#CLEARVIEW FONT HIGHWAY TRIAL#

The proportion-based grid system concept for conventional road guide signs and for freeway & expressway guide signs were peer reviewed and presented at the Transportation Research Board and published by TRB and ASCE. With standardized use of mixed case Clearview, we designed layouts to give order and to aid glance reading. Local interpretation of standards by city and state highway departments vary regulatory and warning signs with different type sizes and formats contributes to roadway clutter while new signs for cyclists – sometimes not well differentiated from signage for motorists – add to visual overload. While uniformity was a primary goal in the 1961 edition of the MUTCD, the absence of engineered performance standards for graphic elements, or a cohesive approach to design limited uniformity to sign color. Yes, Union County, but only on county roads.With the development of an enhanced system of typefaces that provide longer viewing distances and enhanced readability using existing standard letter sizes, the design team began to identify more consistent methods to format guide and positive contrast signing. Yes, KC loop, I-70 in Kansas City, and on street signs in Kirkwood. New installations as of 2016 no longer use it No, except for the Indiana Toll Road and also street signs in the Plainfield area. ISTHA dropped it, IDOT has likely dropped No, the font used on new Merritt Parkway assemblies is similar but not Clearview No, though a few exceptions are found: I-5 in Orange County, city street signs Noted local usages in Indiana and Tennessee. Yellow now refers to some instances, but not state-wide usage.

#CLEARVIEW FONT HIGHWAY TRIAL#

Delisted Ontario ( the trial period for Clearview font is over) and Iowa and adjusted New Jersey per other forum feedback.Ġ6-17-11 – Added entry for Alberta, and added changes to various states’ use of Clearview from feedback on the AARoads Forum, an email related to the Indiana East-West Toll Road and from recent observations in Wisconsin. While the font may be approved in the states listed, implementation of the new signs may not have occurred.įor even more on the Clearview movement, see the New York Times article “The Road to Clarity” and The Clearview thread on the AARoads Forum.Ġ8-25-15 – Added remaining entries for Canada with the help of SignGeek101 on the AARoads Forum. Some of the information below was also derived from the FHWA MUTCD List of Authorized Requests for Interim Approval. The following list was by no means a complete listing and was updated as observations were made in the field or reported to use by site contributors. Two additional articles on the FHWA decision to revert to Highway Gothic fonts are “The US government’s decision to scrub Clearview font from highway signs really frustrated its designers” by Quartz and “America’s Sudden U-Turn on Highway Fonts” by Citylab. Existing signs still using the provisional letter style that complied with the Interim Approval may remain as long as they are in serviceable condition. Following a 30-day transition period, FHWA Standard Alphabets were mandated on all traffic control devices, except where exempted per the MUTCD. The notice discontinued the provisional use of the alternative lettering style in traffic control device applications. A 2014 request for Interim Approval to use Clearview by the city of Grays Harbor County, Washington indicated that the FHWA expected to rescind overall Interim Approval for the font in the near future.įHWA eventually rescinded the Interim Approval for Use of Clearview Font for Positive Contrast Legends on Guide Signs (IA-5) on January 25, 2016. The future of Clearview font appeared uncertain by 2014, as FHWA no longer considered requests for the font as an alternative to FHWA Standard Alphabets. Pennsylvania was the first to fully commitment to the new font on all signing projects state-wide. FHWA agreed and approved as part of the Interim Approval for Use of Clearview Font for Positive Contrast Legends on Guide Signs (IA-5) issued on September 2, 2004. Featuring a larger lettering scheme with thinner curves and lines, Clearview’s creators contest an increased legibility over the decades-old Highway Gothic. Debuted around the year 2000, Clearview font swept the nations highway signs into a new era of type.

Clearview font highway