Would you like that supersized?





Starting in 2003 the Department of Transportation began replacing the small county entrance signs with some twice as big as a standard highway shield. This is more in line with what counties in other states do, especially along interstates.

This page will attempt to track these new signs as they pop up. Since a highway (usually) enters a county only once in each direction, the sightings will be marked by direction. For example, "US 30 WB" would be on westbound 30, meaning the sign itself is on the eastern side of the county.

While this is an improvement, they may look a little weird when placed above the standard-size highway shield (see below). Perhaps standalone poles for these are the way to go, or put the shield on top.

There are approximately 312 instances of a highway crossing a county line. (I may have miscounted somewhere along the way.) There are exactly 61 instances of a highway entering the state (but at least four do not have county signs). Double the former and add the latter sans four, and there are conceivably 681 county signs to replace, assuming every in-state changeover is marked both ways. (They might not be marked in cases of straddling or other circumstances.)

Counties marked in italics in May 2004 have larger-than-regular signs, but are a different, mixed-case style. Their presence on a four-lane may have been a part of the construction contract for the Nashua bypass because all other county signs are all-caps. Counties marked in italics starting in 2006 are mixed-case signs in the Clearview font.

Top picture by Jason Hancock: 3/16/03

Pictures by me: Second, 6/12/05; third, 5/31/05

Page created 10/5/03; last updated 9/8/09

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