Clearview is dead

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September 13, 2015: The exit sign for the new US 63 interchange with IA 3 is signed in Clearview. Note the “L”s especially, and how the lowercase letters aren’t that much shorter than the capitals. The interchange replaced a four-way stop when 63 was upgraded to four lanes between Waterloo and US 18/IA 346 in 2012.

The Federal Highway Administration officially terminated all use of the Clearview font on road signs last week. Stories available at Popular Mechanics (whose top photo, notably, has a sign that is not in Clearview) and CityLab.

The Iowa Department of Transportation stopped issuing new-sign contracts with Clearview about a year and a half ago. The new font is not identical to what was used in Iowa for decades before Clearview, though; it’s skinnier. All the existing Clearview signs can stay until they are replaced through natural wear and tear, which means that it will be with us for decades to come. The “genericization” of interchange signing in Iowa was done entirely in Clearview, so those will gradually progress to a mix depending on what exit you’re at.

(h/t Matt Stinn and Cristopher Sturtz)

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