Fred Hampton Way is on Hold

The fight over Fred Hampton Way seems to be on the back burner. It hasn't gone away, but they are not taking the issue up for now. Take a look at some of the recent articles.

Bid to Name Street for Black Panther Stalls - Chicago Tribune
Chairman Fred Hampton Way Could be Stalled Another Month - Chicago Defender

Past Posts on this subject:

• Fred Hampton Way Supporters Coming Out in Force
  
• Nine of 19 Black Aldermen Fight to Honor Chairman Fred Hampton
  
• Fred Hampton Way: The Debate Continues
• Honorary Street Signs in Chicago
• Chairman Fred Hampton Way
  

Cliff Warning Sign

Beautiful and scary photo from Flickr. Great perspective of the cliffs with the warning sign.

More Funny Street Sign Translations

Translations alway bring the possibility for a laugh. "No throwing waste everywhere" does not dissapoint. In the past we've reported on this changing in Beijing.

"Please don't coming" does not cause the same reaction, but is still funny.

Animal Road Signs

Seeing this article in The Standard Times in New Bedford, MA made me realize we need an article completely dedicated to animals in road signs. There is a great group on Flickr where members post signs they've photographed with some sort of animal warning.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Zebra Crossing Sign approved in Goa, India
  
• Turkey Crossing Sign
• Unloading Livestock in Rest Area Prohibited - I'd love to hear more about how this became an issue.
  
• No Dog Pooh Sign
• Brake for Moose Road Sign - I've seen moose. You don't want to run into one of these!
  
• Yield to Chicken Homemade Sign - True creativity with signs.
  
• Duck Crossing Sign - Where exactly are these Duck or Geese coming from? McDonalds?
  
• Crab Sign - Not sure if this is a warning or not.
• Possums Road Sign - Be aware of Possums!
  
• Yield to Camels Street Sign - Camels have the right of way.
  
• Buffalo v. Vehicle the Lost its Wheel on a Rock - I've posted this before. I can't possibly tell you what they're trying to say here.
  
• Yield to Elephants Street Sign - Interesting that this came from the Netherlands.
  
• Kangaroo Street Sign - I've never seen a kangaroo. I guess I don't travel enough.
  
• Don't Touch the Snails? Road Sign - Are people really interested in touching snails?
  
• Yield to Hippos Road Sign - To me these signs say, make way for nature!
  
• Fox and Goose Signs? - These look like they may be in a zoo or somewhere similar.
  

21 mph Road Sign

This is a great sign captured on Flickr. It was taken on the way to the Quinalt Casino in Washington state.

Funny Warning Sign

This is another example of a great photo of a street sign because of the context. I would assume that someone stole this sign and moved it to this spot, but it is worth a look.

Dead Slow Children Street Sign

Excellent photo of a street sign. I'd love to know what the context is. Has anyone come across a "Dead Slow Children" sign?

Monster.com Road Sign

I love that they make the argument that this is not setting a bad precedent because the signs with the Monster.com logo on them also have a city logo. And how is that not a precedent for other companies to want signs? Signs are meant to be directional, not advertisements. One makes driving safer and easier, one is a distraction.

North Carolina Struggles with Marting Luther King Streets

As has been covered here in the past (Greenville, NC, Charlotte, NC, Durham, NC) North Carolina localitites continue to struggle with divisions when the proposal to rename a street for Martin Luther King, Jr. is on the table.

Arabic Street Sign Names in Helsinki

A street art group in Helsinki has added street signs in Arabic to the existing Swedish and Finnish names. I like their approach. They chose streets with significance. I think they made a statement.

The streets are:
Arabiankatu --> Arabia Street
Rauhankatu --> Peace Street
Mustankivenkatu --> Black Rock Street
Silkkitie --> Silk Road
Sitratori --> Zither Street (they got a little confused on this one)
Muukalaiskatu --> Alien Street

Alaskan Road Sign

Usually, road signs are intended to provide a message quickly and clearly. In the case of this sign some interpretation is needed. I would read it as such. If you run off the road and run into a rock, you will lose your car wheel and will be approached by a buffalo, which is obviously a danger.

Fred Hampton Way Supporters Coming Out in Force

It appears that those in favor of Fred Hampton Way have begun to organize their efforts and are focusing on educating people about the former leader of the Black Panthers.

Past Posts on this subject:

• Nine of 19 Black Aldermen Fight to Honor Chairman Fred Hampton
  
• Fred Hampton Way: The Debate Continues
• Honorary Street Signs in Chicago
• Chairman Fred Hampton Way

Road Sign Errors: Phoeinx the Latest

I love it! Road sign shops should all have an editor on staff. Yeah, maybe that person does something else too, but there should be someone who proofs these things before they go out. If these signs cost several thousand dollars, it might be worth it.

In the article the author mentions a study by ePodunk about the most common misspelled cities in America. I was surprised to see Pittsburgh number 1, but I guess people often leave the "h" off to match it to most other "burghs". Tucson was number 2 (very understandable - Tuscon still looks right to me) and Phoenix is number 9. The only one on the list that I can't figure out is number 13 Detroit. Really?

This is not the first major gaffe in this area. According to the article, "the sign makers misspelled Tucson - spelling it "Tuscon," ... on signs along an Aviation Parkway bike path. Those signs were replaced."

Berlin Street Sign Changed to Lone Resident's Name

Its a peculiar situation. One home on a street and the name needs to be changed. Should that family get to choose? In this case, the council bowed to him and renamed it his family's choice. What is really interesting is that even though Tom Gulyas said his family had the right to decide, the name 'they' chose was Thomas Court. Not Gulyas Court, mind you. Thomas Court.

Fred Hampton Way: The Debate Continues

I've been covering this since 2/28 when this began with a motion to add an honorary name to one block of a Chicago city street. What is normally a routine practice has caused a great uproar and a flurry of commentary.

The issue is not a simple one. It cannot be looked at as black and white. As pointed out in this article, most whites will not understand what blacks went through.

The coverage has turned from reporting the controversy to examining the emotions on both sides.

• Ask a Police Widow about the Street Sign Idea
• Furor Growing over Proposed Street Sign
• Nearly half of Black aldermen to vote for Chairman Fred Hampton Way
• On West Monroe, Hampton's name still resonates
• Fred Hampton’s family speak on loss of some 37 years later
• Hampton Way vote postponed; Allen introduces amendment to end honorary street signs
  

Graffiti Proof Road Signs

Wow! Its like the anti-graffiti wall in that Leslie Nielson movie that had OJ in it! Except the wall sprayed back.

Honorary Street Signs in Chicago

The battle continues in Chicago over the practice of granting honorary street names. The practice gained national attention when Chicago planned to honor Hugh Hefner. This year, a sign honoring the former leader of the Black Panthers created a similar uproar. Now, Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune examines this and makes the statement that our street signs are "symbols we leave to history of our values and priorities." His post also has a lot of great comments from readers about Chicago street names.

This has gotten a lot of play in Chicago press. Here's a sampling:

• A day, a street, whatever: Hampton equals controversy - Chicago Sun-Times
• Curb on honorary street names urged - Chicago Sun-Times
• Fred Hampton’s family speak on loss of some 37 years later - Chicago Defender
• A Fascist hides in plain sight downtown - Chicago Tribune
• Family: Keep violent words in context
• Council Members React to Black Panther Street Name Proposal
• Mayor Avoids Fray on Black Panther Street Name
• Street Name Sparks Outrage
  

From Pittsburgh, the view is that "Chicago, obviously, has lost its mind."

Martin Luther King Boulevard - Greenville, NC

Greenville, NC enters the fray as the latest locality to attempt to rename a street for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The count is always growing. We've covered the following:

• Charlotte, NC
  
• Durham, NC
  
• Quincy, IL
  
• South Bend, IN (no controversy here)
  
• Lynchburg, VA
  
• Louisiana and Ithaca, NY

This article goes into more depth than many of the others as to the objections. I won't judge those who made these objections. You can decide for yourself what you believe is motivating them.

• loss of long-standing street identity
• the cost of an address change
• feared decline in property values
• ruination of businesses sharing that address

The positive thing that comes out of this is a process for opeing this up for discussion. People need a way to express their feelings and be heard by government. Strong-arming the change without hearing the objections does not honor MLK's memory.

If you find an interesting story about a road sign in the news and I haven't posted the story here, email mail@myroadsign.com. I would hate to miss signage current events!

You may also want to check out the stories related specifically to stolen road signs and road sign photos.

Take a look at our archive of road sign and street sign news.

Road Signs that Were in the News

• December 2004
• February 2005
• March 2005
• April 2005
• May 2005
• June 2005
• July 2005
• October 2005
• November 2005
• December 2005
• February 2006
• March 2006
• April 2006