2009 Edition Chapter 2M. Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Signs
Section 2M.01 Scope
Support:
01 Recreational or cultural interest areas are attractions or traffic generators that are open to the general public for the purpose of play, amusement, or relaxation. Recreational attractions include such facilities as parks, campgrounds, gaming facilities, and ski areas, while examples of cultural attractions include museums, art galleries, and historical buildings or sites.
02 The purpose of recreation and cultural interest area signs is to guide road users to a general area and then to specific facilities or activities within the area.
Option:
03 Recreational and cultural interest area guide signs directing road users to significant traffic generators may be used on freeways and expressways where there is direct access to these areas as provided in Section 2M.09.
04 Recreational and cultural interest area signs may be used off the road network, as appropriate.
Section 2M.02 Application of Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Signs
Support:
01 Provisions for signing recreational or cultural interest areas are subdivided into two different types of signs: (1) symbol signs and (2) destination guide signs.
Guidance:
02 When highway agencies decide to provide recreational and cultural interest area signing, these agencies should have a policy for such signing. The policy should establish signing criteria for the eligibility of the various types of services, accommodations, and facilities. These signs should not be used where they might be confused with other traffic control signs.
Option:
03 Recreational and cultural interest area guide signs may be used on any road to direct persons to facilities, structures, and places, and to identify various services available to the general public. These guide signs may also be used in recreational or cultural interest areas for signing non-vehicular events and amenities such as trails, structures, and facilities.
Support:
04 Section 2A.12 contains information regarding the use of recreational and cultural interest area symbols on other types of signs.
Section 2M.03 Regulatory and Warning Signs
Standard:
01 All regulatory and warning signs installed on public roads and streets within recreational and cultural interest areas shall comply with the requirements of Chapters 2A, 2B, 2C, 7B, 8B, and 9B.
Section 2M.04 General Design Requirements for Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Guide Signs
Standard:
01 Recreational and cultural interest area symbol guide signs shall be square or rectangular in shape and shall have a white symbol or message and white border on a brown background. The symbols shall be grouped into the following usage and series categories:
- General Applications,
- Accommodations,
- Services,
- Land Recreation,
- Water Recreation, and
- Winter Recreation.
Support:
02 Table 2M-1 contains a listing of the symbols within each series category. Drawings showing the design details for these symbols are found in the "Standard Highway Signs and Markings" book (see Section 1A.11).
| General | |
|---|---|
| Bear Viewing Area | RS-012 |
| Bus Stop | RS-031 |
| Campfires * | RS-042 |
| Cans or Bottles * | RS-101 |
| Cultural Interest Area | RS-142 |
| Dam | RS-009 |
| Deer Viewing Area | RS-011 |
| Falling Rocks * | RS-008 |
| Fire Extinguisher * | RS-090 |
| Lighthouse | RS-007 |
| Lookout Tower | RS-006 |
| Nature Study Area | RS-141 |
| Pets on Leash * | RS-017 |
| Pick-Up Trucks | RS-140 |
| Point of Interest | RS-080 |
| Radios * | RS-103 |
| Rattlesnakes * | RS-099 |
| Recycling * | RS-200 |
| Sea Plane | RS-115 |
| Smoking * | RS-002 |
| Snack Bar * | RS-102 |
| Stay on Trail * | RS-123 |
| Strollers * | RS-111 |
| Tunnel | RS-005 |
| Viewing Area | RS-036 |
| Walk on Boardwalk * | RS-122 |
| Wood Gathering * | RS-120 |
 |
|
| Accommodations | |
| Baby Changing Station (Men's Room) |
RS-137 |
| Baby Changing Station (Women's Room) |
RS-138 |
| Men's Restroom | RS-021 |
| Parking | RS-034 |
| Recreational Vehicle Site | RS-104 |
| Restrooms | RS-022 |
| Sleeping Shelter * | RS-037 |
| Trailer Site | RS-040 |
| Walk-In Camp | RS-148 |
| Women's Restroom | RS-023 |
|
|
| Services | |
| Drinking Water | RS-013 |
| Electrical Hook-Up | RS-150 |
| Firewood Cutting * | RS-112 |
| First Aid | RS-024 |
| Grocery Store | RS-020 |
| Kennel | RS-045 |
| Laundromat | RS-085 |
| Litter Receptacle | RS-086 |
| Lockers/Storage * | RS-030 |
| Mechanic | RS-027 |
| Picnic Shelter | RS-039 |
| Picnic Site | RS-044 |
| Post Office | RS-026 |
| Ranger Station | RS-015 |
| Sanitary Station | RS-041 |
| Showers * | RS-035 |
| Stable | RS-073 |
| Theater | RS-109 |
| Trail Shelter * | RS-043 |
| Tramway | RS-071 |
| Trash Dumpster | RS-091 |
|
|
| Land Recreation | |
| All-Terrain Trail | RS-095 |
| Amphitheater | RS-070 |
| Archery | RS-116 |
| Baseball * | RS-096 |
| Climbing * | RS-082 |
| Corral | RS-149 |
| Driving Tour | RS-113 |
| Exercise/Fitness | RS-097 |
| Golfing * | RS-128 |
| Hang Gliding | RS-126 |
| Hiking Trail | RS-068 |
| Horse Trail | RS-064 |
| In-Line Skating | RS-125 |
| Interpretive Trail | RS-114 |
| Off-Road Vehicle Trail | RS-067 |
| Rock Collecting * | RS-083 |
| Skateboarding * | RS-098 |
| Spelunking/Caves | RS-084 |
| Technical Rock Climbing | RS-081 |
| Tennis | RS-129 |
| Wildlife Viewing | RS-076 |
|
|
| Water Recreation | |
| Beach | RS-145 |
| Boat Motor | RS-147 |
| Boat Ramp | RS-054 |
| Canoeing | RS-079 |
| Diving | RS-062 |
| Fish Cleaning * | RS-093 |
| Fish Hatchery | RS-010 |
| Fish Ladder * | RS-089 |
| Fishing Area | RS-063 |
| Fishing Pier | RS-119 |
| Hand Launch/Small Boat Launch | RS-117 |
| Jet Ski/Personal Watercraft | RS-121 |
| Kayaking | RS-118 |
| Lifejackets * | RS-094 |
| Marina | RS-053 |
| Motorboating | RS-055 |
| Rafting | RS-146 |
| Rowboating | RS-057 |
| Sailing | RS-056 |
| Scuba Diving | RS-060 |
| Seal Viewing | RS-106 |
| Surfing | RS-059 |
| Swimming | RS-061 |
| Tour Boat | RS-087 |
| Wading | RS-088 |
| Waterskiing | RS-058 |
| Whale Viewing | RS-107 |
| Wind Surfing | RS-108 |
|
|
| Winter Recreation | |
| Chair Lift/Ski Lift | RS-105 |
| Cross Country Skiing | RS-046 |
| Dog Sledding | RS-143 |
| Downhill Skiing | RS-047 |
| Ice Fishing | RS-092 |
| Ice Skating | RS-050 |
| Ski Jumping | RS-048 |
| Sledding | RS-049 |
| Snow Tubing | RS-144 |
| Snowboarding | RS-127 |
| Snowmobiling | RS-052 |
| Snowshoeing | RS-078 |
| Winter Recreational Area | RS-077 |
* For non-road use only
Option:
03 Mirror images of symbols may be used where the reverse image will better convey the message.
Section 2M.05 Symbol Sign Sizes
Guidance:
01 Recreational and cultural interest area symbol signs should be 24 x 24 inches. Where greater visibility or emphasis is needed, larger sizes should be used. Symbol sign enlargements should be in 6-inch increments.
02 Recreational and cultural interest area symbol signs should be 30 x 30 inches when used on guide signs on freeways or expressways.
Option:
03 A smaller size of 18 x 18 inches may be used on low-speed, low-volume roadways and on non-road applications.
Section 2M.06 Use of Educational Plaques
Guidance:
01 Educational plaques should accompany all initial installations of recreational and cultural interest area symbol signs. The educational plaque should remain in place for at least 3 years after the initial installation. If used, the educational plaque should be the same width as the symbol sign.
Option:
02 Symbol signs that are readily recognizable by the public may be installed without educational plaques.
Support:
03 Figure 2M-1 illustrates some examples of the use of educational plaques.
Figure 2M-1 Examples of Use of Arrows, Educational Plaques, and Prohibitive Slashes
Section 2M.07 Use of Prohibitive Circle and Diagonal Slash for Non-Road Applications
Standard:
01 Where it is necessary to indicate a prohibition of an activity or an item within a recreational or cultural interest area for non-road use and a standard regulatory sign for such a prohibition is not provided in Chapter 2B, the appropriate recreational and cultural interest area symbol shall be used in combination with a red prohibitive circle and red diagonal slash. The recreational and cultural interest area symbol and the sign border shall be black and the sign background shall be white. The symbol shall be scaled proportionally to fit completely within the circle and the diagonal slash shall be oriented from the upper left to the lower right portions of the circle as shown in Figure 2M-1.
02 Requirements for retroreflection of the red circle and red diagonal slash shall be the same as those requirements for backgrounds, legends, symbols, arrows, and borders.
Section 2M.08 Placement of Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Signs
Standard:
01 If used, recreational and cultural interest area symbol signs shall be placed in accordance with the general requirements contained in Chapter 2A. The symbol(s) shall be placed as sign panels in the uppermost part of the sign and the directional information shall be placed below the symbol(s).
02 Except as provided in Paragraph 3, if the name of the recreational or cultural interest area facility or activity is displayed on a destination guide sign (see Section 2M.09) and a symbol is used, the symbol shall be placed below the name (see Figure 2M-2).
Figure 2M-2 Examples of Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Guide Signs
Option:
03 When the legend Wildlife Viewing Area is displayed with the RS-076 symbol on a destination guide sign, the symbol may be placed to the left or right of the legend and the arrow may be placed below the symbol (see Figure 2M-2).
04 The symbols displayed with the facility or activity name may be placed below the destination guide sign as illustrated in Figure 2M-2 instead of as sign panels placed with the destination guide sign.
05 Secondary symbols of a smaller size (18 x 18 inches) may be placed beneath the primary symbols (see Drawing A in Figure 2M-1), where needed.
Standard:
06 Recreational and cultural interest area symbols installed for non-road use shall be placed in accordance with the general sign position requirements of the authority having jurisdiction.
Support:
07 Figure 2M-3 illustrates typical height and lateral mounting positions. Figure 2M-4 illustrates some examples of the placement of symbol signs within a recreational or cultural interest area. Figures 2M-5 through 2M-10 illustrate some of the symbols that can be used.
Figure 2M-3 Arrangement, Height, and Lateral Position of Signs Located Within Recreational and Cultural Interest Areas
Figure 2M-4 Examples of Symbol and Destination Guide Signing Layout
Figure 2M-5 Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Signs for General Applications
Figure 2M-6 Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Signs for Accommodations
Figure 2M-7 Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Signs for Services
Figure 2M-8 Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Signs for Land Recreation
Figure 2M-9 Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Signs for Water Recreation
Figure 2M-10 Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Symbol Signs for Winter Recreation
Guidance:
08 The number of symbols used in a single sign assembly should not exceed four.
Option:
09 The Advance Turn (M5 series) or Directional Arrow (M6 series) auxiliary signs with white arrows on brown backgrounds shown in Figure 2D-5 may be used with Recreational and Cultural Area Interest symbol guide signs to create a Recreational and Cultural Interest Area Directional Assembly. The symbols may be used singularly, or in groups of two, three, or four on a single sign assembly (see Figures 2M-1, 2M-3, and 2M-4).
Section 2M.09 Destination Guide Signs
Guidance:
01 When recreational or cultural interest area destinations are displayed on supplemental guide signs, the sign should be rectangular or trapezoidal in shape. The order of preference for use of shapes and colors should be as follows: (1) rectangular with a white legend and border on a green background; (2) rectangular with a white legend and border on a brown background; or (3) trapezoidal with a white legend and border on a brown background.
Standard:
02 Whenever the trapezoidal shape is used, the color combination shall be a white legend and border on a brown background.
Option:
03 Destination guide signs with a white legend and border on a brown background may be posted at the first point where an access or crossroad intersects a highway where recreational or cultural interest areas are a significant destination along conventional roads, expressways, or freeways. Supplemental guide signs with a white legend and border on a brown background may be used along conventional roads, expressways, or freeways to direct road users to recreational or cultural interest areas. Where access or crossroads lead exclusively to the recreational or cultural interest area, the advance guide sign and the exit direction sign may have a white legend and border on a brown background.
Standard:
04 All Exit Gore (E5-1 and E5-1a) signs (see Section 2E.37) shall have a white legend and border on a green background. The background color of the interchange Exit Number (E1-5P and E1-5bP) plaque (see Section 2E.31) shall match the background color of the guide sign. Design characteristics of conventional road, expressway, or freeway guide signs shall comply with Chapter 2D or 2E except as provided in this Section for color combination.
05 The advance guide sign and the Exit Direction sign shall retain the white-on-green color combination where the crossroad leads to a destination other than a recreational or cultural interest area.
Support:
06 Figure 2M-2 illustrates destination guide signs commonly used for identifying recreational or cultural interest areas or facilities.
Section 2M.10 Memorial or Dedication Signing
Support:
01 Legislative bodies will occasionally adopt an act or resolution memorializing or dedicating a highway, bridge, or other component of the highway.
Guidance:
02 Such memorial or dedication names should not appear on or along a highway, or be placed on bridges or other highway components. If a route, bridge, or highway component is officially designated as a memorial or dedication, and if notification of the memorial or dedication is to be made on the highway right-of-way, such notification should consist of installing a memorial or dedication marker in a rest area, scenic overlook, recreational area, or other appropriate location where parking is provided with the signing inconspicuously located relative to vehicle operations along the highway.
Option:
03 If the installation of a memorial or dedication marker off the main roadway is not practical, memorial or dedication signs may be installed on the mainline.
Guidance:
04 Memorial or dedication signs should have a white legend and border on a brown background.
Standard:
05 Where such memorial or dedication signs are installed on the mainline, (1) memorial or dedication names shall not appear on directional guide signs, (2) memorial or dedication signs shall not interfere with the placement of any other necessary signing, and (3) memorial or dedication signs shall not compromise the safety or efficiency of traffic flow. The memorial or dedication signing shall be limited to one sign at an appropriate location in each route direction, each as an independent sign installation.
06 Memorial or dedication signs shall be rectangular in shape. The legend displayed on memorial or dedication signs shall be limited to the name of the person or entity being recognized and a simple message preceding or following the name, such as "Dedicated to" or "Memorial Parkway." Additional legend, such as biographical information, shall not be displayed on memorial or dedication signs. Decorative or graphical elements, pictographs, logos, or symbols shall not be displayed on memorial or dedication signs. All letters and numerals displayed on memorial or dedication signs shall be as provided in the "Standard Highway Signs and Markings" book (see Section 1A.11). The route number or officially mapped name of the highway shall not be displayed on the memorial or dedication sign.
07 Memorial or dedication names shall not appear on supplemental signs or on any other information sign on or along the highway or its intersecting routes.
Option:
08 The lettering for the name of the person or entity being recognized may be composed of a combination of lower-case letters with initial upper-case letters.
Guidance:
09 Freeways and expressways should not be signed as memorial or dedicated highways.
Support:
10 Named highways are officially designated and shown on official maps and serve the purpose of providing route guidance, primarily on unnumbered highways. A highway designated as a memorial or dedication is not considered to be a named highway. Section 2D.53 contains provisions for the signing of named highways.
