APPENDIX Letter and Numeral Sizes Design Guidelines Sizing of Informative SignTres Letter and Nameral Size for Arterial and Expressway Informative Signs aoe Mape_[ Mine! [Owe | tase [Minor [ Orbead A. Advance Diretion and ‘Bul Direton Signs. Exit Pane “word soo | 250 | 300 | 30 | 200 | 300 Numeral 380 | 300 | 350 | 350 | 350 | 350 Latter 30 | 300 | 380 | 380 | 350 | 380 Route Marker Shield bon | 780 | 900 | 900 | 750 | 900 (Cardinal Direction 30 | 200 | 30 | 350 | 200 | 300 Name of Place, Steet or Highway Word 450/330'| 300/200] 400/265'|480/330°| 380/26s+] «00/265 Distance ‘Numeral aso | 300 | aso | aso | 300 | 350 Fraction 300_| 200 | 250 | 300 | 200 | 250 Word Gm orm) | 3807268] 280/17] 300/200 350/268" 280/178| 300/200} ‘action Mesage Word |” 300 | 250 | 300 |” 300 |” 250° |” 300 1B Gore Signs ‘Word Bo fo | | oo | on | Numeral & Letter 30 | 300 | — | 40 | 350 Tipo ee — Pull Tru Signs "Destination Message Wont 390/265 006s Route Marker as Message ‘Cardinal Direction 20 20 Route Marker 00 500 . Supplemental Inform. Sin EMt Number “Word 250 20 Numeral 300 350 ater 300 350 "Place Name 00/200" 50/265" “Action Message Word 280 300 E Next(_ ) Bets Sign "Place Name 300/200" 3506s: 1EXT(”) EXITS 250 300 Distance Signs "lace Name awe 250/200" ‘Numeral 250 380Table A Letter and Numeral Sizes for Arterial and Expressway Informative Signs (ont) Ta oS ‘ra Benny Rest Area “word 250 300 Distance "Numeral 300 380 Fraction 200 250, ‘Word (km or m) 250 300 ction Message Word 250 300 1H. Kilometer Poses ‘Word (ailometer) 100 100) Numeral 250 250 1. Place dentfiaion Signs "Word awirs 2s0/i7s? J. Next Bilt & Nest Services Sign “Word 200 200 ‘Numeral 20 20 BXITONLY Wed 300 300 E. Diggrammatic Signs ane Width bs Cane Lines 2sx150 Lane Line Gap 150 ‘Stem Height 1000 Arrowhead (td. Up ‘Arrom). 2 Space between arrowhead route marker 300 isch nie the Arte Ea es mine he mss i pte ete ney one ce “Ph age her alt eset‘D DDesign Guidelines ‘There are general guidelines to fellow in the design of highoray sign in order to confor to tse standards. Many of these guidlines are ‘mentioned in varios sections ofthis Mandal ile others are derived from sented prc tice in sign design and layout. Most warning and regulatory” signs “have standardized formats, Some” informative signs also. have standardized formats, however, most informa ‘sins necd to be designed separately be: tase of the variability in mesage or legend. For most Informative signs, there can be D0 ‘igi standardized sizes. Siga Dimension Message variability controls the overall sign fimensons and, whenever practicable, the (overall dimensions of the sgn plates should be in multiples of 150 mm, ‘The use of a smaller than standard size sign ray sometimes be justied. For instance, sign ‘mounted over a particular roadway lane to which it spplies may have to be limited in ‘with to the lane with. In some cass, vertical Clearances may limit the vertieal dimension of| the sign. On the ler hand, large than sta- ‘dard sive sgn may be desiable where greater legibility or emphasis is needed. When a vara- tion in the standard sizes neensary reduced for enlarged (a the case may be) Iter height, Imerline, and edge spacing may be used but should be at nearly comparable to standards as possible Letter Style ‘The Arabic type of alphabet used shal be des ‘ignated by the Minit of Communications sd English as contained inthe United States Department of Transportation's Standard Alphabets for Highway Signs and Pavement ‘Markings. As a guide to choice of alphabets, tests have show that, for any given legend, beter legibiiry can be obtained by wsing tel tively wide spacing between letters than by ws ing wider and taller letters with a cramped space ‘Tree weights of leer and numerals are wed ‘These are ight, medium, and bold Use ofthe light alphabet restricted Sweet Name ‘ns, Parking signs, and other similar signs ‘where limited breadth and stroke widths are Fequired for design porposcs. The bol alpha bet is used for mesages on arterial and ex pressway Informative signs. The medium habet isan intermediate ‘weight that is Appropriate for use on lea! and collector In formative signs and other signs where space x not restricted, ‘The English bold eters shall be a Sevis E (8), Metric Edition for standard alpbets ftom the U.S. Departmen of Transportation. The English medium Ltrs shall be Series English names of places, strcets, and highways fon Informative signs shall be composed of Tower cae leter with nial upper ease, fOr [eter Belghts more than 200 mes Size of Leterin For Informative. signs on. arterials and express, the pest bod letter and numeral Sze, according "o inerchange clasiation and component of sign legend appear in Table Av of this Appendix. Generally, for place ames, the Engl Tetring is two-thids of the sizeof the Arabic kiteriog. The size es tionship between Aribic and English 450/330, "400/265, 350/268, 300/200, 250/175, and 200/175, For Arabic eters 178 ‘um and less in height, the English Teters ‘hould be the sate hight asthe Arabi. For Joel and calletor roads where volumes se heavy and Speeds ae higher, the principal ‘Arabi legend on Informative signs shall bein Jeers at east 200 mm a height and in English eters at leat 175 mm sigh. On less eopotant local roads snd urban streets where volumes ate lighter and speeds are Tower, the legend Shall be in Arabic and gis eters atleast 150mm high Lettering on Steet Name signs should be at least 100 mm high. Supplementary leering to indicate the type of steet or section of ety ‘may be in smaller leering but a least $0 mn high. An accepted “rule of him” to fllow for ep ‘ity for sigos other than Expressway sign to have 25 mm of letter height for every 18 m of desired legibility. ‘Amount of Legend ‘The Manual stats that regardless of letter size, the legend onan Informative sgn mut be key {o's minimam tobe instantly legible. For ample, on expressways, the legend on an In- formative sgn shoud only have. «wo ‘destinations and the drectional message, Di- rectonal message, nt exceding three lines, may include eyo route mimbers, arrows atial directions, interchange numbers, ad ‘other exit instructions. Colestor and arterial Toformative signs should be limited to sx ines ‘of principal legend (hee lines in Arabic and tives lines in English. Principal legend in- les place name, rorie numbers, and street All names of places, stress, and highways on Informative signs shal be in both Arabic and English a9‘Arrows Arrows for se ia highway sign are shown in Section 20 ofthe Manval and ilustrted be. Jon. The typical arrowhead for ground ‘mounted Informative signs suse forall types ff sigas An exception this rae i or down: ‘ward pointing arrows on overhead Informative signs which are shor and broad to conserve space. Borders With ew exceptions, the Manual reuies all signs to have a border ofthe sume color asthe legend. A’ dark border should be set in Tro the ee, while a white border shoul extend 0 the edge ofthe pane A.sutable border for 750 mum signs with aight background is 15 mm in width, 13 mm from the ee. For similar signs with a white bores, {width of 25-mm is appropriate. For other Sign, the border widths should be of sine fpertions but should not exceed the stroke tidth ofthe major letering of the sign, For Informative signs, smaller than 2m by 3m, a width of approximately 30 mm may be wed for thos exceeding 2m by 3 ay the border should be about 0 mm wid; and for ususu- ally large signs, a border 75 mm wie is rate ast ‘The comers of all sign borders shall be rounded, and where practical, the corners of the sign panels should aso be rounded to fit the border On Informative signs, corner radi of the sign borders should be apprximately fone-ighth ofthe lesser side dimension except {hat the radi should not exceed 30) am on ny sig. The ate ouside the comer aus on large Informative signs need not be immed Spacings Tatetine spacing should be approximately 34 the average of eter heights in adiaceat ines of Teter “The spacings 10 the top and Dowom Doraers should be approximately equal to ¥ the aver fge of the lester height ofthe adjacent ine of eters. The lateral spacing to the veal or ders should be esentally the sane as the height ofthe largest eter. Spacing between words, words and aerow, @ Jeter and arrow, or @ Word and numeral in & line of mesiage should te approximately I to 154 times the letter height used in fat ine of message ‘An example of sizing an Informative sgn using the sbove guideline is shown on the following ages [mame nee “pert ton pe “22 ban) one fovonaut gt aon) E m soi ey =e io iapweoraneny [= To tleExample nthe Sing ofan Overhead Advance Direction Sign ARABIC ENGLISH F 3 km (Arabic) | a erp AwL +2427 ° Baw +2C+D+3E+F+G+H bled, Appendix) Border: Signs larger than 3mm, use $0 P= The lateral spacing to the vertical borders ‘mm approximately. Signs smaller than should be essentolly the same as the Smxdm use 30mm, Unasually large signs, _ eight ofthe largest etter ‘we 7S mm. J should mot excou thesteobe = Length of longest dstiation ‘width ofthe major leering {alate total pl A K =Comer rads Approximately % of the CUCUBEIO) WSR lesser dimension Aor B. K should not Ay sat39) + 5 :400-+265) — : CCE ELTA Loosen Liam " 2-Calulate vertical dep D =Depth of route marker 2 he TIC HD+ IE +F+G+H Interline spacing: Approximately %4 50) + 2% 754300) + 900 faverage fetter heights in adjacent ines, 2 B= 4 +6) “43%36 (4004265) +4004 265375 2 2 F = Height of Arabic eter (refer to Table A, = 109 4338-79004748-4400-4265-4375 Appendix) S126 6 “Tpit af Bagh tte (sfr to Table A, Appendix) H, MAIN = Height of distance (refer to Table ‘A. Appenln)®General Glossary A Approach—All lanes by which vehicles may lawl proced toward an intersection Arterial Highway or Stret—A highway pri ‘marily for the movement of through tae T ‘may have either grade intersections with oer highways of grade-separated intersections. A ssn station edt tn the f= of roads, Beacon—A typeof cally used with an appropriate sg the red or yellow lens or Tenses are alternately Hluminated an darkened st rate of about ‘once per secon Breakaway (Yielding) Supports—A. support fora roadside device which els or collapses readily when ruck bya veh, “ce Change Interval—A division ofthe time cycle during which a yellow signal indication is five to warn approaching trafic that mot top. Clearance Iaterval—A. division of the time tele during which the signal indications pro hit contiting tae rom eatering an inter- fection while traic movement whih ha lost the right-of-way is passing through the inter- Collector Highway or Street—A_ highway which provides a combination of land access And movement of through trafic. A. design lasication for these type rats -p- Detector—A device by which vehicles and pedestrians are enabled to register their pre- Shoe oe passage ok ighty-Fitth Percentile Speed—The speed at for below which eghy-ive (85) percent of the ‘Vohjels are being operated xpresoway—A mltilane divided highuoy dleipned to move large volumes of trafic 8 high" speeds under freeflow conditions Expresays have full control of aes with rade-separsted interchanges Fe FailSafe—The feature ofa device, upon fail. ure of ts normal operation, which eases i 10 return oor remain n a condition tat doesnot result in unsafe conditions for the functions ‘which it controls “6 Gap—The length of tine between suecesive ‘icles in the stme dection at they past 8 point on 3 highway or street. I is meted From de ear of the leading vehicle to the front ofthe following vehicle Fe Housing —That part of signal head to which the opal unit and doe are atached Tor sup. ort and protection and attachment to other parts ofthe signal assenbly Indication—The illumination of rfc signal lens Interval—Any one of the several divisions of the time cjcle during which the signal Inications donot change ol Lagrng—As applied toa signal indication and the accompanying trac movement, means ‘ha they follow the pracipal movement. They ‘may occur following the stopping ofthe move: ‘ment from the oppesite aprcach, or after the {through movements of both approaches hive been stoped ‘Lane—A portion ofthe traveled way providing forasingle line of trafic in one direction. ‘Lending—As appli toa signal indication and the accompanying trafic movement, means that they secur before the principal tac ‘movement on thal approach. Most frequently, itis applied to a let turn indication which recede the display of the Green indication for tral from the opposite approach Level Crossing—The cossing of a roadway land the tracks of raiload atthe sime grade Local Street of Local Roud—A stret or road marily for access 10 residence, business, oF ‘ther abuting property: A design elassifcation For these type reads om Major Steet_The roacay appr 1 ap proaches fo an intersection which normally any the greatest volume of vehicular trafic normally cary less velicular trae than the major street oP. Pavement Markings—Devces placed on the 13roadway to mark pavement for vehicular and pedestrian wae contra. edestrian—A person on fot. Pedestrian Crossing (Crosswall)—An area re served and clearly marked forthe passage of pedestrians at street junctions or other oes Tons where drivers ms yield the right-of-way by’ stopping to enable pedestrians to cross sey Permissive Movement—A.teafic_ movement ‘which is allowed by a permissive signal indica tion to take place, even though comfcting ‘movements may be allowed atthe same time Phase—A part ofa signal cycle during which a specie tele movement (and coneurtent onconficting movements) receives the right= ‘feway, It inchides the change and clearance intervals astocited with those movements Portable Trae Control Signal—A signal that iedesiened tobe moved se unto the sted ‘be operated for 3 limited time. (Ie normally ‘onsis of the necessary signal Taces or poles tached to moveable bass, control unit the necessary electrical cables, and 2 power sup i) Post-Mounted Signal—A signal head which is Seton the top of its supporting post ori a tached to the side of the post or ple Pretimed Signl—A type of tafe control sig nal in which the eyle, phasing, intervals, and Indications are predetermined snd do nt vty ‘They ave repeated und changed manually or by a control mechanism such as a clock oF master controler, Progressive Signal System—A trafic signal system in which the siceesve signal faces controling trafic along a street give “GO” indications in aceordanee wth a preseranged lime schedule. This schedule is designed to al- low (as ntrly as possible) th continuous oper ations of groups of vehicles along thesteet ats Planned rte of spec. Protected Movement A. trafic movement uring which there is no Walle movement Which conflicts with the protected movement s- Sequence—The order in which the signal indications or phases appear. 14 Signal Face—That part ofa signa head which Contins the indicatons for controling» single trafic movement Signal Head—An assembly of one or more signal faces, housings adware ane access Fis. It may be termed “onewa. "He, dependent on the numberof faces snd the ‘dectio(s) in which they are ame. Signal System—A_ system of visu signals {sed to contra he movement of traf, usally on ty streets Split—The division of the cyte length which is allocated to each of the phases (normally fxpremed in percent) Stop Line—A white lin, placed teansverely an the pavement, tan intersection, t indicate tnhere the vehicle must stop when abeying 8 Teli signal o stp sig, Stret oF Highway—A public way tht is open ton the movement of vehicular tafe, Pesestrans, and transportation by otter means Sr conveyances. The entire width between the Hahtny es of ay way open © pubic -T Trafe-Actuated Signal—A typeof tafe con ‘wal signal in which the length of most intervals tnd the eyle and in some types the sequence tf phasing, ave varied by the Demande of raf fe Trafic Control Devices—Siens, signals, markings, and devices placed or rected by proper authority having jurisdiction, for the ors of lain, warn, oF uting ta ‘Teale Control Signal—An elecially oper- sed device by which trafic is alternately - fected fo stop and permitted to proced by the Aisplay of red yellow, and) green light indications. ‘Trafic Markings—A trac control device consisting of ines patterns, word, symbols, or olors an the pavement, or adjacent to the road. ‘Teale Sign—A trac control device mounted nua support above the level of the rondway that conveys a specie message by means of words or symbols