Circular highway shield

A circular highway shield is a route marker consisting of a number superimposed on a circle. It is officially used for state highways in Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Jersey, and was formerly used in Oklahoma [http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/public-info/press/06-017_new_state_highway_signs_unveiled.pdf] [http://www.us-highways.com/newok.htm] [http://www.kctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4340917] and Vermont (though some still exist in the latter in some conditions). It is also officially used in Virginia for state secondary and frontage routes, while West Virginia uses a circular design for its county routes. Maryland uses the circular highway shield for locally maintained sections of state-numbered routes, principally in Baltimore City. The circular marker is also used for "state" highways in the United States Virgin Islands.

Many road maps of areas in the United States use a circular highway shield as a generic marker for all state highways, because other designs are difficult to print and read. This is the marker to be used in states which do not choose a particular symbol for their markers. [U.S. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, [http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/HTM/2003r1/part2/part2d1.htm#section2D11 Section 2D.11] ]

Since three-digit route numbers are often too wide to fit in a circle of the same size and shape as a regular shield, some states horizontally elongate the circle. Other states will condense the typeface used, giving the numbers a tall, slender appearance.

Notes

ee also

*List of state route markers