Street name signs help motorist find their way. If street signs are not highly visible, they can cause more than inconvenience. An unsure motorist, or one who makes an abrupt turn, can be very dangerous. After all, 20% of fatal crashes occur at intersections. Erratic, last second maneuvers will contribute to these statistics.
Some drivers deserve special considerations. Visitors and newcomers need reliable guidance. Drivers of rescue vehicles must see signs clearly to prevent delay and older or impaired drivers require brighter signs with larger lettering.
Yet many street name signs in use today are small or have lost their reflective brightness. This reduces their visibility to drivers.
Take out the old and install new street name signs to make life safer for motorists and pedestrians in your area.
Lyle Signs' AL-Series Bracket is attractive and also available with vandal-resistant hardware. (Shown with 6-in. letters on high intensity sheeting.)
Lyle Signs' popular E-450 bracket assembly sets the standard for strength and durability. It provides great visibility both day and night - plus it's wind- and vandal- resistant. (Shown above with 9-in. plates and diamond grade sheeting.)
It's easy to upgrade your old embossed steel street signs with new reflective signs using your existing Lyle E-450 bracket. Reflective plates with Series E borders (as shown above) look similar to embossed plates and can be used with your existing bracket system for 6-in. blades. They can be easily and economically upgraded with 9-in. plates and Lyle's extender hardware to meet the MUTCD's recommended plate size.
Larger street signs with bigger type and brighter reflectivity greatly improve legibility - especially at night. (Top: Engineer grade sheeting with 4-in. letters. Bottom: High intensity sheeting with 6-in. letters.)
There's no substitute for a well-planned, systematic program of sign maintenance, improvement, and replacement. It's a cost-effective way to improve safety for motorists, protect your community's investment in roadways and signage, and guard against the rising cost of accidents.
Signs should perform over extended periods of time, to justify their cost and the cost of labor to install them. By purchasing signs that will retain their brightness for years to come, your agency can save maintenance dollars down the road. By purchasing signs that perform at wide viewing angles, you can provide drivers with signs that can be seen even if signs are bent or misaligned. This means an added margin of safety.
You can make the best use of your budget dollars, reduce the potential, frequency and severity of accidents, and help minimize liability exposure with Lyle Signs' state-of-the-art signs, made with cutting-edge materials.
To find out more about traffic signs, call your Lyle Signs representative today. And help protect motorists in your community, while protecting your agency against liability.
Complex, visually cluttered intersections, especially in urban areas can be confusing and dangerous. Cut through the clutter with brighter, more visible street name signs from Lyle Signs.
In business districts and on principal arterials, street name signs should be placed at least on diagonally opposite corners so that they will be on the far right-hand side of the intersection for traffic on the major street. In residential areas, at least one street name sign should be mounted at each intersection. Signs naming both streets should be erected at each intersection. They should be mounted with their faces parallel to the streets they name.
Over 1/3 of America's driving population is over 60. As our population ages, the need for more visible street name signs increases - especially at night. Older drivers have only 65 to 77% of the legibility distance of younger drivers at night.
The 2009 MUTCD, ratified on 1/15/2010, made changes to street signs regulations. On 5/04/2012, the FHWA issued a Final Rule that eliminated most compliance set in the 2009 MUTCD, including mandates for street signs.
It is important to understand that elimination of a compliance dates for a given Standard contained in the MUTCD does not eliminate the regulatory requirement to comply with that Standard. The Standard itself remains in the MUTCD and applies to any NEW installations, but the firm fixed date for replacing noncompliant devices has been eliminated.
The wbebsite for the 2009 MUTCD Guide Signs is: http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/state_info/index.htm. For the May 14th, 2012 final rule: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-05-14/pdf/2012-11710.pdf.
Below are some of the primary D3, street sign, standards that were implemented with the 2009 Federal MUTCD. You need to check with your State regarding ratification of the MUTCD and ancillary State guidelines in place.
Section 2D.43
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
Guidance:
Lettering on post-mounted Street Name signs (for speeds > 25 mph) 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. 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. For local roads with speed limits of 25 mph or less, the lettering may be composed of 4" upper-case letters and 3" lower-case letters. Supplementary letters (Rd, St, E, Block #, etc) can be smaller on all signs.
The Street Name sign shall be retroreflective or illuminated to show the same shape and similar color both day and night. The only acceptable background colors for Street Name (D3-1 or D3-1a) signs shall be green, blue, brown, or white. Street signs do not require borders.
FHWA Revision 2 to the 2003 edition of MUTCD December 21, 2007 established minimum levels of retroreflectivity for selected traffic signs, including post mounted street signs. A minimum of Type III sheeting must be used for white/green street signs. 3M High Intensity Prismatic sheeting meets and exceeds those requirements.
In MUTCD Section 2A.08 it states: "Regulatory, warning, and guide signs shall be retroreflective or illuminated to show the same shape and similar color by both day and night, unless specifically stated otherwise in the text discussion in this Manual of a particular sign or group of signs. The requirement for sign illumination shall not be considered to be satisfied by street or highway lighting."
D-3 Minimum Size Plates in the 2009 MUTCD SHS
4" letters,
8" plate
6" letters,
12" plate
Check with your state traffic department for their ratification of the 2009 MUTCD and any ancillary specifications for street signs. You will need to determine what size blades and layouts are appropriate for your agency. Sign legibility is a direct function of letter size and spacing. Legibility distance has to be sufficient to give road users enough time to read and comprehend the sign.
Be aware that blades will typically be larger and they may require upgrades in bracket or installation systems as you use larger letters and subsequently large blades.
Satisfying communities by designing and manufacturing street name signs has been a specialty of Lyle Signs since 1912. Since then, Lyle Signs has gained a wealth of experience in fabricating products efficiently and economically, manufacturing products that have passed the test of time in communities all over the United States. Lyle's street name signs meet the new standards for size and reflectivity. And they set a whole new standard for quality.
Take out the old and install new street name signs to make life safer for motorists and pedestrians in your area. Lyle's street name signs are designed to meet the new standards for size. And they set a whole new standard for quality.
Logos add a special touch to your community's street signs. Add your city logo to promote and enhance tourism efforts. Heighten community awareness with a service or charitable organization logo. Below is a Model ST3, enhanced with a city logo.
Below is a Model ST1 with a service club logo.
Below is a Model ST1 with a color logo.
When you purchase from Lyle, you get the most reliable and effective signs made. That's because we use reflective sheeting’s.
All signs are available with prefixes, suffixes and block numbers.
The standard aluminum thickness for street signs is .080 Aluminum available in 6", 8", 9" or 12" signs. Extruded aluminum is available in 9" heights.
