Wrong Way!!

A lot of unusual, funny, or just plain wrong signs.


[San  Diego straight, Mexico right]
What's wrong with this one? Okay, San Diego is straight ahead (true, since this picture was taken facing west). So that means Mexico is to the... uh oh. Actually, AZ 85 South makes a 180° loop to the north to go under Business I-8 and the railroad. (Gila Bend)

Good question. Why, AZ was named after the Y intersection of AZ 85 and AZ 86. Ironically, the intersection has been reworked into a T intersection. It should be named Why Not. (Why)

[Space Age Motel]
Houston, we have a motel. Try the Spaceburger in the cafe. (Gila Bend)

[Dairy Queen/The Thing -- A Great Combination!]
What is it? I'll never tell. ( I-10 at Picacho Peak)

[Table Mesa exit sign]
Mesa is Spanish for table, so this is Table Table Road. (I-17)

[Alternate AZ 89A sign]
Another duplicate repeated redundancy. This was one of the few places that US 89A was signed as ALTERNATE US 89, but ADOT just replaced all the shields with AZ 89A shields. (North of Prescott)

[To I-10 Los Angeles, 20 miles]
LA is closer to Phoenix than you thought. (AZ 101 west ofI-17)

[Color US shields in Tucson]
Look at all the colors, man! Arizona experimented with colored shields in the early 1950s. The color indicates the direction. This intersection is now under I-10. Photo courtesy of James H. Lindsay. (Tucson)

[Mile 173 one-piece marker] [Damaged Mile 174 segmented marker]
ADOT has switched from one-piece mile markers to segmented units. They may be easier to assemble in the field from a big box 'o digits, but they lack in appearance and durability. The one on the right is actually newer. (US 60 in Tempe)

Something Missing Dept.

[Mostly blank AZ 202 overhead sign]
Successive peel-offs haven't left much on this 202 sign. Going top to bottom, there was TO I-10, Los Angeles, and two lane arrows. ADOT removed the I-10and Los Angeles designations before the highway was even open. The lane arrows were removed when the roadway was restriped to provide three through lanes over AZ 143. (Phoenix)

[Blank Casa Grande sign]

AZ 84 is MIA here. (Eloy)

[Red Signal Ahead] [Red signals]
No kidding -- 8 of them in fact (one isn't visible here). The signal at the south end of AZ 143 is hidden behind the I-10 overpass, hence the warning sign, rumble strips, and extra signal heads. One of the signals has a strobe tube too.

[DIPs sign]
A dippy Pinal County sign. (Maricopa-Gila Bend Highway)

[Brown-on-white AZ 202] [Black-on-white AZ 202] [White-on-brown AZ 202]
Will the real AZ 202 marker please stand up? (Phoenix -- 16th St. & Jefferson, Indian School & AZ 51, AZ 202 over Mill Ave.)

The following are actually from Tennessee, but what the heck.

[360° loop sign] [Fishook turn sign]
When a hairpin just isn't enough. (US 441 in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN)

[South US 411/North US 441] [North US 441/South US 321]
Someone's confused here, and I think it's me. (Sevierville, TN, facing west; Pigeon Forge, TN, facing north)


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Last updated 7/19/1998