Crazy South Bay Freeway Sign in Milpitas, California Makeover 3

This would actually be a follow-up sign, between McCarthy Blvd and 237 Calaveras Blvd in Milpitas, California:

Crazy South Bay Freeway Sign in Milpitas, California Makeover 2

I concluded the first post on this sign with the following:

Of course, with this one the state engineers may have to order the sign bridge replaced with a new, stouter one. In which case, one can have a fifteen-foot high sign with the arrows down at the bottom and away from the town names, and include the hours and days of the week when carpool are required.

And so I created one.

The arrows are rightly positioned in their lanes. The overhead directional signs above the arrowboard correctly identify which lanes will go where (right lane arrow, McCarthy Blvd or East 237 Calaveras Blvd Milpitas only, centre-right arrow either 237 or 680, centre-left arrow 680, left arrow 680 Express lane). While not perfect, the sign is legible enough to guide the motorists where they need to go. 

And I got the hours on the microscopic HOV 2+ carpools only sign right, too!

Crazy South Bay Freeway Sign in Milpitas, California Makeover

Here is the original captured by Google Street View:

237 South Bay Freeway looking East at McCarthy Blvd overhead sign bridge.

Pretty crazy sign, eh? A lot of info to process and the arrows (six of them of the Sword of Damocles type) appear to indicate the road is supposed to be seven lanes wide!!! It's obviously not the case.

Another misleading aspect of this sign is that the access lane to the 880 Express Lane is indicated to be in the left-hand breakdown lane. That's not the case either.

Plus, there's a tiny sign announcing that the Express Lane is only for 2-occupant -or-more carpools, except toll tag holders can use the lane regardless of how few people the vehicle carries. It's very easy to miss.

What is needed is a sign of the same size with only as many arrows as there are lanes (four, with a fith up ahead peeling off to McCarthy Blvd). It has to be the same size because of earthquakes -- a bigger sign may cause the sign bridge to tip over onto the traffic, or the truss-beam to detach from the pillars and fall onto the roadway, cars and all.

So here's an idea to clean up the sign:

Now we have almost* ALL the information on one sign, 60 feet wide by ten feet tall, same as the existing sign, with everything legible and in their proper place and only FOUR arrows pointing up, one for each travel lane. The right-hand arrow at the inside lane splits to indicate the upcoming exit and the "ONLY" next to it indicates either 237 Calaveras Blvd or McCarthy Blvd only.

* Except carpool required hours and days of the week.

Add exit tabs similar to the type found in Spain and the made-over sign will appear like this:

Of course, with this one the state engineers may have to order the sign bridge replaced with a new, stouter one. In which case, one can have a fifteen-foot high sign with the arrows down at the bottom and away from the town names, and include the hours and days of the week when carpool are required.

Out-of-State Plates 22

Adding some photos...

August 16, 2014: Added plates to Alaska (AK), Alabama (AL), and  Arizona (AZ).

August 19, 2014: Added plates to Alabama (AL), California (CA) and Colorado (CO).

Now on to the next state!

Yes, Kansas.

To Kansas we shall go!

 

 

 

Clean, simple design.

 

Out-of-State Plates 10

I tried repeatedly to get a second Arizona plate pic up, but it kept being loaded upside down! Arrrgggh...

Anyway, here's today's offerings: California.

Auto registration plate with a surround plate.

Cool surround plate typeface!

Motorcycle plate.

From 1999 - very old. Note the open top "4" California uses.

Much more readable than the closed top "4" almost every other state uses.

The open top version should be mandatory for all road signs, too. 

 

19 August 2014 - This one is ancient - from the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Note the "Art Deco Revival" design and typeface at the top of the plate.

Also the plate number begins with the repeat cycle numeral "2".

 

Interstates

Once upon a time RV Droz speculated that sometime in the future the US DOT FHWA will propose replacing the trademark Interstate Shield with a simple red, white and blue circle.

Well I came up with what I thought the FHWA would mandate: something even worse! Like what they did to the old cut-out US Highway shields.

Worst Interstate Highway route marker.
Ever.

Then I came up with my own idea for rectangular Interstate Highway route markers and a way to accommodate the 238 Freeway in California and the Bud Schuster Freeway in Pennsylvania.

A regular two-digit Interstate route marker.

A regular three-digit Interstate route marker.

This one is for the Bud Schuster Freeway. The number I-99 can be retired, or used east of 95.

This method of numbering an interstate with no available two-digit number in sequence follows the British method for numbering A-routes classified as Motorways.

This one is for the 238 Freeway in California.

And here is something extra: an Interstate Parkway (Jed A. Wilkinson's idea) following the present Shield design..