OKC Signage

[bbhill]

I'm an OKC citizen and am currently living in Austin for a few months for an internship. After driving around Austin for a while, I would like to commend ODOT and Oklahoma City for their signage teams. Before anyone complains, yes I realize Austin is way more dense, and thus gets the tough end of the deal, but OKC roads are just waaay easier to navigate and I believe a lot of this can be attributed to clearly marked intersections and roads. At least most all intersections in OKC have clearly visible street name signs, where as in Austin, many intersections have either very small signs or have no names at all, making it somewhat difficult for someone new to the city. One way signs and do not enter signs seem to be placed in a reasonable manner in OKC, while in Austin, they seem to be placed at odd angles, making interpretation rather difficult.

Also, OKC traffic is way more fun than Austin traffic, so I'm a bit biased, but I think my argument is still valid.

[bluedogok]

Signage in Texas overall sucks, Austin is just more of the same bad TxDOT stuff.

Yes, traffic is much better in OKC, but after living in Dallas 20 years ago and Austin the last 8 I still think Austin traffic isn't as bad as some make it out to be. It is worse than it used to be for some of the long time residents but I still think it is much better than DFW or Houston.

[mcca7596]

But does the lack of signage truly detract from the fact that you have far superior roads?

[bluedogok]

Far superior roads in Texas? Surely you are joking.

[mcca7596]

The freeways are the majority of what I know, so no I am not joking. I don't know about state routes as much...?

[bluedogok]

Texas has a bunch of road problems, all over the state. The new freeways are in good shape, the majority of the older ones are not or are in the process of being completely rebuilt. Seven years ago I commuted to Dallas weekly, I-35 is woefully overloaded from San Antonio to DFW. The interstates in Houston are in a constant state of repair or rebuilding. The state Farm to Market or Ranch Roads are slowly being ground up and destroyed by chip seal crap. City streets are a crap shoot falling along the lines of new are alright but most could use help. I still think overall the roads in Oklahoma are better, of course the sheer amount of road in Texas hampers having good roads overall.

[mcca7596]

Thanks for the info, only been in Houston as a kid and certainly didn't pay attention to the roads. From what I know of I-35 south of Dallas, the road itself was good.

That's understandably frustrating to hear with the Farm to Market roads, as a lot of those were concrete, right?

[bluedogok]

I-35 from Hillsboro south is just packed with semi trucks the whole way, commuting at 6:00 am Monday morning they would be stacked up for a 150+ miles. Just the sheer amount of traffic has made that section worse and when there is a lot of construction going on I tend to go up US-281 through Wichita Falls/Lawton to get back to OKC. I-45 between Houston and Galveston is concrete but rough with the expansion joints, especially in my short wheelbase car, it was bad enough in the F-150. They are redoing some of it around NASA Road but then almost all the interstates in and near the cities are in a constant state of repair.

The FM roads are a mix, some are concrete but most are asphalt and even if they are smooth for some reason they feel a need to put that chip seal crap on them.

[Larry OKC]

LOL I would generally agree that OKC street signs are pretty good. That said, why is it when I am looking for a specific address etc, that is when the signage is missing? Probably my biggest complaint is the lack of visible building address numbers (business & residential).

[ljbab728]

LOL I would generally agree that OKC street signs are pretty good. That said, why is it when I am looking for a specific address etc, that is when the signage is missing? Probably my biggest complaint is the lack of visible building address numbers (business & residential).

I'm not sure what you're referring to Larry. I rarely have a problem with the lack of visible address numbers in OKC either business or residential.

[bombermwc]

I'd second the good signs. One thing I find when I travel all over to any other city is the lack of good signage. It's incredibly frustrating to see some little dinky residential sign on only one corner for a major intersection. In the days where everyone's phone has a gps in it, it's not as big of a deal, but 5 years ago some cities were HORRIBLE...Austin is one i remember being quite frustrated in.

[Snowman]

A factor in ease of navigation here vs most every other major US city comes from relatively few large cities actually developed with a consistent north/south grid throughout the entire metropolitan area, a large number are not even a consistent grid at the core; Phoenix, Indianapolis, Denver, Las Vegas are the only cities larger than OKC in the US that also that have a consistent n/s grid that the entire region was built on.

[Larry OKC]

I'm not sure what you're referring to Larry. I rarely have a problem with the lack of visible address numbers in OKC either business or residential.

It has been my experience that whatever business you are looking for, if it has an address posted, it is not easily visible from a moving vehicle in traffic. if at night, not lit up etc. Sometimes you can narrow things down based on nearby buildings, but even then, not enough of them have it consistently to be much help.

Businesses are better at it (imagine there is some city ordinance) but can vary from area to area or city to city). Have gone for several blocks in residential areas without seeing a single posted address before.

Addresses may be missing numbers, have numbers turned (6 & 9), obscured by landscaping or other items. if on curbs, blocked by cars etc.

[ljbab728]

It has been my experience that whatever business you are looking for, if it has an address posted, it is not easily visible from a moving vehicle in traffic. if at night, not lit up etc. Sometimes you can narrow things down based on nearby buildings, but even then, not enough of them have it consistently to be much help.

Businesses are better at it (imagine there is some city ordinance) but can vary from area to area or city to city). Have gone for several blocks in residential areas without seeing a single posted address before.

Addresses may be missing numbers, have numbers turned (6 & 9), obscured by landscaping or other items. if on curbs, blocked by cars etc.

You could be right about some areas but I suspect that's an issue in any city.

[Larry OKC]

No doubt. it wasn't intended to be a slam against the City in general (as I said in the original post, most street intersections have good signage). My beef was with individual property owners. Thats all.

[okcpulse]

Thanks for the info, only been in Houston as a kid and certainly didn't pay attention to the roads. From what I know of I-35 south of Dallas, the road itself was good.

That's understandably frustrating to hear with the Farm to Market roads, as a lot of those were concrete, right?

Houston city arterials are complete crap. The state and US highway system is better, but only because they've had to be widened a thousand times. In Houston, I have driven the crap streets of Antoine, TC jester, San Felipe, Gessner, Elysian, MacGregor... I can go on. Highway 105 in Conroe needs repair, but instead of resurfacing 105 they resurface FM 1314 when they didn't even need to.

Many streets in Dallas and Lewisville have giant cracks, and some of these concrete streets had to have been poured when jfk was president. Oklahoma has it's share of bad roads, but it is a stretch to say Texas roads a far superior.

Texas roads seem superior because the freeways and state highways in major metro areas Oklahomans frequent have to constantly be widened or adjusted to deal with out of control growth.

[mcca7596]

Texas roads seem superior because the freeways and state highways in major metro areas Oklahomans frequent have to constantly be widened or adjusted to deal with out of control growth.

Salient point.

[rag451]

I recently drove I-45 from Houston, Texas to just south of Dallas. Although there is major (and needed) expansion taking place for 20-30 miles north of Harris County, the vast majority of the roadway seemed no better off than I-35 from the state line up to Norman. I would even venture to say I-35 in Oklahoma is in better shape than many, many interstate roads and highways in Texas.

As someone very familiar to driving in Fort Worth and Dallas, TX, let me tell you, there are more roads in worse shape than you would think! The only road to give me pause in OKC is I-40 from downtown west. Other than that, heck, I have no complaints...

[rag451]

Duh... I also meant to add... that the signage in OKC is pretty good too. For non-residents such as myself, a lot of the confusion and frustration you have to take responsibility for yourself. That being said, I have never had a major issue finding a road, an off-ramp, an interstate, or anything else that I knew to look for.

[ljbab728]

I recently drove I-45 from Houston, Texas to just south of Dallas. Although there is major (and needed) expansion taking place for 20-30 miles north of Harris County, the vast majority of the roadway seemed no better off than I-35 from the state line up to Norman. I would even venture to say I-35 in Oklahoma is in better shape than many, many interstate roads and highways in Texas.

As someone very familiar to driving in Fort Worth and Dallas, TX, let me tell you, there are more roads in worse shape than you would think! The only road to give me pause in OKC is I-40 from downtown west. Other than that, heck, I have no complaints...

I agree rag. I also have driven on many freeways and state highways in Texas and seen no advantage over Oklahoma roads. Some are better and some are worse. Some people just have this preconceived notion of great roads in Texas that they can't get out of their head.

[bluedogok]

I agree rag. I also have driven on many freeways and state highways in Texas and seen no advantage over Oklahoma roads. Some are better and some are worse. Some people just have this preconceived notion of great roads in Texas that they can't get out of their head.

Texas used to be a leader among road construction but that was 30 or so years ago. As with most things funding hasn't kept up with needs so now you end up constantly playing catch up and poor quality paving like the chip seal crap they actually spend money on. In fact a few years ago TxDOT faced the Sunset Commission because of mismanagement and their billion dollar accounting error. Much of the responsibility has also been moved to the county level which seems to love chip seal. Chip seal has its purpose, like sealing a gravel road, NOT as a replacement for proper asphalt.