Visigraph manufactures or distributes virtually every traffic control, road, street, and highway sign in the USDOT’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
Types of Traffic Signs We Offer
No matter what type of public or private transportation projects you are working on, we have Street Signs & Stop Signs to Handicapped Parking Signs, Warning and Construction Signs, Guide Signs, Slow Children Signs, and much more.
Amazingly, you’ll pay less for our high quality standard and custom reflective aluminum signs than you will for some of the so-called budget signs made from plastic or vinyl.
Click on the category of reflective traffic signs you need and view the stock reflective road signs available. [Feature coming – not yet enabled as of 10-18-11 – call or email for current sign info]. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, it may be a custom traffic sign…if you know the number (e.g. S1-1) or name of the sign (e.g. Stop Sign), type that into the SEARCH field to quickly locate the desired sign.
Traffic Sign Materials We Use
All our traffic signs and custom traffic signs are typically made from alodized 5052-H38 aluminum. What that means is that we use high quality aluminum with a specific hardness as required by the US Government and all 50 states and Canada and it is corrosion resistant.
Traffic Sign Thickness
All of our traffic street signs will be made from the aforementioned aluminum – it comes in thicknesses of .040, .063, .080, .100, and .125 inches.
Reflective Sign Sheeting Feature
We use 3M™ Retro-reflective Vinyl Sheeting on our Traffic Signs. 3M™ is known for producing the highest quality reflective films available.
For Custom Signs
Often government entities such as the United States Postal Service, as well as many commercial enterprises use specific traffic guidance and parking signs for their facilities. These fall into the category of Custom Traffic Signs. Visigraph can help your organization design coordinated signs for your parking lots and traffic areas that continue to advertise your company even outside your building.
USDOT-Approved Street, Road, and Highway Traffic Signs in Reflective Diamond Grade Prismatic
Testimonial
I wanted to take a moment to say ‘Thank you’ for a job well done. Your company did an outstanding job. We absolutely love the signs for our community. I want to personally thank you for making my whole experience with this assignment a very smooth one. You exuberate excellent customer service in every sense of the phrase. It was a pleasure working with you. Again, thank you for the beautiful signs.
– Cassandra, Maryland
Get a Quote Now!
Visigraph is a wholesale domestic and import broker, and therefore, we require a minimum order of $500USD for ALL wholesale orders.
All fields marked with star (*) are required.
Large Quantity Quotations
If you need more than a few Street, Traffic, Road, or Custom Reflective Aluminum Signs, call us at 509-483-8000, email us at sales@visigraph.com, or fill out our Get A Quote form.
The Visigraph 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
We pay careful attention to every detail on every order we receive, and our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee is just what it says…you’ll love our reflective traffic signs or we’ll re-do them. It doesn’t happen often, but hey, we’re human too! Rest assured, though, that if it does, we’ll fix’em free of charge and with no hassle.
We also distribute TrafFix™ road construction accessory products from Looper™ cones to barricades to sign stands.
Digital traffic signs and illuminated traffic signs are also available. Call us for information on these specialty traffic signs.
USDOT-approved Standard Traffic Signs
Official traffic signs must comply with USDOT’s own Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD, which means in order for them to actually be “official” they must meet these standards so you will be able to easily recognize their meaning from state to state in the United States.
In the US, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices specifies not only the materials to be used on certain types of road signs conforming to IRC, but also determines the designs to be used, the shapes, and what reflective sheeting values are needed for various areas.
The MUTCD also specifies what types of metal can be used…one common types is 5052-H38 aluminum. This specifies the purity and hardness of the metal. It also specifies that the aluminum be either alodized or anodized to keep it from corroding.
The MUTCD also specifies categories by a letter/number code, such as the S1-1 which would designate a School Zone or the R1-1 which designates a Stop signage. There are also Guide markers which start with D, E, I, or M, Regulatory types which start with R, school zone types that start with S, and Warning sign types that start with a W.
Military bases often use many traffic marks as well and generally conform to MUTCD standards as well, but are not required to. They also have many custom real road sign needs, so there are many ways that signs are used on bases.
Traffic Sign Materials
There are varying sign thicknesses of the materials available in the US, but the most common thicknesses used are .080″ thickness, .100″ thickness, and .125″ thickness aluminum. Depending on the size and local environmental conditions, it is often left up to a local inspector as to what thickness of material will be used on various signs. A 48″ Stop sign, for instance, may be .100″ or .125″ if specified by an individual contract, whereas a 24″ size likely would be specified at .080″ in most instances.
On very large freeway signs, you probably won’t see it, but many states specify extruded aluminum panels locked together because of the size and wind load. Alternately, many states simply require a strong framework behind the metal panel. You’ll need to check with the DOT in your state to learn which type is specified.
The MUTCD also specifies what types of metal can be used…one common types is 5052-H38 aluminum. This specifies the purity and hardness of the metal. It also specifies that the aluminum be either alodized or anodized to keep it from corroding.
Reflective Signs
Reflective sheeting is the sheeting used to create reflective road signs, traffic signs, street signs, and highway signs.
Most signs built in the past few years use diamond grade or hi-intensity prismatic (HIP) reflective films, depending on the usage. Diamond grade 3 (DG3) is used on pretty much all school zone signs, whereas both DG3 and HIP are used for most other state or federal DOT projects where a greater degree of reflectivity is required.
Reflective sheeting comes in various grades, the most common being “Engineer Grade,” “Hi-Intensity Prismatic”, and “Diamond Grade.” The USDOT requires diamond grade for most interstate signs, and most state DOT’s require it for school zones and stop signs and any sign mandated to use it that they believe needs it. Those requirements vary from state to state.
“Engineer Grade” reflective sheeting is now used mostly for private company signs or decals and has less intense reflectivity than does the HIP or DG reflective sheeting. If you were to call up to order reflective decals from our firm, we’d be printing them on “EG” reflective films.
Traffic Sign Categories
Regulatory Signs
One of the most common categories are the regulatory signs. In the MUTCD (which stands for the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices), all street signage such as STOP or YIELD are designated with a code. Those like a stop sign has a code – R1-1, and a yield sign has a code – R1-2, Speed Limits are R2-1, etc. The sizes will vary for the location the sign is place in.
For instance, on a highway where the speed limit is 60MPH, the signage will be larger than on a street where the speed limit is 25MPH. A Stop signpost, for instance, would be 36 inches by 36 inches on the highway, but 30 inches by 30 inches on a conventional street or road.
The regulatory traffic street signs cover everything from one way streets to parking signs to prohibitive signs to weight limit signs. There are over 100 regulatory traffic street signs in the MUTCD, making it the largest single traffic street signs category in the guide. Most of these traffic street signs are white with black and/or red copy, with the obvious major exceptions of the Stop and Yield signs and a smattering of other signs such as Handicapped Parking signs.
Warning Signs
Most of these have a yellow reflective background with black lettering/symbols, and are diamond shaped or rectangular, and are often a combination of both. Just for fun there is one pennant shaped and one circular in this category. These are the ones that warn of an upcoming corner, a hill, the likelihood of deer or tractors crossing, a bump in the road, etc. This category will always begin with a “W,” such as W7-3.
Within the Warning sign category are the temporary construction types. These are used during construction or warn of temporary unusual conditions like water over the road or similar.
Guidance Signs
This is a varied grouping of traffic street signs that includes the standard green reflective background/white reflective lettering “destination” signs – i.e. Portland 37 Miles, etc. They are designated with codes such as D1-1 and are usually rectangular in shape.
Route Markers
They will mark state highways, interstates, county roads, and similar with various shaped signs, some shields, some triangles, and other shapes. The codes are similar to M1-1 coding for the interstate signs. They vary in color, size, and shape more than any other grouping.
Within this classification are also the information signposts that are coded I-7 or similar – this one would point you to a train station. There are a few more within this classification such as emergency and recreation/cultural interest sign displays, but we’ll save those for a later article.
School Zone Signs
The last major group is School Zone signs, coded S1-1 and similar. They feature highly reflective backgrounds with mostly black copy and symbols. While this is not an exhaustive article, we’ve covered most of the main sign types regulated by the USDOT here.
Traffic Signs Shapes
The triangle shape, for an example, is a Yield signage while an octagon shape (eight sided) depicts the STOP signage and is a bright identifiable red color with white lettering. Another important guide post identified by its unique shape is the round one usually in use as railroad crossing warning post.
Diamond shaped ones are usually reserved for directional information such as Deer Crossing, Road Work Ahead, and DEAD END warnings.
Rectangular shapes offer more information that give directions such as SPEED LIMIT 55, NO PARKING or STOP AHEAD 500 FEET. An important safety note is the house shaped School Zone mark.
Traffic Sign Colors
White Signs with Black or Red Copy
The most common highway and road signs are white with black or red copy (mostly), with the exception of stop and yield signs. These signs are known as regulatory signs.
Yellow Signs
The next major category is the yellow signs. Yellow signs are generally permanent warning signs that are placed in areas where there is always a reason to warn you of something, like a sharp corner.
Yellow or Orange Signs
In the same category, with some crossover signs which can be yellow or orange, are the temporary warning signs. These signs are used for a temporary traffic situation and include over 100 signs as well, although between the yellow and orange category, the total is just over 300 signs.
Yellow-Green Color Signs
A relatively small but important category of signs is the School Zone signs. These signs are now, in many area, a super reflective fluorescent yellow-green color, and signify that there are children present in the area at many times of day. These areas are often heavily patrolled by the police, so, if you don’t want a speeding ticket, these are signs you’ll really want to pay attention to.
Green Signs
And (drum roll) finally, we’re getting to your question about blue versus green signs. I’ll start with green signs first. In the US, almost universally, green signs have to do with where you’re at and where you’re going.
Blue Signs
The blue signs are also directional signs, but have to do more with things like hospitals or parks or fuel or lodging.
Brown Signs
Lastly, the brown signs. These signs are similar to the blue signs, but are generally pointing to recreational areas or motorist services within recreational area. The symbols are similar to the blue signs with some overlap.
Digital and Illuminated Traffic Signs
Digital Signs
Digital Types are typically lighted with LED’s (Light Emitting Diodes) and may have a small section that shows a number or series of numbers and letters, such as you might see at some airports, or can also be electronic reader boards with messages for oncoming motorists.
Illuminated Signs
Illuminated types may include digital kinds, but may simply be a sign that is lighted from below with directional lamps, giving it the appearance of being illuminated. They typically have a sensor that flips the switch on the lights as it gets dark and then reverses the process as daylight arrives in the morning.
Internally Illuminated Signs
One other type of internally illuminated road traffic sign is used almost exclusively at airports or public transportation facilities. It is standard ballast-driven fluorescent bulb lighted type with a decorated polycarbonate face, one or two-sided, similar to the one shown here.
Obviously, this type needs to have a power source, so it’s not practical under many circumstances to use this in rural area plus they’re considerably pricier than standard aluminum panels. They are also customized and are not covered in the MUTCD, but are typically regulated by local authorities. There are many companies that manufacture them, but any of them would need to be approved by the proper certifying authority.
Custom Traffic Signs
Manufacturers love these types of orders because they will be repeat business for decades if they make them happy and being able to boast that your company makes these for the state of etc. is always a good recommendation for future customers and their orders.
Businesses pay an annual fee to have their logo or name on these displays, and usually only gas stations, restaurants, and hotels/motels are eligible to be listed on these custom traffic signs because they are businesses geared toward serving the interstate traveler. Obviously, those that allow company logos like a McDonalds logo allow design standards that they don’t set; the state DOT regulates just size and material standards on them.
Material-wise, repeating standards from the MUTCD, for interstate signs varying thicknesses of aluminum used are .080″ thickness, .100″ thickness, and .125″ thickness aluminum.
A high quality form of aluminum, one which meets US government as well as the Canadian requirement, is termed alodized 5052-H38 aluminum, and meets specific hardness and durability requirements from the USDOT and works best as signage for outdoors.
It comes in various thicknesses such as .040, .080, .063, .100 and .125 which can be used and qualifies for most uses. 3M makes retro-reflective vinyl sheeting and that is customarily laid over the aluminum to produce a highly reflective film that finishes the signage.
There are many other types of customized road markers though. The US Postal Service has it’s own specs used at its facilities. Military bases also regulate their own. Private developments are able to design to their own specs as long as it’s approved by an inspector from the county or state. HDU or wood are used in some high end developments.
Popular Posts Related to the Products:
