Stop signs with louvers

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Our local city government is looking to replace a stop sign that was stolen. Unfortunately, the stolen sign had louvers that block the visibility of the sign to traffic from other directions. I called Grimco and two other traffic sign suppliers and they don't carry these. Does anyone here know of a supplier for them? Thanks in advance.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

I've never seen something like this. Was it like a perimeter shell or like vertical strips?
Maybe just offer them a second stop sign, just blank, that they can install it in the line of sight between the new sign and the other traffic they don't want to stop?

It's definitely an Illinois thing but may not be as common in some other states. After a little more digging, I think they might be called shields or blinders. I found some through Tapco but not the style they are looking for.

https://www.tapconet.com/product/blinder-for-stop-sign

Here's a photo of one that is similar to what they are wanting us to provide.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gabriella319/1287632016

I've located a couple of other photos online and they all seem to be slightly different in design and appearance. Here's yet another style.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p...ojtnHzqaIF2OB0MjdTWpAJXiuXhiNlgDkaYL4boEKq2Sl

I don't know if someone actually produces these things or if the majority of them are custom fabricated. I'm wondering if the highway standards manual makes any mention of them.

 

[CanuckSigns]

As someone who has never seen this before, can someone explain WTF the point of the louvers is? Do they think if you can't read the word stop, you won't know what the big red octagon is?

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

As someone who has never seen this before, can someone explain WTF the point of the louvers is? Do they think if you can't read the word stop, you won't know what the big red octagon is?

They use these at intersections at two-way stops with tight angles so there is no confusion as to which road is supposed to continue moving and which road is supposed to stop. Traffic that is moving can't see the word stop so they know the sign serves the crossroad, not the road on which they are driving. It's predominantly more useful at night.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Looks like you fab it on your own. It's simple shear and brake stuff that you could do in house or have a local sheet metal shop do it. If you can't find anyone, draw out what you need on paper and I can probably make these for you. Then you can bolt them on a standard stop sign.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I have never seen one of those before. Like Canuok said, I don't get why they need to hide "STOP"... you see a red octagon.

I myself like to know if the cross street has a stop or not... that is valuable information. We have signs that say "cross traffic does not stop" or "4-way stop" underneath our stop signs.

Not questioning you needing that or not... just really weird setup your traffic people have going on up there.

 

[James Burke]

Yes...these are real things and I can't believe they're not more popular. They're also called directional shields. I've seen them numerous places and we really need to have them in our county where there are roads that meander and "dog leg" off into various directions.

Typically, the intersecting roads are required to stop. But as you work your way around the dog leg at an acute angle, the stop sign can appear to be confusing.

The attached photo is different from the ones I'm used to. The ones I've seen look more like a set of vertical Venetian blinds attached across the entire surface of the sign.

More about them here: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2250.0

JB

They also make them for traffic lights....

I wonder if a lenticular design might work for a stop sign....

 

[Jeff grossman]

I’d make it a kit - pre punched sign and louvres - let them assemble and install- wouldn’t want the liability on something like that and I don’t think my insurance would either - at least here in PA

 

[James Burke]

I’d make it a kit - pre punched sign and louvres - let them assemble and install- wouldn’t want the liability on something like that and I don’t think my insurance would either - at least here in PA

Now that I think of it, each installation is going to be slightly different and may require different louver angles and dimensions due to the road layout and terrain. Get it wrong and you could possibly obstruct the sign for a driver. This is going to be tricky. I think this one would be better served by IDOT.


JB

 

[Gino]

Around here, they have them on some of the traffic lights, but I don't recall them on anything else. To me, they're a nuisance..... at least on the lights.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Does anyone remember or still have those weird traffic lights that you could only see when you were looking straight at them?
I agree with Gino, I like to watch the other light so I know when it's time to stop bitching about it taking too long.

 

[Gino]

Yeah, we do. You can't see jack, until you're almost on top of them. They're a pain, too.

Besides, why the big emphasis on a stop sign ?? Nobody pays any attention to them. They go right through them, yield, merge and all kindsa other signs, too. They litter the countryside and they don't help a single soul. Traffic signs...... a total,waste and an eyesore.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Yeah, we do. You can't see jack, until you're almost on top of them. They're a pain, too.

Besides, why the big emphasis on a stop sign ?? Nobody pays any attention to them. They go right through them, yield, merge and all kindsa other signs, too. They litter the countryside and they don't help a single soul. Traffic signs...... a total,waste and an eyesore.

Gino you sound like the guy that drives around with his blinker on

 

[Reveal1]

...and what about those pesky speed limits, alcohol blood limits, trespassing, property destruction; people ignore those too. Heck, they don't need to defund the police if there are no laws to enforce. What's that you say? Oh yeah, forgot about Seattle, Portland, DC. Never mind.

 

[Big Rice Field]

If you need an engineering drwaing whith overhead views showing viewing angles let me know. All I need is a site plan
to work off of.

 

[unclebun]

They use those here in Missouri too. The purpose, for those who don't understand, is when you have roads that cross at acute angles, and the side road has to stop but the main road doesn't. The blinders screen the main road from being able to read the word STOP. I don't think the OP is going to be able to find a stop sign already made that way. You'll have to custom make pieces of red aluminum bent to the necessary angle and rivet them to a stop sign. The louvers need to be non-reflective.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Fun fact, my city is attempting to get rid of stop signs all together. It makes for a dizzying drive on a trip across town that is straight down the road, but rush hour congestion is nearly a thing of the past... Just make sure you religiously rotate your tires. That and pray you are not behind an out of town idiot who thinks yield means stop.

We have these around here too but not on the main roads. A lot of people hate them but they are too stupid to understand why they work well and just complain about everything. I like when people use their turn signals in them and stop in the middle of the circle.

 

[unclebun]

They've gotten on a kick putting in roundabouts here too, but the problem is they take a 4 way intersection and make it a roundabout without building a big circle with a center. It's the same intersection with a little bit added to the corners and a circle painted in the middle. There's not enough room between the entering roads to be able to tell to whom you should be yielding, and no space to merge. So people end up stopping for each other anyway, and it takes longer to get through than when it had stop signs.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Must be the new thing because Frisco is converting intersections into those as well. Not busy intersections but kind of minor ones. There is one right up the road from us and it's been there for almost 2 years. There are still idiots that don't know how to use it. It's a four-lane road so the roundabout it two lanes and that really fucks with people.

 

[signage]

In the part of PA I'm from almost all of our roads come at angles and we don't need no stinking shutter, louvers or blinders on the stops signs!

Gino mustn't like road signs because he doesn't make any and isn't registered to do so in the state. If you know the correct person you can make a lot off of them.