Freeway Signing Handbook: Guide Sign Elements

Section 2: Guide Sign Elements

Introduction

Freeway guide signs contain various design elements that inform drivers of a particular route or destination. This section provides design guidance on these elements, which include abbreviations, Route signs, arrows, and advisory sign panels.

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Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be avoided whenever possible; however, abbreviations can be useful when completing destination messages on signs of limited size. When used, abbreviations should be only those that are commonly recognized and understood by motorists. The table below provides a list of the common abbreviations for freeway guide signs.

The words NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST must not be abbreviated when used with Route signs to indicate cardinal directions. The abbreviations for these words are intended for use with a destination name (place or street).

Periods are neither required nor suggested unless noted in the following table. In general, periods may be used when a cardinal direction is abbreviated as part of a destination name or when “United States” is abbreviated, other than for a U.S. numbered route.

Anchor: #i1013813Acceptable Abbreviations for Freeway Guide Signs
Word(s)	Abbreviations
Air Force	(See: United States Air Force)
Air Force Base	AFB
Agency	Agcy
Alternate	ALT or Alt
Arkansas (the state)	Ark (preferred), AR, or Ar
Army	(See: United States Army)
Association	Assoc
Avenue	Ave
Beltway	Bltwy (shield preferred)
Boulevard	Blvd
Branch	Not recommended
Business	Not recommended
Bypass	Not recommended
Causeway	Cswy
Center	Ctr
Circle	Cir
Compressed Natural Gas	CNG
Coast Guard	(See: United States Coast Guard)
Community College	CC
Construction	Const
Convention	Conv
County	Co
Court (street name only)	Ct
Cove	Not recommended
Creek	Not recommended
Crossing	Xing
Department	Dept
Division	Div
Downtown	Not recommended
Drive	Dr
East	E
Expressway	Expwy
Farm Road	FM (shield preferred)
Farm to Market Road	FM (shield preferred)
Fort	Ft
Freeway	Frwy or Fwy
Gardens	Not recommended
Hazardous Materials	HAZMAT
Heights	Not recommended
High Occupancy Vehicle	HOV
Highway	Hwy
Hospital	Not recommended
Information	Info
Institute	Inst
Interchange	Intchg
International	Intl
Interstate	IH (shield preferred)
Junction	JCT or Jct
Junior College	JC
Lane	Ln
Left	Not recommended
Loop	Not recommended — use shield
Louisiana (the state)	La (preferred) or LA
Marine Corps	(See: United States Marine Corps)
Maximum	Max
Metropolitan	Metro
Mexico	Not recommended or Mex
Miles Per Hour	MPH
Minimum	Min
Mount	Mt
Mountain	Mtn
National Guard	Not recommended
Naval Air Station	NAS
New Mexico (the state)	NM
North	N
Oklahoma	Okla (preferred), OK, or Ok
Park	Not recommended
Park Road	PR (shield preferred)
Parkway	Pkwy
Place	Pl
Point	Pt
Port	Not recommended
Railroad	RR
Ranch Road	RM (shield preferred)
Ranch to Market Road	RM (shield preferred)
Right	Rt
Road	Rd
Route	Rte
South	S
Spring or Springs	Not recommended
Spur	Not recommended — use shield
Square	Sq
State	Not recommended
State Highway	SH (shield preferred)
Saint	St
Street	St
Summit	Smt
Temporary	Temp
Terrace	Ter
Texas	Tx (preferred) or TX
Through	Thru or THRU
Toll Road	Not recommended
Tourist	Not recommended
Trail	Tr
Trucks	Not recommended
Turnpike	Not recommended
University	Univ
United States	US or U.S.
United States Air Force	USAF or US Air Force
United States Army	US Army
United States Coast Guard	USCG or US Coast Guard
United States Marine Corps	USMC or US Marine Corps
United States Navy	USN or US Navy
Weight	Wt
West	W

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Route Signs

Route signs identify the class and number of the highway facility of interest. Route signs can be mounted independently or within a freeway guide sign. Figure 4-1 illustrates the differences between the two types of Route signs. Independently mounted Route signs are mounted on a post and typically used on route confirmation assemblies. Examples of the appearance of independently mounted Route signs are shown in Figure 4-2. Guide-sign mounted Route signs are attached to a larger guide sign. Figure 4-3 shows the appearance of Guide-sign mounted Route signs.

General guidance on Route sign size and placement is presented later in this chapter. Dimensional data for Route signs (guide sign and independent use) are given in the Standard Highway Sign Designs for Texas.

Figure 4-1. Types of Route sign mounts.

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Figure 4-2. Independent ground-mounted Route signs. All route markers are black and white, unless shown otherwise.

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Figure 4-3. Guide-sign mounted Route signs. All route markers are black and white, unless shown otherwise.

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Arrows

Arrows are used on freeway guide signs to indicate the direction toward designated routes or destinations. Variations of the “Up” arrow are all rotations of either of two arrow types (Type A and B) and are dependent on the type of guide sign and location of the arrow on the sign. The “Down” arrow (Type C) is a separate arrow type and has a set size for all applications. Figure 4-4 shows the three basic types of arrows.

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Figure 4-4. Arrows used on freeway guide signs.

Type A arrows are primarily used on Exit Direction signs (Figure 4-5). The Type A arrow is white and has a longer shaft than a Type B arrow. Type A arrow dimension details are provided in the Standard Highway Sign Designs for Texas.

On Exit Direction signs, both overhead and ground mounted, the Type A arrow must be upward slanting and should be pointed at 45 degrees from the horizontal to convey a clear comprehension of the direction to be taken. The arrow must also be placed at the right side of the sign for right exits, and at the left side of the sign for left exits. Specific arrow placement on a Guide sign panel is discussed later in this chapter.

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Figure 4-5. Type A arrow used on an Exit Direction sign.

Type B arrows are primarily used on Exit Direction signs for multi-lane exits (Figure 4-6). Depending on its use and the sign panel color, the Type B arrow can be white or black. It has a shorter shaft than a Type A arrow. Specific standards for the arrows used on multi-lane Exit Direction signs are given in the Standard Highway Sign Designs for Texas. Type B arrows may also be used on single-lane Exit Direction signs.

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Figure 4-6. Type B arrows used on an Exit Only panel.

Type C arrows are downward pointing arrows that are used only on overhead guide signs to indicate the use of specific lanes for traffic bound for a destination or route that can be reached only by being in the lanes so designated (Figure 4-7). The Type C arrow is white and has one specified size. Downward pointing arrows must not be used unless an arrow can be pointed to each lane that can be used to reach the destination or route shown on the sign. The Type C arrow dimension detail is provided in the Standard Highway Sign Designs for Texas.

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Figure 4-7. Type C arrow used on an Exit Only panel.

The number of arrows on a sign structure as a whole must be equal to the number of lanes underneath the sign structure, unless there is an optional lane. When there is an optional lane, the number of arrows on the sign structure may be the same as the number of lanes immediately downstream of the structure, if the structure is located within the lane-increase transition.

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Advisory Sign Panels

In some cases, it may be necessary or desirable to include an advisory or warning message as part of a guide sign panel. Figure 4-8 shows two examples of Advisory sign panels. Situations possibly warranting the uses of Advisory or Warning sign panels include:

lane drop (Exit Only) at an exit — Exit Only signing is a common freeway guide signing practice that is described in the Texas MUTCD
advisory speed for a ramp — used where the advisory speed for an exit or connecting ramp is significantly lower than driver expectancy for the exit or ramp
a lane ending on the left side of the freeway (not a lane drop at an exit)
extremely low clearance situations.

Other types of warning messages may be appropriate to include as part of a guide sign panel. TxDOT staff should consult with the TxDOT Traffic Operations Division for assistance when a warning or advisory message is being considered for a guide sign panel.

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Figure 4-8. Examples of Advisory/Warning panels.