New Street signs for the nation...waste of money

[Norm201]

I came across this in today’s paper. Its auto related so I thought I would throw it out on here for discussion. Apparently there is a Federal standard for street signs. Never knew this. And apparently New York State has adopted these standards as a mandate for all of New York. A local Orchard Park Highway Superintendent is pissed off about it. It’s going to cost each and every municipality lots of bucks to change to the new signs. Of course this will be reflected in higher taxes, higher traffic fines and larger deficits for our towns. What a waste of money, time and resources. Here is the link for the complete article.
State mandate on signs irks highway boss - Orchard Park - The Buffalo News

[dirtyblueshirt]

I don't agree that a state should mandate a change like this unfunded. If it's going to be a mandate, I think the state should have a funding plan in place.

That being said, I think the US does need to mandate some aspects of signage that is inconsistent throughout the US:

Font. The classic Highway font, in use for over half a century served well enough, but has some legibility issues. Some states are shifting to a new font, "Clearview" which is a specifically designed font for signing. Offhand, Michigan and Arizona are using Clearview, along with some other states. (see NY Times Advertisement )

Exit Numbers. Two things here. Exit numbers should be marked on ALL exits. many states already do this, but some states (like California) have inconsistent numbering of exits. The next issue is how exits are numbered. Most of the US aligns exit numbers with the mile markers counting up from south to north and from east to west. However some states in New England number the exits sequentially. So whereas in Michigan, the distance between exit 200 and exit 205 is easy to figure out (5 miles); in Connecticut is could be anywhere from 2 miles to 40 miles or more.

That being said, California is desperately in need of a complete overhaul of its signs. Some freeway signs are just too old and dingy or rusted and most lack the old-style reflector dots on the letters.

[Norm201]

Neat article. I whole heartily agree that the Interstate system adhere to very strict and specific rules. If my information is correct, any state highway to be part of the Interstate system must conform to all types of rules including the distance needed for on and off ramps. Although I know for sure exceptions are made. Also any highway merging on ito or off the Interstate must adhere to Federal regulations. The exit numbering system I don't think is that important. Either system works and most people don't know the difference. The problem arises when a new exit is added between existing ones, then sequential numbers get screwed up and you end up with exit 36A, 36B and what about the exit in between? Perhaps the mile type numbering system is a good idea. Another big stupid is the fact that the new proposed Interstate 99 corridor does not follow international standards adopted by many nations including the US. That is because a Senator had a big amount of pull and said "stick it up yours I want the number to be I99". But that may be water under the bridge at this point. The way things are going it will never be built.
My beef is in towns with local streets.

[wmussatto]

I think the signs in our town are fine. But had some people over and they kept complaining about how they got lost twice because of the !@%$$ street signs. What about replacing the signs over a period of years.

As dirtyblueshirt said some the CA signs need to be replaced. There a couple on the freeway which are curling up leaving the plain green background.

[aspitaletto]

**** new signs, how about some road repairs !

[tjl]

Originally Posted by dirtyblueshirt

Exit Numbers. Two things here. Exit numbers should be marked on ALL exits. many states already do this, but some states (like California) have inconsistent numbering of exits.

California only began posting exit numbers relatively recently, so installation may be incomplete. Indeed, the lists found here:

Interchange Exit Numbering

indicate that many exit numbers have not been installed yet.