Some humorous, some just plain wrong, and some just
distinctive signage.
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This is Wisconsin's version of Minnesota route
marker, located on U.S. 8 westbound just before the St.
Croix River bridge. Wisconsin has also erected a
directional sign indicating destinations for both U.S. 8
and MN-95. Ironically, about 10 miles south of here in
Osceola, WI is a "TO (MN-95)" sign that uses an
actual Minnesota route marker. I wonder if Wisconsin
requested but didn't receive a Minnesota sign for this
intersection, or if it used its own sign to maintain the
larger size. (These are probably 10 inches on a side
larger than standard Minnesota route markers).
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| Wisconsin always seems to have a problem
with differentiating between U.S. and state routes. Maybe
it's the relative similarity of the two markers, or (more
likely) maybe its highway contractors are careless. U.S.
63 appears to be particuarly prone to this mis-marking.
This sign is on U.S. 53 at Spooner, but a sign with a
similar error is found on I-94. |
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| MnDOT often marks routes where the number
changes with the old number for a year or two. This is
I-35W at CSAH 23, formerly TH-49. Surprisingly, when
U.S. 169 was re-routed from Flying Cloud Drive (U.S. 212)
onto former CSAH 18 and the new Bloomington Ferry Bridge
and Shakopee Bypass, there were no "Old 169"
signs anywhere.
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Courtesy of the city of Blaine, Department of
Redundancy Department. This is apparently Trunk Highway
Highway 65. |
| Before Congress lifted the national maximum speed
limit, and the Minnesota Legislature approved higher
speeds, U.S. 169 north of Elk River, which is built to
expressway status, was marked 55 mph. The State Patrol
had this sign erected in a vain attempt to convince
traffic that the proper speed on this road was indeed 55
mph. Now that the NMSL is lifted, this highway is more
appropriately marked with a 65 mph limit. Thanks to Scott
Kenney for supplying this picture. |
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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Or shows
a lack of creativity. Ontario (in the Thunder Bay region,
at least --- I didn't see there in the east) copied
MnDOT's original style Adopt-A-Highway signage. Both
Minnesota and Ontario now use different style signs for
new segments, but I took both these pictures in 2003. Many
counties in Minnesota that started Adopt-A-Highway
programs essentially copied the original MnDOT sign as
well.
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| One of the lesser-known hazards of the Lake Superior
North Shore. (OK, actually it's from the Oregon coast)
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That road must really be narrow 19 miles
ahead. I think the sign was intended to be "NARROW
ROAD" (Oregon 53 near its junction with U.S. 101)
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| You'll never figure this one out, but make some
guesses and look for the answer at the bottom* |
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Visiting the Bahamas is an opportunity to see
1970s-era European highway signage. (Of course, there are
other reasons to visit as well!) If you visit Europe
today, you will see octagonal, red American-style STOP
signs. However, since the Bahamas separated from Britain
in 1973, they retained the signage of that era. Including
the old European-style STOP sign. |
| I am standing in U.S. territory when taking this
picture --- Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin
Islands. This may look like it was taken standing on the
center median, but actually I'm standing on a median
strip between a 4-lane road divided with a double-double
line and a frontage road. Look at the traffic light in
the background. Yes, traffic is driving on the LEFT! I
had no idea before visiting the Virgin Islands that one
could find traffic driving on the left anywhere in the
United States. Traffic signage is MUTCD-compliant except
for signs modified to accommodate traffic direction. |
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Another view of a Virgin Islands road, showing the
left-hand traffic. Also note that even in the relatively
small road system that can fit on these tiny islands, the
U.S. Virgin Islands has a numbered route system. They use
the "standard" circle-in-a-square (or
rectangle) route marker used by otherwise unimaginative
states. |
| The folks in Colby, Kansas love to go out for some
Big Wong. |
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I don't know about you, but I find this to be a
somewhat mixed message. (This store really exists in
Temperance, MN). |
| I think we can be adult enough not to snicker when we
go through Johnson City, Kansas. That is, until we find
that the high school team is called the Trojans (what
were they thinking?!). And then, there's the symbolism in
that water tower... |
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| What fun! But what time are the crocodile
feedings?** This is the only photo
on this page I didn't take. I'd like to acknowledge the
source, but it came in one of those many-times-forwarded
e-mail messages. The Word file on which these photos was
saved (thus the poor reproduction quality) indicated it
came from "Franklin Mint." So, thanks, whoever
you are.
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*The Army Corps of Engineers has a sedimentation dam on the
Toutle River downstream of Mt. St. Helens to catch volcanic ash.
Thanks to a coworker with a relative who works for the Corps, I
got inside the fenced off area. This sign is on the maintenance
road that runs over the dam. Actually, it isn't exactly
accurate...the road really ends in quicksand.