We came across workers swapping out street signs along a large stretch of Court Street yesterday. The old signs still looked relatively new, so we were wondering why they needed to be replaced.
Apparently, the work is part of an effort to replace all 250,000 street name signs across New York City to comply with the Federal Highway Administration's "national standards in typography and surface reflectivity" for street signs. Who knew that was even a thing?
Don't see much of a difference between the two signs? There really isn't much, except that the older signs have all-uppercase lettering, whereas the newly installed ones feature mixed-case letters in a new typeface called 'Clearview', which is supposed to bring more clarity and simplicity.
According to an article in the New York Times on the subject, 'sign design nationwide is governed by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the latest version of which states: “The lettering for names of places, streets, and highways on conventional road guide signs shall be a combination of lowercase letters with initial uppercase letters.” '
The cost for the mandated street sign change? An estimated $ $27.5 million, though NYC Department of Transportation apparently received New York State funding for routine sign repairs and replacement, according to the NY Daily News. And if you are wondering, the life expectancy of a street sign is ten years.
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Don't see much of a difference between the two signs? There really isn't much, except that the older signs have all-uppercase lettering, whereas the newly installed ones feature mixed-case letters in a new typeface called 'Clearview', which is supposed to bring more clarity and simplicity.
According to an article in the New York Times on the subject, 'sign design nationwide is governed by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the latest version of which states: “The lettering for names of places, streets, and highways on conventional road guide signs shall be a combination of lowercase letters with initial uppercase letters.” '
The cost for the mandated street sign change? An estimated $ $27.5 million, though NYC Department of Transportation apparently received New York State funding for routine sign repairs and replacement, according to the NY Daily News. And if you are wondering, the life expectancy of a street sign is ten years.






