like Montgomery's Leisure World, but decidedly less common prior to about '75).

OK, anyway, to return to the original topic, I've always found Virginia's primary route shield to be exceptionally boring. Nothing about it says anything about Virginia. It's also maybe not the easiest shape to describe if you're giving someone directions and the person isn't familiar with the roads and so you want to give as many details as you can.

It is distinctly different from the Virginia primary route shield, which I consider to be a good thing.

In terms of ones I like best, I like Nova Scotia's marker for the 100-series highways with the flag on top, Quebec's autoroute shield, and Alaska's marker with the Big Dipper and the North Star.

Québec has got a winner with the Autoroute shield, and Alaska proves that even a rectangle can be distinctive.

[ctsignguy]

Another unique shield design that I'm partial to: Prince Edward Island's provincial route shield.

Didnt know US 6 went to PEI!      

[StogieGuy7]

I like green signs.  California, South Dakota, Louisiana's old signs.  I think Vermont also uses a green shield.

South Dakota's shields aren't green, per se.  The background on the stand-alones is green, but the state shape is white and features black numerals.  Louisiana changed their signs for better visibility. 

With California, you get this: 



To me, that's homely.

[bugo]

I like green signs.  California, South Dakota, Louisiana's old signs.  I think Vermont also uses a green shield.

South Dakota's shields aren't green, per se.  The background on the stand-alones is green, but the state shape is white and features black numerals.  Louisiana changed their signs for better visibility. 

If South Dakota's shields aren't green, then what color are they?  Hot pink?  The numbers are black and the outline of the shield is green, at least on stand-alone shields (shields on green freeway signs are black and white.)  I stand by my statement.

[StogieGuy7]

I like green signs.  California, South Dakota, Louisiana's old signs.  I think Vermont also uses a green shield.

South Dakota's shields aren't green, per se.  The background on the stand-alones is green, but the state shape is white and features black numerals.  Louisiana changed their signs for better visibility. 

If South Dakota's shields aren't green, then what color are they?  Hot pink?  The numbers are black and the outline of the shield is green, at least on stand-alone shields (shields on green freeway signs are black and white.)  I stand by my statement.

Compare and contrast:





See what I mean?  On a directional sign, the green background of the SD badge is not shown - only the cut out.  And, on stand-alones it's merely green substituted for black.  Quite unlike CA, the old LA (which was changed, for the better, to b/w), and Quebec.   

And, again, I do not like the green-on-green effect that you get on directional signs.  Nor do I find it as legible as it should be.  Bad idea.  The spade is better in black and white.  Louisiana figured that out.

[StogieGuy7]

Example of SD directional sign:



Note the I-90 Business marker, which is green like the CA shield.  And the legibility sucks, as I was saying.

[StogieGuy7]

Another unique shield design that I'm partial to: Prince Edward Island's provincial route shield.

Isn't that from Nova Scotia?   

[NE2]

Another unique shield design that I'm partial to: Prince Edward Island's provincial route shield.

Isn't that from Nova Scotia?   

http://www.alpsroads.net/roads/pe/pe_6/
New Brunswick also used to use them.

[OCGuy81]

Home state bias here.  I love the CA green spade, though I do agree that the spade with the bear is incredibly cool and would be great to see it return.

Outside California, I think Washington state has a pretty cool shield. 

Texas, I've long thought, should swap its state highway shields with the design it uses for Farm Roads.  (Plus using a Texas cutout on BGS displays would be cool.  I don't like how FM routes are a box on the BGS, but then have the cool state shape when you see a marker)

I saw a post on here about Minnesota.  Unique, but I've found in a few trips to the Twin Cities that, from a distance, it kind of looks like an Interstate sign on BGS.

Lastly, let's make all US highways cutout signs again!  Again, home state bias. :-)

[mcdonaat]

Home state bias, I love Louisiana's use of the green and white outline with vague coastline. However, the black and white signs are nicer because fading isn't as quick, and the colors really pop out easier. I think it's due to the non-reflective black paint used, but that's just me thinking out of the box.

I wish the diamond LA signs would come back, with the pelican at the top. The shield gallery has a few of the regular shields, but in actuality, the only photos I've come across show the diamond with a black crown at the top, and it looks very smooth.

Out of Louisiana, I like the Arkansas shield, and the park road/ranch road signs for Texas. AR 980 (Airport Road) is the most enjoyable state shield, and stands out.e