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Does this sign mean it's OK to wear polka dots now?
By adamg on Wed, 06/21/2017 - 4:24pm
Thomas B. forwards this photo from outside the Old State House and wonders what this sign is trying to tell people.
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Comments
Reflector
A reflector for car headlights to demonstrate the presence of a pole/island of pedestrians. Federal standard (OM1-2) is 3x3:
Not sure why they went 5x5.
They set the sign machine to 11
Or, in this case, 25.
They wanted to make sure that nobody could say that they didn't see it.
polka dots
after memorial day before labor day, same as white slacks.
Polka Dot Dress
Massachusetts standard for these markers is
yellow reflectors ** on a yellow background (MUTCD OM1-1). They are typically used NOT to mark hazards like poles, but to denote locations such as the "gore" where exit ramps leave from freeways. Per the Massachusetts MUTCD Amendments, state standards^^ A) call for these markers to be used only where traffic can pass immediately on either side of the gore and B) do not allow these markers to be used with other warning or regulatory signs mounted on the same pole..
For a brief period in the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, MassDPW permitted their sign contractors to use the OM1-2 panel (black background) instead of the OM1-1 one (yellow background). They eventually went back to the yellow background once experience showed that locations with the newer black background signs had a 50 to 60 percent higher replacement rate than those with the older yellow background signs.
** the 'reflectors' on these signs are supposed to be either separate plastic reflectors or separately applied 'dots' made from prismatic high intensity sheeting materials - the yellow backgrounds are supposed to have minimal retroreflectivity, and are typically fabricated from either Engineer or Super Engineer grade sheeting - this is to maximize contrast between the background and the reflectors. However, BTD typically cheats and makes these signs through a silk screen process, which provides nearly NO contrast between the background and the reflectors.
^^ Per Mass. General Laws Chapter 85, Section 2, all traffic control devices installed on local streets and roads in all cities and towns (including Boston) in the state must conform to the MUTCD.
Grove St
And then there's this bizarro-world twin of the sign at Grove St in Somerville, which is black on yellow:
https://www.google.com/maps/...
It looks kind of old -- was it yellow-on-yellow and the reflectors fell off, leaving black dots? Or perhaps something else.
(Another fun thing is that this street stub is marked one-way towards the permanently locked gate.)
Looks to me like that sign was deliberately made
as black dots on yellow background. Of course, to denote a gate or similar full obstruction, the sign should be red reflectors on a red background (MUTCD OM4-1).
Rorschach directional sign put up for the recent
Grateful Dead show. The sign means whatever you want it to maaan.
Five by Five
I'm still alive...
Obtuse Connect 4
It is going to replace fidget spinner craze by August.
Pretty sneaky,
Sis.
One of the games on an early computer I had
(when the 386 processor was the latest and greatest thing) was Majhong. What made the game unique as compared to the standard version was that the tiles were road signs.
The Sign of The American Dream!
It is warning drivers
In a general sense, it is warning drivers to not even think about driving across that plaza.
Look at the larger intersection and it is clear why it would need to be there, but not say anything. There is one needed where Beacon splits into Bay State and Beacon, too.
Perhaps down the road
But for now, the scaffolding makes for a fine deterrent.
presumably it is there to say
presumably it is there to say "don't recreate the boston massacre by running over tourists on this little plaza"
This Intersection is Hopelessly FUBAR
Enter at your own peril.
Is it related to the new pot
Is it related to the new pot law?
Warning! Swiss cheese ahead!
Warning! Swiss cheese ahead!
A little odd to see one
A little odd to see one installed so high.
At locations with pedestrian activity
the standard is to mount signs so that the bottom of the panel is 7 feet above the road. This is to minimize the chance of people walking into the sign and splitting their skills open.
Got it
It's an enormous No-Pest-Strip