Text “Stop Ahead” signs phased out

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North US 30/59 intersection in 2003 and 2012

While comparing photos taken in Denison, I noticed that a sign that had said “Stop Ahead” on westbound US 30 had been replaced with a graphic version of the same. I really noticed it when signs on gravel roads in Tama County got the same treatment.

As it turns out, the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) deleted the text version of the Stop Ahead sign, and made the symbol the only version. All those text signs will be phased out.

That change has led to at least one “Stop Behind” or “Stop Down” sign, found in Hardy in Humboldt County this September. Oops.

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