Here in the Boston area, at intersections towns tend to put up street-sign names that only give the name of one of the two streets - typically the minor street of the two. I’m talking about town-level or ‘local’ streets; not state- or federal-highways.
Are there other areas that do that or is this unique to eastern Massachusetts?
I’m originally from upstate New York and every intersection had all streets signed. Every place I’ve travelled to in the US is that way also.
I’ve seen it in lots of places, and I HATE it! If I get lost, it’s not too difficult to find the main road, based on width, stores, and other things. But I never see the name of the road, and so I cannot find myself on my map! Why do they presume that I know the name of the street that I’m on? AAARGGH!
I remember once looking in vain for Mass Ave in Boston. I was actually on it, but never knew it. An incredibly stupid policy that I have never seen outside Boston.
Around these parts the signs are for both streets. It was a pain in the ass figuring out what street we were on in New Orleans but that was because we couldn’t find a sign in either direction, not because one was missing. I’d be furious if they weren’t naming “big streets”.
The one time I went to Boston we got lost and asked a cop where our hotel was. He pointed to it (we could see it from where we were) and scratched his head and said, “Well hell, I don’t know how you get there. Keep going this way until you see another cop and ask him.”
In Cleveland OH (at least in the east side suburbs) not only are major streets labeled at each intersection, but usually there is a sign 500 feet before it saying “Chagrin Blvd 500 feet ahead” (or whatever is appropriate of course). That was wonderful driving around there.
I hate hate hate hate this about living in this area (Boston suburbia). Whoever thought this was a good idea should be hanged.
Most signs I’ve seen in a rather extensive amount of traveling up and down the East Coast have been the two-way ones, put together in cross fashion to show people on each road what road they’re coming to the intersection of. Where I’ve seen a single sign marking a side road (“Raccoon Valley Road” with nothing showing the main road’s identity) have been in rural areas at intersections or T-junctions with main state or national routes, where there is a route marker sign marking the state route number (US-15, NC-98, NY-30, FL-540, etc.) within sight of the intersection. So if you’ve been driving west on Old Post Road and come to a four- or two-lane highway where the only sign marks the road you’ve been on, a glance to your left or right will show you a route marker telling you that it’s US-15, and you can turn in the direction you intended to go (right to the north, left to the south).
I find it’s usually left off on highways. If the road doesn’t have a name, it doesn’t have a sign.
Just be glad you’re not in Japan, where most streets don’t have names, much less signs.
Even here, there are some communities that have only the side-street signs. And if you’re really lost, you’re SOL.
This happens a lot in London – the side streets are named (typically with a sign attached to the wall of the nearest building), which is no help if you’re coming from a side street to join a main road and don’t know what the main road is.
I’ve seen the same thing around Los Angeles county. I don’t know if it’s like that on purpose, or if the signs get stolen and never replaced.
I see non-signed major streets a bunch in the Northeast. Suburban NYC, NJ, Philly, etc. It seems to be common in the burbs built between, say 1920 and 1950.
I wonder if it’s a side effect of something silly like the main roads are state highways and the state pays for the signs, whereas the side streets are city or county or village roads and those entities pay for their signs. And so the State puts “State Route 123” signs every couple miles midblock along the direction of travel, but doesn’t pay for signs at every cross street.
In all my travels I’ve not seen much tendency for this anywhere else in the US.