State-specific exit tab designs

[mcdonaat]

A little thought in the back of my head popped up while driving along I-10 to the Atchafalaya Basin, and it kept telling me that Louisiana used to have centered exit tabs. Sure enough, older photos have exit tabs right in the middle of the sign instead of to the right, and they were with the cutout state shields for the exit signs. These were replaced as time went along with the new state designs, and the exit tabs pushed to the right. It just seemed more... symmetrical... to have the exit tabs right in the middle of the sign, instead of to the right, especially where the signs have the state shield in the middle, and words in the middle. If the text and images can be in the middle, why not exit tabs as well?

Anyways... any other examples of states using the center exit tabs? I'd love to see some centered Clearview exit tabs!

[sp_redelectric]

Oregon does it, although in the last year or so there have been a number of signs cropping up (particularly on U.S. 26) that have right-centered exit tabs.

I agree - the center-tab just looks good.

[national highway 1]

I do like Arizona's exit tabs, with the square edges and rounded border.


Meanwhile California has a variety of exit tab styles:






Queensland has green on white exit tabs that were retrofitted on existing signs in 2000.

[myosh_tino]

Don't forget Washington's full-width tabs...

Anyways... any other examples of states using the center exit tabs? I'd love to see some centered Clearview exit tabs!

You're probably never going to see a centered Clearview exit tab because the new MUTCD requires that tabs be right or left justified depending on whether the exit is a right or left exit.  Hopefully Clearview will just go away, never to be heard from again but I digress.

[Brandon]

Anyways... any other examples of states using the center exit tabs? I'd love to see some centered Clearview exit tabs!

You're probably never going to see a centered Clearview exit tab because the new MUTCD requires that tabs be right or left justified depending on whether the exit is a right or left exit.  Hopefully Clearview will just go away, never to be heard from again but I digress.

Did someone ask for centered Clearview exit tabs?



Courtesy IDOT District 3.

[agentsteel53]

Sure enough, older photos have exit tabs right in the middle of the sign instead of to the right, and they were with the cutout state shields for the exit signs.

can you post a photo please?

[1995hoo]

Maryland often uses a style that I'm not sure I'd call a "tab" (picture from AARoads.com, I-70 eastbound):




They don't always do it that way, of course, but it's not unusual to find an excessive amount of space between the word "Exit" and the number on their signs (again from AARoads, this time from the Inner Loop of the Beltway in PG County):




For a short time a few years ago, Virginia had a centered exit tab on a sign on the Beltway's Outer Loop approaching the Springfield Interchange. The thru lanes on the Beltway were designated as "Exit 57C" and because there was a left exit to I-395 and a right exit to I-95 South, they reasoned that the thru lanes were an "exit" taking you to I-95 North and thus were a "center exit." These signs have all been redone, in part because the ramp to I-395 now departs on the right, in part because of other new construction, and in part because so many people complained about the "exit" terminology that they removed the exit tab for the thru lanes. (This is an example where a highway engineer's logic doesn't really make sense to the general public. It doesn't matter if you're going from I-495 to I-95: The average driver views it as simply staying on the Beltway.)




I don't have a picture of it, but the sign for Exit 3A on northbound I-395 in Virginia has a left-mounted exit tab for a right-hand exit. (The pictures I can find online are all of the old sign, where the tab was a bit closer to the center.)

[myosh_tino]

You're probably never going to see a centered Clearview exit tab because the new MUTCD requires that tabs be right or left justified depending on whether the exit is a right or left exit.  Hopefully Clearview will just go away, never to be heard from again but I digress.

Did someone ask for centered Clearview exit tabs?



Courtesy IDOT District 3.

Oops.  I stand corrected but I still don't like Clearview 

[deathtopumpkins]

I don't have a picture of it, but the sign for Exit 3A on northbound I-395 in Virginia has a left-mounted exit tab for a right-hand exit. (The pictures I can find online are all of the old sign, where the tab was a bit closer to the center.)

One of the signs for the US 17 / J Clyde Morris Blvd exit on I-64 eastbound in Newport News also has a left tab for a right exit.

[amroad17]

New York and South Carolina have right justified exit tabs not quite all the way to the right.  They are placed about a foot left from the edge of the sign.

[PHLBOS]

Until recently, ConnDOT featured borderless Exit tabs for their BGS'.  Originally, they were placed center-top of the main BGS; then later placed on the right-top or left-top depending on where the location of the exit ramp.

Prior to the 1970s, the MassDPW featured detached exit tabs on their BGS.  Like ConnDOT, these tabs had no border on them.  Many of the older 50s-vintage wooden variants would typically get either knocked off or blown over. 

Conversely, it was also not uncommon to see just the exit tab standing but a big void space where the main BGS once stood.  Those were likely knocked down in an accident but the state would re-erect the posts along with the exit tab until the main panel was either repaired or replaced.

During the mid-to-late 70s, RIDOT featured full-length exit tabs for its BGS' along I-95 in Pawtucket & Providence (just north of I-195 at the time).  The set-up may have been in anticipation of the dual-tabbed Mile #/Exit # motif that was (& still is in some areas) present along I-295.

I believe the first, exit-ramp-justified exit tab BGS' (vs. centered) I saw was along I-195 in Providence (west of the old Washington Bridge) during the late 70s/early 80s.

[tdindy88]

Something to add on Illinois and their exit tabs from recent observations in the state. I was on Interstate 70 near the Indiana border and saw that they had full length tabs (though I believe that is common for Illinois) with the text positioned to the right, and the sign was in Clearview. I've seen plenty of the center tabs by themselves and some in Clearview (such as around Champaign) but I would guess that based on what I saw in Clark County, Illinois that may be the new thing.

[Ian]

I always found it cool how the exit tabs on the older signs in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine have it so the exit tab appears to be part of the main sign (i.e. no separation line between the tab and the rest of the sign).

[roadman]

I always found it cool how the exit tabs on the older signs in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine have it so the exit tab appears to be part of the main sign (i.e. no separation line between the tab and the rest of the sign).

Yes, they were cool from an appearance standpoint, but they were complicated from a sign fabrication one.  Especially if the tab was put on the wrong end of the sign - i.e. right-side mounting for a left-side exit.  Shifting the tab and re-aligning the border and number is something that normally wasn't feasible over live traffic, so in the rare cases such errors were made, the contractor would have to take the sign down, fix it in the shop, and then put it back up.

Now, if it happened that the error was made during fabrication, then the contractor would have to eat the mistake.  But, say the error was made during design and not caught beforehand, the state would then be on the hook for the additional cost to fix it.

[Brandon]

Something to add on Illinois and their exit tabs from recent observations in the state. I was on Interstate 70 near the Indiana border and saw that they had full length tabs (though I believe that is common for Illinois) with the text positioned to the right, and the sign was in Clearview. I've seen plenty of the center tabs by themselves and some in Clearview (such as around Champaign) but I would guess that based on what I saw in Clark County, Illinois that may be the new thing.

The full-width justified tab is SOP in Illinois (other than ISTHA).  Any centered tabs you see are either a, old; or b, mistakes as posted above for I-180.  ISTHA, along I-88 west of Aurora, uses fully bordered tabs aligned to the right (they have no left exits).

[Ian]

I always found it cool how the exit tabs on the older signs in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine have it so the exit tab appears to be part of the main sign (i.e. no separation line between the tab and the rest of the sign).

Yes, they were cool from an appearance standpoint, but they were complicated from a sign fabrication one.  Especially if the tab was put on the wrong end of the sign - i.e. right-side mounting for a left-side exit.  Shifting the tab and re-aligning the border and number is something that normally wasn't feasible over live traffic, so in the rare cases such errors were made, the contractor would have to take the sign down, fix it in the shop, and then put it back up.

Now, if it happened that the error was made during fabrication, then the contractor would have to eat the mistake.  But, say the error was made during design and not caught beforehand, the state would then be on the hook for the additional cost to fix it.

Huh, I never really even thought about that until now. I definitely see how that would be problematic.

[roadman]

Huh, I never really even thought about that until now. I definitely see how that would be problematic.

Of course, the principal reason MassDOT finally gave up "integral" exit tabs in favor of full sized tabs with a shared border (bottom of exit tab uses the top border on the main sign) on their newer signs is because of current MUTCD requirements.

Note that the height of the older tabs was 18 inches high.  Because of the tab design, which omitted the top border on the BGS beneath the exit tab, so the exit number could overlap onto the BGS, MassDPW was granted a waiver from FHWA that allowed them to continue specifying 18 inch high tabs even after the MUTCD (1978) revised the minimum height to 24 inches.

With the 2003 MUTCD requirement that exit tabs now be 30 inches high, MassDOT saw no legitimate reason to keep the "classic" integral design.  So, since about 2004, the "standard" exit tab design has been in use in Massachusetts.

[agentsteel53]

With the 2003 MUTCD requirement that exit tabs now be 30 inches high,

how high are Arizona's tabs?  on the new Clearview signs, the tabs seem disproportionately high.  are they 36", or is it just an illusion caused by the small word "EXIT"?

looking at the "exit 31, US-60 Wickenburg" sign posted upthread, it appears that the tab is as large as the 60 shield, which is likely a standard 36 incher.  Am I correct?

[J N Winkler]

how high are Arizona's tabs?  on the new Clearview signs, the tabs seem disproportionately high.  are they 36", or is it just an illusion caused by the small word "EXIT"?

They are 36" high.  Other dimensions are normal (10" word "EXIT," 15" exit number).  But the 36" height seems to have come in at the same time as Clearview (around 2005)--previously to that, the standard exit tab height was 24", with Series D Modified being used in the button copy era (pre-1998) and Series E immediately afterward.

Edit:  I checked more thoroughly and the 36" tab height seems to have been introduced shortly before Clearview.  There are a few contracts (notably I-10 Ina-Cortaro, from 2004) with Series E Modified and 36" tabs.  But some contracts of similar vintage (I-10/I-19 "Crossing" trumpet-to-wye conversion, finished 2004) have the old 24" tabs, so the window for 36" tabs with Series E Modified was very narrow.

[mcdonaat]

Forgot photos!







All pulled from Southeastroads. They show cutout shields or just regular street names with centered tabs.

[vtk]

In Ohio, it varies by district, and by what that district wanted to do at the time of the sign project.  Aligning the tab based on which side the exit is on is a consistent practice, however.

As for other style points, my preference is for the tab to have top corners rounded at a smaller radius than the main sign panel, main sign panel has no rounding in top right (or left, as appropriate) corner, exit tab has no bottom border and is flush with main panel, giving appearance of a merged border line.  This was pictured in some Arizona examples near top of thread.

[national highway 1]

Forgot photos!

All pulled from Southeastroads. They show cutout shields or just regular street names with centered tabs.

Hey, I like this type of gantry. Looks really funky, mcdonaat!

[OracleUsr]

That I-80/180 sign (I assume that's Iowa?) combines the two things I hate in BGS's.  Clearview and Center-tabbing.

Also, is Washington State moving towards tabbed signs?  I know in the south parts of WS I've seen some directional-tabbed (my term for the right or left placement of the sign) signs on I-5, though I forget who took them.  I guess if Georgia can do it, Washington can.

North Carolina is a mix of tabs, even in their newer "upgraded" format.  I only have photos on Facebook, but it looks like a great many interstate-to-interstate junctions use a thinner tab, some newer signs use right-angle corners, but the majority I've seen use rounded corners.

[Kacie Jane]

Also, is Washington State moving towards tabbed signs?  I know in the south parts of WS I've seen some directional-tabbed (my term for the right or left placement of the sign) signs on I-5, though I forget who took them.  I guess if Georgia can do it, Washington can.

Nope.  The directional-tabbed signs there are unique within the state to that DOT region.  Many, perhaps most, of the BGSs here in Bellingham have been replaced over the past 3 years, all with Washington-style "tabs".

[roadman65]

Forgot photos!

All pulled from Southeastroads. They show cutout shields or just regular street names with centered tabs.

Hey, I like this type of gantry. Looks really funky, mcdonaat!

Pennsylvania also has these neat looking gantries.