The Road to Clarity

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I'm pretty sure I've read about this on this site before, but I figured several of you would appreciate this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/magazine...amp;oref=slogin

It's a discussion of what has gone into replacing Highway Gothic with Clearview on highway road signs.

[slapshot]

Awesome article. Great find.

I wonder what the legibility difference is between Highway Gothic and Interstate. I wonder if there would be as much discrepancy between Interstate and Clearview.

[Drew22]

Here is the picture that sums up what there doing.

Looks good to me.

[lopernv]

Is it just me or does it seem weird that Hellertown would be near Bethlehem?

[maz]

doesnt look too different to me, if anything it actually seems harder to see, but if it helps it helps.

[andrewharrington]

Awesome article. Great find.

I wonder what the legibility difference is between Highway Gothic and Interstate. I wonder if there would be as much discrepancy between Interstate and Clearview.

Interstate is just the commercial equivalent of FHWA Highway Gothic. They are identical, except for the fact that Interstate includes many extra weights that Tobias Frere-Jones included when he created Interstate to mimic FHWA Highway Gothic. Interstate Bold is the weight used to mimic FHWA Highway Gothic E-Modified, which is the face found on highway signs.

[OMMF]

Here is the picture that sums up what there doing.

Looks good to me.

I guess the new typeface also moves exits one mile closer.

[See Red]

Here is the picture that sums up what there doing.

Looks good to me.

I guess the new typeface also moves exits one mile closer.

Heh.

That was my reaction at first... but it looks like the first sign is at mile marker 64 while the other is at mile marker 65.

[OMMF]

Here is the picture that sums up what there doing.

Looks good to me.

I guess the new typeface also moves exits one mile closer.

Heh.

That was my reaction at first... but it looks like the first sign is at mile marker 64 while the other is at mile marker 65.

I sit corrected.

[njmeadowlanders]

I'm sure 99% of the people out there wouldn't even notice...and to be honest, I'm not sure how much of a difference it would really make....I would think the colors/reflectors would be what made the difference...not the font....

[IronChefShark]

please tell me that PA SR412 is a freeway....

(I just want clarification that California is not the only state which has non-interstate freeways)

also, can anyone identify what is wrong with this picture?

[OMMF]

please tell me that PA SR412 is a freeway....

(I just want clarification that California is not the only state which has non-interstate freeways)

also, can anyone identify what is wrong with this picture?

Easy, there is no Interstate 50.

[MrAsterisk]

I'm always entertained by the interstate highways in Hawaii.

[BrySmalls]

I'm always entertained by the interstate highways in Hawaii.

must be a hell of a commute from honolulu to los angeles. guess they gotta get the bridge built first.....

[BB61]

please tell me that PA SR412 is a freeway....

(I just want clarification that California is not the only state which has non-interstate freeways)

Actually, this was taken on I-78, as you can probably make out (or not, as the case may be). But yes, there at least two that I can think of -- US Route 1 between Philadelphia and... say... Princeton, and PA 309, which goes from the suburbs into the Poconos.

I'm always entertained by the interstate highways in Hawaii.

must be a hell of a commute from honolulu to los angeles. guess they gotta get the bridge built first.....

Y'know, it's funny... everyone complains about the fact that Hawai'i has interstates, but they completely forget that the lower 48 has "one-state" interstates too...

I-4 (Florida)

I-16 (Georgia)

I-17 and I-19 (Arizona)

I-26 (South Carolina)

I-49 (Louisiana)

I-65 (Alabama)

I-66 (Virginia)

I-73/74 (North Carolina)

I-86 and I-88 (New York)

I-97 (Maryland)

I-99 (Pennsylvania)

...not to mention the spurs thereof (I-495, etc.) that are also dubbed "Interstates".

[fiasco!]

please tell me that PA SR412 is a freeway....

(I just want clarification that California is not the only state which has non-interstate freeways)

Actually, this was taken on I-78, as you can probably make out (or not, as the case may be). But yes, there at least two that I can think of -- US Route 1 between Philadelphia and... say... Princeton, and PA 309, which goes from the suburbs into the Poconos.

I'm always entertained by the interstate highways in Hawaii.

must be a hell of a commute from honolulu to los angeles. guess they gotta get the bridge built first.....

Y'know, it's funny... everyone complains about the fact that Hawai'i has interstates, but they completely forget that the lower 48 has "one-state" interstates too...

I-4 (Florida)

I-16 (Georgia)

I-17 and I-19 (Arizona)

I-26 (South Carolina)

I-49 (Louisiana)

I-65 (Alabama)

I-66 (Virginia)

I-73/74 (North Carolina)

I-86 and I-88 (New York)

I-97 (Maryland)

I-99 (Pennsylvania)

...not to mention the spurs thereof (I-495, etc.) that are also dubbed "Interstates".

I-26 actually goes into North Carolina & Tennessee as well, so it is a true Interstate. It runs from Charleston, SC through Asheville, NC to just north of Johnson City, TN.

Charleston, SC to Johnson City, TN

[IronChefShark]

please tell me that PA SR412 is a freeway....

(I just want clarification that California is not the only state which has non-interstate freeways)

Actually, this was taken on I-78, as you can probably make out (or not, as the case may be). But yes, there at least two that I can think of -- US Route 1 between Philadelphia and... say... Princeton, and PA 309, which goes from the suburbs into the Poconos.

the main freeway that goes through my hometown isn't an interstate, but a state route, CA 4

the picture I posted above is actually US 50, which is a freeway, somewhere between Sacramento and Placerville. Im assuming that CalTrans probably ran out of white US shield markers and had to make due with an Interstate shield. In fact, I noticed one time on my way home from Lake Tahoe on westbound US 50 (in the sierras before it becomes freeway in Placerville) that at one point the highway was marked with a green California state route marker with 50 on it.

California is an odd bird as far as highways and roads go. I can think of at least six state routes (1, 4, 24, 84, 92, 99) and two US routes (50, 101) that are freeways. We don't have mileage markers on any of the freeways, and we just started getting numbered exits maybe four years ago (Im still not used to it). Also, the US routes here still utilize cutout shields with a black outline and a US above the number on them rather than the shield without an outline on a black background utilized in other states.

Then there is Barstow in SoCal. Talk about a hole. Its where the I-15 junctions with the I-40 aka the interstate that killed US route 66

[Fred T. Jane]

Y'know, it's funny... everyone complains about the fact that Hawai'i has interstates, but they completely forget that the lower 48 has "one-state" interstates too...

I-4 (Florida)

I-16 (Georgia)

I-17 and I-19 (Arizona)

I-26 (South Carolina)

I-49 (Louisiana)

I-65 (Alabama)

I-66 (Virginia)

I-73/74 (North Carolina)

I-86 and I-88 (New York)

I-97 (Maryland)

I-99 (Pennsylvania)

...not to mention the spurs thereof (I-495, etc.) that are also dubbed "Interstates".

I-49 in its current form is only part of the I-49 project that will provide a direct connection between Kansas City and New Orleans.

[mctitan53]

please tell me that PA SR412 is a freeway....

(I just want clarification that California is not the only state which has non-interstate freeways)

Actually, this was taken on I-78, as you can probably make out (or not, as the case may be). But yes, there at least two that I can think of -- US Route 1 between Philadelphia and... say... Princeton, and PA 309, which goes from the suburbs into the Poconos.

I'm always entertained by the interstate highways in Hawaii.

must be a hell of a commute from honolulu to los angeles. guess they gotta get the bridge built first.....

Y'know, it's funny... everyone complains about the fact that Hawai'i has interstates, but they completely forget that the lower 48 has "one-state" interstates too...

I-4 (Florida)

I-16 (Georgia)

I-17 and I-19 (Arizona)

I-26 (South Carolina)

I-49 (Louisiana)

I-65 (Alabama)

I-66 (Virginia)

I-73/74 (North Carolina)

I-86 and I-88 (New York)

I-97 (Maryland)

I-99 (Pennsylvania)

...not to mention the spurs thereof (I-495, etc.) that are also dubbed "Interstates".

I-26 actually goes into North Carolina & Tennessee as well, so it is a true Interstate. It runs from Charleston, SC through Asheville, NC to just north of Johnson City, TN.

Charleston, SC to Johnson City, TN

And I-65 actually runs from Mobile, Alabama to Gary, Indiana. Through Tennessee and Kentucky.

[BB61]

Meh... I got a few right. There were a few that I was sure of, but I went looking for a map for the rest.