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Will NC Turnpike Shields be purple?

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Will this be what Toll NC 540 shields look like once the Triangle Expressway opens?  It certainly could be.

Bob Malme in a post to a regional transportation forum noticed that on a map of the now under construction Triangle Expressway thatthe NC 147 TOLL and NC 540 TOLL shields were purple.  Any non-toll NC routes were the traditional black background.  Bob references the 2009 NC Turnpike Annual Report which shows a map of the TriEx on page 17.

This would confirm a note I received informing me that at an unrelated meeting to the Turnpike, an NCDOT official said that local communities couldn't use purple for wayfinding projects because it is reserved for the upcoming toll roads.


The reason for purple?  The FHWA Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) requires it.  From page 10 of the 2009 Edition of the MUTCD:
J. Purple—lanes restricted to use only by vehicles with registered electronic toll collection (ETC)
accounts
The Triangle Expressway will be completely tolled electronically.  Most likely a 'TOLL' banner will be included above the 540 and 147 shields.

So of course, the question is - What do you all think?  Do you like the use of purple in a state highway shield?  Have better suggestions? Your own prototype you'd rather suggest?  Post and send away....
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Comments

Brian said…
As far as I can see in Section 2F.03 par. 1, purple is only supposed to be used as the background for the ETC information. To quote forthwith:

Standard:
01 Use of the color purple on any sign shall comply with the provisions of Sections 1A.12 and 2A.10. Except as provided in Sections 2F.12 and 2F.16, purple as a background color shall be used only when the information associated with the appropriate ETC account is displayed on that portion of the sign. The background color of the remaining portion of such signs shall comply with the provisions of Sections 1A.12 and 2A.10 as appropriate for a regulatory, warning, or guide sign. Purple shall not be used as a background color to display a destination, action message, or other legend that is not a display of the requirement for all vehicles to have a registered ETC account.

Judging from the wording solely in this paragraph, it would seem to me that purple in the route markers would be a violation. But consider that the design of state route markers are simply left to states; there could be some ambiguity.
9:09 PM
Anonymous said…
I love purple, it's my favorite color. But somehow I have visions of two and three year old shields where the purple has faded really badly. Wonder if the technology exists to make the colors last.
9:22 PM
llnesinthesand said…
Let it be written that if North Carolina decides to use the purple shield, it will be referred to as the "barney shield".
9:39 PM
Bob Malme said…
I've placed a zoomed up version of the NCTA map showing only the Triangle Expressway portion here:
http://www.duke.edu/~rmalme/triexmap09.html
I'll plan to link it to my Future Interstates (and Toll Roads) site.
11:10 PM
roadfro said…
If the toll road is completely electronically tolled, the purple background on the route shield could maybe be allowed under the MUTCD.

Since it's a state route marker, however, NC can probably get away with using purple anyway.
6:31 PM
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