MUTCD Monday - A quick one
(Tumblr - 2025/01/07)
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MUTCD Monday is an unscheduled weekly post where I review a (usually) nonstandard road sign that I'm (usually) criticizing.
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD, "defines the standards used by road managers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices [road signs and stuff] on all streets, highways, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and site roadways open to public travel".[1]
This week, I forgot it was Monday until 10:45 PM.
I keep starting on posts then realizing they take more effort and time than I have to give.
The MUTCD gives guidance on what a CMS (Changeable Message Sign) should display, based on it's capabilities.
If a sign is new and fancy, it should look like the real thing. If it's old and shit, it should simply do its best.
However, I take a little bit of issue with the sign they used for the fancy one.
As is, it says the sign should look like this:
But I feel like the green downplays the importance of the message. There's a reason construction signs are America's Shame Orange. It catches your attention. The green makes it seem like "just another highway sign" which you could easily overlook and then be surprised when I-40 EAST just kinda ends, which is why I have a few alternative designs:
I feel like the sign should use more orange, especially if I-40 EAST is closed due to construction. Either the entire sign can be orange or just a box around the word "CLOSED".
Alternatively, if orange isn't today's color, you can use yellow. You could even simulate warning beacons on the CMS, if it likes .gif files. I don't know why you would or if you physically could, but it's an option, mostly out of Tumblr formatting.
I don't think it's necessarily wrong to use a plain green sign for a road closed message, given both that this is coming directly from Mr. Traffic Control Devices himself and the fact that "ROAD CLOSED" signs are regulatory white rather than orange, I just think it's a little silly and misguided.
What do you think? I think the aliasing on the image looks strange, especially the "O" in "ROUTE" and the slight asymmetry on the Interstate shield. Also, fun fact, while making the flashing beacon version, I discovered that the text "CLOSED" is one pixel off-center towards the right.
#mutcd #road signs #small rant #fhwa #mutcd monday #autism #cms #highway signs
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