When did most Interstate shields get "neutered"?

[OCGuy81]

Apologies if this is a duplicate thread, but I was curious when most Interstate shields began to drop the state name?

Living and growing up in California, this wasn't an issue, but I swear traveling as a kid in the 80s and early 90s, I used to see a lot more state named shields, but these appear to be a rarity today.

[jp the roadgeek]

A lot of states did it back in the late 70's or early 80's (ie MA, NY for a couple; any sight of a state interstate shield in those states is a rare find), but CT still uses them in a lot of places.  You'll never see them on a BGS or LGS, but the mix of reassurance shield with Connecticut and neutered is about 50/50.  Hear Maine still uses them quite a bit too.

[NE2]

Pretty sure Florida and Mass were two of the first.

[Takumi]

Virginia started doing it in the mid-late 80s.

[cpzilliacus]

Virginia started doing it in the mid-late 80s.

Maryland, sometime in the 1980's.

[Alex]

I believe Ohio was the first. Jake would have to confirm when they rolled out the first neutered shield specs.

[OCGuy81]

That makes sense.  A lot of the ones I recall seeing (Arizona, New Mexico for example) I remember seeing as a kid on trips, and that was likely before they got neutered in the mid 80s or so.

Kudos to Texas for bringing state named shields back with I-69!

[swbrotha100]

That makes sense.  A lot of the ones I recall seeing (Arizona, New Mexico for example) I remember seeing as a kid on trips, and that was likely before they got neutered in the mid 80s or so.

Kudos to Texas for bringing state named shields back with I-69!

I second that with Texas. The way Texas pride is, I'm surprised that more of their interstate shields don't have the state name.

I'm pretty sure New Mexico has state names on many of its shields. Arizona does it similar to California.

[bugo]

Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas have plenty of state named shields.  Arkansas uses the original specs from the '50s.

[bassoon1986]

Actually a lot more Texas non-neutered than you'd think. I-45 has plenty of them especially in Houston. I-635 in Dallas has new shields out with state names.

Plenty of older specs are still around on various interstates in DFW. A couple for 35E in Lewisville and north Dallas (Harry Hines maybe?) and I know there are ones for 30 in Arlington

[Scott5114]

Apparently TxDOT policy recently changed to require the state name once again. I recall reading this had something to do with someone on this forum.

[agentsteel53]

Pretty sure Florida and Mass were two of the first.

Idaho, 1963, is the earliest I know of.  they put the state name back sporadically in the 70s and 80s, though.

Mass is, IIRC, 1978.  Colorado (1971) and Oregon (1974) are earlier, but Colorado has recently brought it back.  other '78s (when the 1978 explicitly forbade the state name) include Tennessee, and possibly Utah (though they may have gone away from it earlier)... and Louisiana, which may have gone away from it later, and just recently put it back.

Texas omitted the state name from 1989 to 2011. 

remember, though, this does not reflect actual install dates, because sometimes older stock is put up just to maximize its utilization.  I say "may have" for Louisiana because I have seen a state-named shield marked 1991, even though other sources tell me that it was uncommon by the mid-80s.

[agentsteel53]

I believe Ohio was the first. Jake would have to confirm when they rolled out the first neutered shield specs.

forgot about that one.  1968, using 1961 neutered specs, which they used well into the 2010s.  only recently have I started seeing '70 neutered.

bear in mind that '57, '61, and '70 all included state-named and neutered variants as part of the spec.  the neutered was intended to be used on green signs, while the state-named was for reassurance.  '70 made the state name optional, and '78 actually forbade it.  Nevada had a neutered period from the late 80s into the 90s.

[PHLBOS]

bear in mind that '57, '61, and '70 all included state-named and neutered variants as part of the spec.  the neutered was intended to be used on green signs, while the state-named was for reassurance.  '70 made the state name optional, and '78 actually forbade it.

That might explain why some very old (late 50s era) I-95 BGS' in MA (Danvers to Newburyport stretch, pre-1974 widening/alteration) at various interchange entrance ramps featured neutered shields on them.

[agentsteel53]

That might explain why some very old (late 50s era) I-95 BGS' in MA (Danvers to Newburyport stretch, pre-1974 widening/alteration) at various interchange entrance ramps featured neutered shields on them.

probably.  I'll bet they were '57 spec neutered, which look identical to '57 spec state named, just missing the state name.  No resizing of the other elements, which is what '61 and '70 had.

[PHLBOS]

probably.  I'll bet they were '57 spec neutered, which look identical to '57 spec state named, just missing the state name.  No resizing of the other elements, which is what '61 and '70 had.

Granted the BGS' in question that I saw was back in 1972 (while en route to day camp); but the numerals on the I-95 BGS shields were larger than the posted neutered '57 spec'd shield.  That said, the BGS' I saw either had the shields replaced once before or were erected a few years after the highway (originally designated as "Relocated" US 1) was built (circa mid-1950s).

[agentsteel53]

the numerals on the I-95 BGS shields were larger than the posted neutered '57 spec'd shield

then that's probably proper '61 spec neutered:



or '57 spec with a large number.  the difference is that on the proper '61, the red crown is shorter.

[PHLBOS]

the numerals on the I-95 BGS shields were larger than the posted neutered '57 spec'd shield

then that's probably proper '61 spec neutered:



or '57 spec with a large number.  the difference is that on the proper '61, the red crown is shorter.

Granted, I don't have of pic of the old BGS' in question to verify, but I would say that it was likely a '57 spec'd shield w/larger numbers; especially if the BGS' were erected at the time the road first received its I-95 designation (when the 1956 Interstate Highway Act became law).

[agentsteel53]

that's very old for a large-number shield but MA had already been using 21" US cutouts with oversize numbers, instead of 16" cutouts with standard numbers, as to maximize legibility so they weren't averse to large numbers.

[roadman65]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/8699590679/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/8700695526/in/photostream/

Florida got rid of the state name shields decades ago, but recently they made somewhat of a comeback in Titusville, FL along FL 406.

[Henry]

Looking back, part of me wishes the state names didn't get erased from the shields! Maybe a compromise would be to keep the neutered signs on the one-state routes (I-16, I-27, the two I-88s and I-97 come to mind) and add the state names back to the ones that traverse two states or more. Just a thought...

[agentsteel53]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/8699590679/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54480415@N08/8700695526/in/photostream/

Florida got rid of the state name shields decades ago, but recently they made somewhat of a comeback in Titusville, FL along FL 406.

there are scattered new installations of state-named shields.  I have seen 10, 75, 95, and 275.  I believe there are 295 as well.

[NE2]

there are scattered new installations of state-named shields.  I have seen 10, 75, 95, and 275.  I believe there are 295 as well.

275 also has some Pinellas County installations from the 1980s.

[realjd]

A better question is, why did states start neutering shields?

[agentsteel53]

A better question is, why did states start neutering shields?

because they deemed anything but the number to be superfluous information.

(except the word Interstate - that is crazy sacred.)