Promoted from a comment left by great and good FotB RoadRich, talking about bad public art:
All it evoked for me was ‘someone put up traffic signs and the dumbass forgot to add the letters.’ They have a DOT standard look to them.
…specifically Special Route Markers meant to be Guide signs (blue with white accents) in Chapter 7 of TxDOT’s Sign Guidelines and Applications Manual. Examples exist on page 7-14 (Special Route Marker), page 7-24 (indicating Emergency Services facilities), 7-46 (Historical Markers), and 7-51 to 7-52 (Rest Area).
If that hasn’t gotten you all excited about roadway signage you can also look up Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), currently in revision 2 of the 2009 edition. Ooo, page 301 embodies the spirit of ‘All General Service signs and supplemental sign panels shall have white letters, symbols, arrows, and borders on a blue background.’
I’m such fun at parties.
You know where I’m going with this, don’t you?
From the “Kentucky LTAP and Technology Transfer Program”, a webinar on the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Bonus: Florida man, Florida man, flagging traffic when he can…
From the Florida DOT, “Flagging Procedures”.
I watched both videos in their entirety (even the second one, whose final two full minutes is credits, but then Palatino Bold is so pleasant to look at). Nice find on the signage webinar, the guy did a good job presenting on a dry subject, and I found myself wondering if I could count it as professional development at work (where in the current environment, nearly any webinar gets counted).
After the second one, I felt ready to go stop traffic somewhere. If another FotB comes out of retirement and wants to shut down a bridge, I’m ready.
In the meantime I’ll enjoy telling airplanes where to go (on the ground).