2 Del. Admin. Code § 2A.13

Current through Register Vol. 28, No. 5, November 1, 2024

Section 2A.13 - Word Messages

Standard:

01 (DE Revision) Except as provided in Section 2A.06, all word messages shall use standard wording and letters as shown in this Manual, in the "Standard Highway Signs and Markings" book (see Section 1A.11) and the Delaware Standard Signs book.

Guidance:

02 Word messages should be as brief as possible and the lettering should be large enough to provide the necessary legibility distance. A minimum specific ratio of 1 inch of letter height per 30 feet of legibility distance should be used.

03 Abbreviations (see Section 1A.15) should be kept to a minimum.

04 Word messages should not contain periods, apostrophes, question marks, ampersands, or other punctuation or characters that are not letters, numerals, or hyphens unless necessary to avoid confusion.

05 The solidus (slanted line or forward slash) is intended to be used for fractions only and should not be used to separate words on the same line of legend. Instead, a hyphen should be used for this purpose, such as "TRUCKS - BUSES."

Standard:

06 Fractions shall be displayed with the numerator and denominator diagonally arranged about the solidus (slanted line or forward slash). The overall height of the fraction is measured from the top of the numerator to the bottom of the denominator, each of which is vertically aligned with the upper and lower ends of the solidus. The overall height of the fraction shall be determined by the height of the numerals within the fraction, and shall be 1.5 times the height of an individual numeral within the fraction.

Support:

07 The "Standard Highway Signs and Markings" book (see Section 1A.11) contains details regarding the layouts of fractions on signs.

Guidance:

08 When initials are used to represent an abbreviation for separate words (such as "U S" for a United States route), the initials should be separated by a space of between 1/2 and 3/4 of the letter height of the initials.

09 When an Interstate route is displayed in text form instead of using the route shield, a hyphen should be used for clarity, such as "I-50."

Standard:

10 (DE Revision) All sign lettering shall be in upper-case letters as provided in the "Standard Highway Signs and Markings" book (see Section 1A.11) and the Delaware Standard Signs book, unless otherwise provided in this Manual for a particular sign or type of message.

11 The sign lettering for names of places, streets, and highways shall be composed of a combination of lower-case letters with initial upper-case letters.

Support:

12 Letter height is expressed in terms of the height of an upper-case letter. For mixed-case legends (those composed of an initial upper-case letter followed by lower-case letters), the height of the lower-case letters is derived from the specified height of the initial upper-case letter based on a prescribed ratio. Letter heights for mixed-case legends might be expressed in terms of both the upper- and lower-case letters, or in terms of the initial upper-case letter alone. When the height of a lower-case letter is specified or determined from the prescribed ratio, the reference is to the nominal loop height of the letter. The term loop height refers to the portion of a lower-case letter that excludes any ascending or descending stems or tails of the letter, such as with the letters "d" or "q." The nominal loop height is equal to the actual height of a non-rounded lower-case letter whose form does not include ascending or descending stems or tails, such as the letter "x." The rounded portions of a lower-case letter extend slightly above and below the baselines projected from the top and bottom of such a non-rounded letter so that the appearance of a uniform letter height within a word is achieved. The actual loop height of a rounded lower-case letter is slightly greater than the nominal loop height and this additional height is excluded from the expression of the lower-case letter height.

Standard:

13 When a mixed-case legend is used, the height of the lower-case letters shall be 3/4 of the height of the initial upper-case letter.

14 The unique letter forms for each of the Standard Alphabet series shall not be stretched, compressed, warped, or otherwise manipulated.

Support:

15 Section 2D.04 contains information regarding the acceptable methods of modifying the length of a word for a given letter height and series.

2 Del. Admin. Code § 2A.13