Skip to main content

Will NC Turnpike Shields be purple?

Will this be what Toll NC 540 shields look like once the Triangle Expressway opens?  It certainly could be.

Bob Malme in a post to a regional transportation forum noticed that on a map of the now under construction Triangle Expressway thatthe NC 147 TOLL and NC 540 TOLL shields were purple.  Any non-toll NC routes were the traditional black background.  Bob references the 2009 NC Turnpike Annual Report which shows a map of the TriEx on page 17.

This would confirm a note I received informing me that at an unrelated meeting to the Turnpike, an NCDOT official said that local communities couldn't use purple for wayfinding projects because it is reserved for the upcoming toll roads.


The reason for purple?  The FHWA Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) requires it.  From page 10 of the 2009 Edition of the MUTCD:
J. Purple—lanes restricted to use only by vehicles with registered electronic toll collection (ETC)
accounts
The Triangle Expressway will be completely tolled electronically.  Most likely a 'TOLL' banner will be included above the 540 and 147 shields.

So of course, the question is - What do you all think?  Do you like the use of purple in a state highway shield?  Have better suggestions? Your own prototype you'd rather suggest?  Post and send away....

Comments

Brian said…
As far as I can see in Section 2F.03 par. 1, purple is only supposed to be used as the background for the ETC information. To quote forthwith:

Standard:
01 Use of the color purple on any sign shall comply with the provisions of Sections 1A.12 and 2A.10. Except as provided in Sections 2F.12 and 2F.16, purple as a background color shall be used only when the information associated with the appropriate ETC account is displayed on that portion of the sign. The background color of the remaining portion of such signs shall comply with the provisions of Sections 1A.12 and 2A.10 as appropriate for a regulatory, warning, or guide sign. Purple shall not be used as a background color to display a destination, action message, or other legend that is not a display of the requirement for all vehicles to have a registered ETC account.


Judging from the wording solely in this paragraph, it would seem to me that purple in the route markers would be a violation. But consider that the design of state route markers are simply left to states; there could be some ambiguity.
Anonymous said…
I love purple, it's my favorite color. But somehow I have visions of two and three year old shields where the purple has faded really badly. Wonder if the technology exists to make the colors last.
llnesinthesand said…
Let it be written that if North Carolina decides to use the purple shield, it will be referred to as the "barney shield".
Bob Malme said…
I've placed a zoomed up version of the NCTA map showing only the Triangle Expressway portion here:
http://www.duke.edu/~rmalme/triexmap09.html
I'll plan to link it to my Future Interstates (and Toll Roads) site.
roadfro said…
If the toll road is completely electronically tolled, the purple background on the route shield could maybe be allowed under the MUTCD.

Since it's a state route marker, however, NC can probably get away with using purple anyway.

Popular posts from this blog

Old River Lock & Control Structure (Lettsworth, LA)

  The Old River Control Structure (ORCS) and its connecting satellite facilities combine to form one of the most impressive flood control complexes in North America. Located along the west bank of the Mississippi River near the confluence with the Red River and Atchafalaya River nearby, this structure system was fundamentally made possible by the Flood Control Act of 1928 that was passed by the United States Congress in the aftermath of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 however a second, less obvious motivation influenced the construction here. The Mississippi River’s channel has gradually elongated and meandered in the area over the centuries, creating new oxbows and sandbars that made navigation of the river challenging and time-consuming through the steamboat era of the 1800s. This treacherous area of the river known as “Turnbull’s Bend” was where the mouth of the Red River was located that the upriver end of the bend and the Atchafalaya River, then effectively an outflow

Interstate 10S and the original Interstate 110 in California

Interstate 10S is a short spur of Interstate 10 along San Bernardino Freeway in downtown Los Angeles.  Interstate 10S begins at the Santa Ana Freeway (US Route 101) and extends east to Interstate 5 where it merges into mainline Interstate 10.  Interstate 10S is one of the oldest freeway segments in Los Angeles having been part of US Routes 60, 70 and 99 when it was part of the corridor of the Ramona Expressway.  The current corridor of Interstate 10S was assigned as Chargeable Corridor H following the passage of the 1956 Federal Highway Aid Act.  Interstate 110 was a short-lived designation which comprised the segment San Bernardino Freeway from US Route 101 to Interstate 5 between 1964-1968.  The original Interstate 110 was dropped as a Chargeable Corridor during 1965 and consolidated as Interstate 10S during 1968.   The original Interstate 110 can be seen as the blog cover photo as it was featured on the 1964 Division of Highways Map.  Below the entire 0.65-mile length of Interstate

Vicksburg Bridge (Vicksburg, MS)

  Located a few hundred feet downriver from the Old Vicksburg Bridge, the Vicksburg Bridge, or the “New” Bridge, serves as the city’s vehicular crossing of the Mississippi River on the main highway connecting Vicksburg with northeastern Louisiana to the west and the state capital of Jackson to the east. The completion of the original Vicksburg Bridge in 1930 was seen as a huge success and the bridge proved to be a profitable entity for both road and railroad interests along the path of the Dixie Overland Highway and the subsequent US Highway 80 corridor. In the years after the creation of the National Interstate Highway System, planning commenced on a new bridge at the site that would relieve the congestion on the existing bridge while providing for a more modern crossing of the river that would be safe for all vehicles. The construction of the new bridge at Vicksburg was completed in 1973 and its design intentionally mimics that of its predecessor nearby. This was due in large part