Recently installed metric signage on US Interstate

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted by Fawteen
Originally Posted by supton

Yeah, that is kinda funny. I suppose for "those in the know" it makes sense, but most anyone else would just call it 2km. [I often wonder just how accurate those signs are, I mean, do they pull out a tape measure and make sure it's right at the 1 mile mark? I'm guessing a hundred yards either way is well with the margin of acceptable error for anyone traveling at highway speeds.]


They're actually quite accurate. When we travel we use a Garmin in addition to a real map, and those signs are usually dead-on.


Indeed, they're all survey'd out and placed on the CAD drawings by CAD designers and civil engineers when designing the roadway.
 
A lot of speculating and complaining when the real answer is in the link in the thread... Some people want to find a conspiracy when the reality is simple - they are just replacing the signs on the normal schedule and these were made when there was some push to switch.

I still deal with road plans from that era that were done in metric.
 
Originally Posted by Fawteen
It's some "enlightened" pinhead making decisions at the state DOT level that thinks we should follow the 2nd world countries that tout the metric system. But they don't put the speed limit signs in kilometers per hour, and the exit numbers are all still in standard miles, so you end up with a lot of confusion.

Wrong, try again.....

Here's the relevant parts of the article:
Quote
....the 1990s.

At that time, some government agencies, including the Department of Transportation, planned to require metric units by 2000.

This was ultimately canceled by the 1998 Transportation Equity Act.

"But during that time, the signs you saw on I-265 were scheduled for replacement," said Andrea Clifford, a spokesperson for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. "The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet chose to list the mileage in metric since the state would soon be converting to that system."

But with no federal mandate, it was decided that Kentucky would remain with the English measurement system.

"Since the signs are very expensive to fabricate, the Transportation Cabinet opted to leave them in place since they contain English units as well," said Clifford.

And, Clifford said, they will remain in place until it comes time to replace the signs — which will be a while, as they aren't really showing any wear and tear.


https://wfpl.org/curious-louisville-why-is-a-stretch-of-louisville-highway-measured-in-kilometers/
 
Perfect, because we need more reasons for drivers to get confused. There is a road in my state (I forget which one) where a lot of the exit signs have been re-numbered. The sign has both the old and the new numbers on it. Idiots.
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Perfect, because we need more reasons for drivers to get confused. There is a road in my state (I forget which one) where a lot of the exit signs have been re-numbered. The sign has both the old and the new numbers on it. Idiots.


They just added numbers to the exit signs here a few years ago. So I spent probably the first 32 or so years of my life always using the names for the exits. Had friends from back East visiting ask what exit to take to the house, I just said "uhhhhhh Storke?" Even when I am traveling back East I have to use the exit names to know where I am going.
 
I always wonder why the USA uses a metric, base 10 currency - surely pounds, shilling and pence is a much more logical system. 12 pence in a shilling, 20 shillings, 240 pence in a pound, 21 shillings in a guinea, halfpennies, farthings - oh, how I miss my school days, calculating compound interest in pounds shillings and pence...with no calculator.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
https://wfpl.org/curious-louisville-why-is-a-stretch-of-louisville-highway-measured-in-kilometers/

thumbsup2.gif
 
Originally Posted by MNgopher
A lot of speculating and complaining when the real answer is in the link in the thread... Some people want to find a conspiracy when the reality is simple - they are just replacing the signs on the normal schedule and these were made when there was some push to switch.

I still deal with road plans from that era that were done in metric.

What would humans be if scary fantasies didn't have more pull than reality?
 
Sounds like someone just wants to complain.

If they replaced the signs simply because they had metric info (In addition to the miles), I'm sure that would be called a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Since they are logically letting the signs be in use for their lifecycle, they are pinheads apparently.

And Yes, there was a federal standard (which in many cases state dots have to follow for funding among other reasons) that we had to do things in metric. It was eventually repealed but given how long it takes to develop plans, the plans that were in the pipeline were finished in metric, and we returned back to customary units.
 
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Perfect, because we need more reasons for drivers to get confused. There is a road in my state (I forget which one) where a lot of the exit signs have been re-numbered. The sign has both the old and the new numbers on it. Idiots.


They just added numbers to the exit signs here a few years ago. So I spent probably the first 32 or so years of my life always using the names for the exits. Had friends from back East visiting ask what exit to take to the house, I just said "uhhhhhh Storke?" Even when I am traveling back East I have to use the exit names to know where I am going.


I mean I can understand the use of numbers, so drivers know how many exits they have left to go before leaving the highway, but re-numbering them? Makes zero sense. Also to top it off, my Google maps app on my phone uses the old exit numbers.
lol.gif
 
Not sure I'd like navigating in a new place by town name. Exit number is easier, for sure.

I'm not for just going out and renumbering, but, those signs do get replaced time to time (like when a car takes one out). I don't see why we can't just have multiple labels on them. If the sign is big enough, put old sequential number, km distance, exit name.
 
In the corporate aviation world, we still use a wide variety of standard hardware. From the old AN to MS and NAS rivets, hardware and fittings, many modern planes are chock full of standard stuff. Plus we use 18 inch rims
smile.gif
Yet many of our engines use only metric hardware.

I think for American corporate jets, it's just easier for the manufacturers to use tried and true standard hardware in known approved and acceptable ways. Rather than spend time searching for metric equivalents of different sizes.

I'll say this. The standard aviation hardware I work with on our American birds is worlds better than the weird and impossible to source and absurdly expensive metric stuff on our European built aircraft.

Case in point: the non specialized, tail rotor, rod end bolt on our EC135 is 8mm by about 30mm. It's $100+ at any source. An equivalent standard, 125Ksi bolt (about 5/16 inch) is about $1.50. And the standard bolt will be much less prone to corrosion.
 
Last edited:
I did a waterline project in north Alabama in 1995. The AL DOT required metric measurements to be on the drawings.

Since I had to convert all English measurements to metric, I only put metric on the drawings submitted to the state for the review and permits.

The district engineer for the DOT called me and asked me if I would submit a set with "normal" dimensions on it.

I simply told him that wasn't a requirement any longer.


The metric requirement went away about a year later.
 
I think it was in 5th grade, 1965 or so when they taught us how to do metric conversions. Said it was the wave of the future with metric measures being the ones to use and the US measures would be going away. So it was imperative that we learn them now rather than being left behind in the new wave of the future.

I am still waiting. Yes, soft drinks and liquor come in half, one, 1,75 and 2 liter sizes. Also, the metric equivalent is printed after the ounce listings on most products. And now the interstate will list kilometers in a few locations. But to my eye, that is the extent of the progress made in the last 50+ years. Give it another 50+ years and I bet we will be a lot closer to converting.
 
Americans are slow. Both US and SU space programs were driven by German engineers; von Braun designed his Lunar Landing Module in decimal units.

We have several kinds of miles, gallons, ounces. The pound value was changed so many times, it is hardly possible to keep track of this. Just under Elizabeth they changed it 3 or 4 times: the Crown wanted taxes from the wool trade then.

NASA lost its $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter because spacecraft engineers failed to convert from English to metric measurements correctly. Keep up the good work!
 
Originally Posted by SeaJay
I think it was in 5th grade, 1965 or so when they taught us how to do metric conversions. Said it was the wave of the future with metric measures being the ones to use and the US measures would be going away. So it was imperative that we learn them now rather than being left behind in the new wave of the future.
.


I remember this same scenario back when I was in 5th grade in around 1974 or so. We were learning this and the teachers indicated that the complete changeover would be in about five years or so.
 
I think I was in the 5th grade in the late 80's and there wasn't any talk about metric replacing things... but we had to learn it all the same. Which was good, I did use some of it in college.

I have a tape measure that is both metric and inches; some day I'll get one that is just metric and do my (albeit very little) carpentry with that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

92saturnsl2
Any lawn experts? Suggestions for planting grass in northern KY.
Replies
19
Views
370
92saturnsl2
3783-KC1
Is it just me or are municipalities using more salt on the roads?
2 3
Replies
52
Views
2K
Hermann
S
Does US-30 go all the way across Pennsylvania? Or...
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
pghvolvo
Hillbilly Deluxe
Watch out, being oblivious will get ya
Replies
14
Views
623
Toy4x4
slo town
You can check out but you can never leave
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
slo town
Back
Top