[MassHistPres] Historic street name sign exemption

[Dennis De Witt]

Lee

The rules are getting ever more proscriptive.  Below is the referenced section straight from the manual.

Note;  In the MUTCD "Should" is recommended, "shall" is required.  Shoulds have a way of becoming shalls.  Note for instance that there used to be a choice of all caps or cap-lower case.  Now CLC is required.  Sign colors also used to be a local choice.  Now the choice is very limited.

The section addressed by the proposed amendment does not touch on the vexing issue of so-called breakaway posts -- which we have been told Boston believes are dangerous in urban areas.

Dennis


> Dennis--
> 
> Thanks for the update.
> 
> Can you remind all of us of the new appearance that will be imposed if this isn't addressed?
> 
> Best--
> 
> Lee
> 
> 
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 
> Lee Wright  |  lee at leewright.net  |  469-233-7712
> 

Section 2D.43 Street Name Signs (D3-1 or D3-1a)
Guidance:
01 Street Name (D3-1 or D3-1a) signs (see Figure 2D-10) should be installed in urban areas at all street intersections regardless of other route signs that might be present and should be installed in rural areas to identify important roads that are not otherwise signed.
Option:
02 For streets that are part of a U.S., State, or county numbered route, a D3-1a Street Name sign (see Figure 2D-10) that incorporates a route shield may be used to assist road users who might not otherwise be able to associate the name of the street with the route number.
Standard:
03 The lettering for names of streets and highways on Street Name signs shall be composed of a combination of lower-case letters with initial upper-case letters (see Section 2A.13).
Guidance:
04 Lettering on post-mounted Street Name signs should be composed of initial upper-case letters at least 6 inches in height and lower-case letters at least 4.5 inches in height.
05 On multi-lane streets with speed limits greater than 40 mph, the lettering on post-mounted Street Name signs should be composed of initial upper-case letters at least 8 inches in height and lower-case letters at least 6 inches in height.
Option:
06 For local roads with speed limits of 25 mph or less, the lettering on post-mounted Street Name signs may be composed of initial upper-case letters at least 4 inches in height and lower-case letters at least 3 inches in height.
Guidance:
07 If overhead Street Name signs are used, the lettering should be composed of initial upper-case letters at least 12 inches in height and lower-case letters at least 9 inches in height.
Support:
08 The recommended minimum letter heights for Street Name signs are summarized in Table 2D-2.
Table 2D-2. Recommended Minimum Letter Heights on Street Name Signs
Type of Mounting	Type of Street or Highway	Speed Limit	Recommended Minimum
Letter Height
Initial Upper-Case	Lower-Case
Overhead	All types	All speed limits	12 inches	9 inches
Post-mounted	Multi-lane	More than 40 mph	8 inches	6 inches
Post-mounted	Multi-lane	40 mph or less	6 inches	4.5 inches
Post-mounted	2-lane	All speed limits	6 inches*	4.5 inches*
* On local two-lane streets with speed limits of 25 mph or less, 4-inch initial upper-case letters with 3-inch lower-case letters may be used.
Option:
09 Supplementary lettering to indicate the type of street (such as Street, Avenue, or Road) or the section of the city (such as NW) on the D3-1 and D3-1a signs may be in smaller lettering, composed of initial upper-case letters at least 3 inches in height and lower-case letters at least 2.25 inches in height. Conventional abbreviations (see Section 1A.15) may be used except for the street name itself.
10 A pictograph (see definition in Section 1A.13) may be used on a D3-1 sign.
Standard:
11 Pictographs shall not be displayed on D3-1a or Advance Street Name (D3-2) signs (see Section 2D.44).
12 If a pictograph is used on a D3-1 sign, the height and width of the pictograph shall not exceed the upper-case letter height of the principal legend of the sign.
Guidance:
13 The pictograph should be positioned to the left of the street name.
Standard:
14 The Street Name sign shall be retroreflective or illuminated to show the same shape and similar color both day and night. The color of the legend (and border, if used) shall contrast with the background color of the sign.
Option:
15 The border may be omitted from a Street Name sign.
16 An alternative background color other than the normal guide sign color of green may be used for Street Name (D3-1 or D3-1a) signs where the highway agency determines this is necessary to assist road users in determining jurisdictional authority for roads.
Standard:
17 Alternative background colors shall not be used for Advance Street Name (D3-2) signs (see Section 2D.44).
18 The only acceptable alternative background colors for Street Name (D3-1 or D3-1a) signs shall be blue, brown, or white. Regardless of whether green, blue, or brown is used as the background color for Street Name (D3-1 or D3-1a) signs, the legend (and border, if used) shall be white. For Street Name signs that use a white background, the legend (and border, if used) shall be black.
Guidance:
19 An alternative background color for Street Name signs, if used, should be applied to the Street Name (D3-1 or D3-1a) signs on all roadways under the jurisdiction of a particular highway agency.
20 In business or commercial areas and on principal arterials, Street Name signs should be placed at least on diagonally opposite corners. In residential areas, at least one Street Name sign should be mounted at each intersection. Signs naming both streets should be installed at each intersection. They should be mounted with their faces parallel to the streets they name.
Option:
21 To optimize visibility, Street Name signs may be mounted overhead. Street Name signs may also be placed above a regulatory or STOP or YIELD sign with no required vertical separation.
Guidance:
22 In urban or suburban areas, especially where Advance Street Name signs for signalized and other major intersections are not used, the use of overhead Street Name signs should be strongly considered.
Option:
23 At intersection crossroads where the same road has two different street names for each direction of travel, both street names may be displayed on the same sign along with directional arrows.
Support:
24 Information regarding the use of street names on supplemental plaques for use with intersection-related warning signs is contained inSection 2C.58.


On Mar 1, 2012, at 5:10 PM, Lee Wright wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 1, 2012, at 4:57 PM, Dennis De Witt wrote:
> 
>> The following section, which would allow the preservation of sets of historic street name signs such as Brookline's, has been inserted in the U.S. Senate's Federal Highway transportation bill.  I understand that it passed the Senate unanimously.  
>> 
>> SEC.1526. TREATMENT OF HISTORIC SIGNS.
>> 
>>             The Secretary shall, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, initiate a rulemaking to exempt locally identified historic street name signs or replicas of historic signs from complying with all or part of section 2D.43 of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
>> 
>> For any place where there may be a set of such signs (Nantucket?), it would be most helpful if the full Massachusetts delegation was made aware of the importance of this preservation matter.
>> 
>> The past support of all those who wrote in support to the Federal highway Administration re this issue is greatly appreciated.
>> 
>> Dennis De Witt
>> Brookline
>> 
>> ******************************
>> For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly.  PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE WHOLE LIST.
>> MassHistPres mailing list
>> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
>> http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres
>> ********************************
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20120301/b68d32b8/attachment-0001.htm>