Evening star., 1925-09-13
STANDARD SIGNS
TO MARK HIGHWAYS.
System Recently Adopted
and Recommended by In
terState Joint Board.


A system of standard signs to be
used on highways throughout the
United States has been adopted by
the Joint Board of Interstate High
WAYS, according to announcement by
the United States Bureau of Public
Roads. The plan adopted includes
not only signs of a directional nature,
but also those that are Cautionary and
international.
The standard signs are of such a
character that even person who
cannot read will understand the mean
ing of those indicating danger by the
shape and color. The signs are of two
general classes. One group, the dam
ger and caution signs, will consist
of signs of four different shapes, rep
resenting as many degrees of danger.
These VIII have a yellow background
with black letters and symbols. The
other group will include the standard
route marker in the form of a L. 5.
shield and directional and informa-
tional signs. All signs in this group
will have a white background with
black letters.
Mark at Railway Crossings.
The standard railroad crossing sign
will be round in shape, "a inches in
diameter, and will bear the well un-
derstood railroad cross with the let
?. 1rs r. r. In the upper quadrant on
tbA yellow background.
Ar points of sufficient danger to re-
n1Iire complete stop, tlfe sign will
he octaA onal in shape, "A inches in
yize and will bear on the yellow
background the word stop" in large
black letters.
AT curves, harrow bridges, steep
hills and other points where the de-
gree of danger is Sufficient To call Tor
the exercise of a considerable degree
of caution, but not complete stop,
a diamond-shaped yellow sign VIII De
erected. with the character OF TINE Dan
ger described in black letters and
symbols. This sign will be "a inches
on each side.
At uoints of lesser or occasional
danger the 24-inch square yellow sign
will be used, and the necessity 1or
caution will be explained in black let
ters in a single word. such as school,,
Hospital - church
I6 Inches From Tip to Tip.
The standard shield accepted as the
route marker will be 10 inches Vertl-
cally from tip to tip. At the top II
will bear in black letters on the white
background the name of the State In
which it is erected, and below IN the
section of the shield in which the red
and white stripes ordinarily appear
will be the initials III. s." and the
route number in large numerals.
At the approach to forks or juno
tions of the interstate roads with
other roads a smaller shield, inches
from tip to tip vertically, similar to
the route marker, but bearing the
single letter ''R" or L." Will be erect
ed below the numbered shield to in
dicate whether the United States high
way branches to the right or left.
Distances along the main routes to
cities and towns will be indicated on
rectangular white signs with the
names of the points and the distances
TO them and an arrow pointing the
proper direction in black.
Plan for Intersecting Routes.
Distances to points not on the in
terstate roads will be posted at the
intersecting routes leading to such
points. The signs, also rectangular
will bear the names of the cities, with
distances to them in miles in black
on the white background. No arrows
will be used on these signs. The side
of the road on which they are posted
will indicate the direction.
In addition to these signs, rectangu-
lar white-and-black signs will be
erected at physical features, such as
creeks, rivers, lakes, etc, crossed or
passed by the interstate roads, and
the traveller will be notified at points
where the speed limit is changed by
a standard black -and-wnite sign, pre-
scribing the speed limit.
In the series of caution and danger
signs the degree of danger is sig
ni1ed by the shape as well as the
wording or marking of the signs. A
round sign will only be used at rail
road crossings: an octagonal sign will
only be used at points where a com
plete stop is demanded by extreme
danger ahead; the diamond shaped
sign will always indicate to the driver
of q motor vehicle, even though he be
color blind and unable to read, that
there is some road condition ahead
which calls for the exercise of caution.
The square sign will invariably indi-
cate the need for a lesser degree of
caution.
Color Demanding Caution.
Yellow is the color of danger or
caution. Wherever the motorist sees
yellow, he will know there is some de-
gree of danger ahead. The white
signs viii give him information and
guidance, but viii not call for caution.
The system of interstate highways
on which these signs will be erected
was designated by the joint board of
State and Federal officials. A com
mittee Of the board is now working
on a numbering scheme, and it is ex-
pected that maps of the routes Sc
lected with the numbers indicated will
be available in a reasonably short
time.