It's lights out on Atlanta interstates

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

...I think that the new overhead signs may be as a result of the Feds mandating that all of the older and existing green exit signs eventually be replaced with new green exit signs that are more reflective in the dark, have thicker lettering and exit number tabs that indicate which side of the road one will need to exit from (like exit number tabs on the upper-left of exit signs for left-hand exits and exit number tabs on the upper-right for right-hand exits, etc), particularly along stretches of highway with HOV lanes that have left-hand exits.

I think that the replacement of those signs was brought about after that horrendous bus accident in 2007 where many members of an Ohio college baseball team where killed and badly injured after the bus driver drove off the top of the Northside Drive overpass off of I-75 southbound almost at full-speed (in the neighborhood of 70 mph).

The bus driver drove off of the end of the Northside Drive HOV exit ramp and crashed the bus onto the freeway below at nearly full-speed after thinking that the Northside Drive HOV ramp was actually the ramp to continue south in the I-75 SB HOV lane because unclear advance overhead signage on I-75 SB.

After that deadly accident, which was one of many accidents along that stretch of road (that seemed to have been caused by unclear HOV signage on I-75 south that confused out-of-town drivers and drivers unfamiliar with the road), the Feds and the media really lit a fire under the Georgia Department of Transportation to put up new overhead signage along that stretch of highway where traffic exits to the left out of the HOV lanes.

To add to this, most of the interstate signage is approaching 20 years old and virtually all the sign gantries are 25+ years old (dating back to Freeing the Freeways). I also think the new signage is heavier, requiring the new supports.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Gulch

To add to this, most of the interstate signage is approaching 20 years old and virtually all the sign gantries are 25+ years old (dating back to Freeing the Freeways). I also think the new signage is heavier, requiring the new supports.

On top of that, I also think that there might have been quite a few overhead sign replacements in early 2000 when the Feds mandated (forced) the state to switch from a sequential-based exit numbering system to a mileage-based exit numbering system on the Interstates (where the exit numbers have to match up with mile markers for location identification purposes).