[TRAFFIC SIGNAGE] Exit tabs in the US

[flight50]

To be honest, I have no idea. But all of US-75 (Central Expressway) from downtown Dallas up to I-635 is done this way only on the service roads. Service roads are major here in Texas. They can be very high volume. Especially when there is an accident on the highways. So if I had to guess, it would be due to the wreckless drivers we have here. As major as the service roads are here, a fallen pole would has drastic affects along US-75. US-75 is a major highway in Dallas. It is as major as all the Interstates in or around Dallas as it the only free non paid highway that runs North and South above I-30. I-35 is a bit more Westward than North.

Funny how I never really noticed this until you just mentioned it. I made it out to be just the design they came up with. They redid Central Expressway back in the late 90s due to the mass traffic that Dallas grew to.

[supersobes]

@flight50 Ah! Reckless drivers makes sense. I've seen reinforced traffic signal poles here in Virginia Beach, and they have it like that so that the poles can withstand flooding and hurricanes since it is right on the coast. I was thinking that hurricanes don't hit Dallas very often, and flooding couldn't possibly be a concern on top of a bridge, but protecting it against reckless drivers makes sense.

[Sora]

Actually, in retrospect, I probably should be pointing out not only the exit tabs but also the exit signs.

Some exit signs look like this. (another example, another example)

However, many others look like this. (another example, another example) Here's one with a built-in speed guideline, too, but I've never actually seen this personally so I don't think it's common.

I dug out the Texas MUTCD, and it talks about what on Earth is going on on page 230-231.

06. An Exit Number (E5-1bP) plaque (see Figure 2E-22) may be installed above an existing Exit Gore (E5-1) sign when a non-numbered exit is converted to a numbered exit.
07. An Exit Gore (E5-1a) sign shall be used when the replacement of an existing assembly of an E5-1 sign and an E5 -1bP plaque becomes necessary.
08.The Narrow Exit Gore (E5-1c) sign may be used in gore areas of limited width where the width of the Exit Gore (E5-1a) sign would not permit sufficient lateral offset (see Section 2A.19), such as for ramp departures that are nearly parallel to the mainline roadway where the Exit Gore sign would be mounted on a narrow island or barrier. Where the E5-1c sign is mounted at a height of 14 feet or more from the roadway, the directional arrow may point diagonally downward.
09. The E5-1c should not be used in gore areas where an E5-1a sign could be installed with sufficient lateral offset.

In other words, the exit sign style used in the first few references is being phased out, and the one used in the second set of reference appears to be replacing it when possible. Despite the guidance of point 09, I very rarely see the "E5-1a" sign, with "E5-1c" being much more common. For the purposes of ATS, you should probably just make the creative assumption that any signs with the older style will eventually be replaced with one of the two new signs, and just operate as if all of them already have.

It may additionally be worth noting that most exits make an attempt to mark the exit number on the road as the exit begins, which I've attempted to illustrate in the provided images. This doesn't seem to be a 100% certain thing, but I do see it more frequently than not. Might be a nice little extra detail if you feel like adding that but if it's too much trouble then whatever. I don't know if there's any special reasoning behind it because when I tried to look it up I ended up in the roundabout section and became more confused than I was before I started.

[natvander]

It may additionally be worth noting that most exits make an attempt to mark the exit number on the road as the exit begins, which I've attempted to illustrate in the provided images. This doesn't seem to be a 100% certain thing, but I do see it more frequently than not. Might be a nice little extra detail if you feel like adding that but if it's too much trouble then whatever. I don't know if there's any special reasoning behind it because when I tried to look it up I ended up in the roundabout section and became more confused than I was before I started.

I'm not sure what you mean?

[Sora]

If you look at these two examples, the exit number is marked on the road itself right as the road divides: 116 for the first, and 90 for the second. This is identical to the number on the nearby sign, but it isn't the sign itself.

I don't get out of Texas much, so this might be a common thing? Or maybe it's uncommon even in Texas and I just happen to notice it because it happens a lot in my area? Either way it's something I've noticed a lot lately while driving that isn't in the game, so whether it's feasible or not it felt like something worth pointing out.

A quick look on Google Maps suggests that this is not done for every exit, but it seems to be done for most of them? But I'm not sure if there's any deeper meaning behind where it is or is not done, and I can't find anything suggesting that one exists. Hell, if you're questioning it, maybe I'm just seeing things and it isn't there in the first place.

Regardless, I don't have any idea why it's done. I assume that they wouldn't bother if there wasn't a reason, but the only thing I can think of is the possibility of the sign having been stolen or damaged. But they're often blocked off, and I can only think of a handful of numbers desirable enough to abscond with...

[natvander]

That’d need some investigation but I haven’t seen an example of that in any of the states in game (and I am quite (maybe too) intimate with those states in Google Maps.

[supersobes]

I've never seen an exit number painted on the roadway before in real-life or in Google Maps.

[Kraake]

[ external image ]

It took me few days, but now I have this collection: Realtime Board / Miro LINK (updated 14/03/2019) (each picture has a link on the top right corner).

I have tried to collect all different shapes and positions of EXIT tabs through the United States.

Have I missed something? Let me know, what it is.

Cheers!

If you look at these two examples, the exit number is marked on the road itself right as the road divides: 116 for the first, and 90 for the second. This is identical to the number on the nearby sign, but it isn't the sign itself.

[ external image ] Interesting. I haven't seen (noticed) any numbers on the road...

[Sora]

I wouldn't worry about it too much if it's impractical to include; I don't think it offers much in the way of meaningful applications, and I honestly never even noticed it until I started paying more attention to road markings/signage recently. It wouldn't surprise me if the vast majority of people don't even know they're there. Especially since it doesn't seem to be common outside of Texas, I guess?

If it doesn't take away from much or anything else then it's certainly something to be aware of, but I wouldn't sacrifice anything for it.

[supersobes]

The exit number painted on the ground is probably more for traffic engineers to know which sign to place there similar to why you might see a seemingly pointless line of the road adjacent to a mile marker, drain pipe, fire hydrant, etc.

Also, Kraake, I noticed in your Alaska examples, there are no exit tabs on those signs. Since none of the exits on the very few freeways that Alaska has are numbered, there is no reason for Alaska to use exit tabs because exit tabs simply give the number and/or letters of the exit.