What Gets Featured on Blue Highway Signs?

The rules vary from state to state, but there are specific guidelines for what services can and can't get a mention on U.S. highway signs. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://auto.howstuffworks.com/tech-transport/who-featured-blue-highway-exit-signs.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren Bogabam Here. If you've ever driven on
an American highway, you know them. The big blue signs
near interstate exits showing travelers the nearest gas, food, and
hotel or motel options. They're officially called interstate logo signs

(00:24):
or specific service signs, but the place is featured aren't random.
A Scoring a spot on these signs boosts profits for
many companies and for the states to control them. As
of twenty nineteen, Tennessee napped about eight million dollars per
year and Virginia got about six million thanks to the signs.

(00:44):
For the article, this episode is based on How's to Work.
Spoke by email with Jenny Campana, spokesperson for the Nebraska
Department of Transportation. She said, all highway signs serve as
specific purpose and their color is how you can easily
tell what the signs purposes, direction information regulations, et cetera.
These signs, in particular, are blue or informational signs are

(01:06):
regardless of what state you drive through. If you see
a blue sign, it's going to provide helpful information to
motorists as they travel along their way. There are three
basic types of blue logo signs. First, mainline, which is
the first one you see. It lets you know certain
services are nearby. These are bigger than you might have thought,

(01:26):
typically about nineteen feet that's six ms wide by about
ten ft or three ms high. The second type of
blue sign is the ramp. This is closer to the
exit and indicates whether you turn right or left at
the end of the off ramp. Businesses that are clearly
visible from the exit might not qualify for a ramp sign.
And finally, there's the trailblazer. This last and smallest sign

(01:51):
is placed at each corner where drivers should turn in
order to reach the business. Only certain types of businesses
can advertise on the logo sign lines gas stations, restaurants, lodging,
and attractions. Houst Works also spoke with Mark Nagy, a
spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. He said the
attraction category was added later for tourist attractions. In general,

(02:14):
the businesses need to be within five miles or eight
kilometers of a freeway exit, except attractions can be within
fifteen miles or twenty four kilometers, and they have to
be open to the general public during normal business hours.
Each state sets its own criteria, but usually the businesses
listed must have public restrooms, drinking water, and public phones.

(02:35):
Those that are open around the clock sometimes get priority
over those that are open for fewer hours of the day,
and distance from the highway may count in some states too.
In Florida, for instance, priority is given to businesses less
than three miles that's five kilometers from the exit, though
those up to six miles about nine and a half
kilometers from the exit are eligible for inclusion. Attractions like museums, wineries,

(02:59):
aggri tourism sites, and zoos are eligible for sign placement too,
but not churches, movie theaters, and adult oriented entertainment venues.
Applying to be featured is easy these days, you just
fill out a form online, but now being a spot
is another story. Some businesses wait for years to get
a spot. In some urban locations. House to Works also

(03:22):
spoke with Tracy Bramble, an information specialist for the Iowa
Department of Transportation. She said in the urban areas, it
can be difficult to secure a spot on the blue
motorist service signs or logo signs because they often fill
up to capacity. There's a limit of six spots on
the signs. She adds that all signs have to be
spaced at least eight hundred feet that's about two apart,

(03:45):
and must be placed directly in advance of the interchange
where the business can be accessed. Green and white guide signs,
that is for cities, highways, and major destinations of interest,
have a higher priority classification, So where interchanges are des
signed closely together, there may not be enough room to
install the blue logo sign and still maintain the spacing required,

(04:07):
and even if space is available, it can be pricey.
In Nebraska, for example, it's a thousand, two hundred dollars
per year per sign, so if you want to cover
exits in both directions, it would cost you two thousand,
four hundred per year. In Tennessee, the prices around nine
hundred dollars in urban areas and six fifty in rural
locations per direction. New Jersey, meanwhile, can be as high

(04:30):
as two thousand, four hundred in each direction. If you're
a nonprofit organization, you'll receive a discounted rate. In some states,
but in some rural areas, the blue signs often feature
plenty of open spaces, causing drastic price declines. In Iowa,
you can snag spots for as little as two hundred
and thirty dollars in the right areas, according to Bramble.

(04:51):
She explained in Iowa, the fees charged are not commingled
with other road user fees, but are earmarked specifically for
outdoor advertising control purposes, including the administration of the logo
signing program. Some states hire private contractors to run the program,
who are then allowed to set their own price structures.
Iowa has reinstated its state run program and has avoided

(05:14):
raising fees since. The biggest private contractor in the business
is a company called Interstate Logos, which handles the fabrication
and installation process for over twenty states around the country.
It makes most of its money from the sign permits,
but it also actively markets any unfilled spaces in hopes
of filling any blank spots on those big blue signs.

(05:37):
Naggie says that the Tennessee Department of Transportation gets of
the gross revenue from the contractor it uses. Prices for
businesses can and do change once a contractor takes over.
In New Hampshire, for instance, the annual fee rocketed from
five hundred dollars to one eight hundred dollars per sign,
drawing ire from some businesses. According to a local newspaper,

(06:00):
States initially began deploying these signs to provide valuable and
accurate motorst service information for the traveling public decades ago.
The signs took on even more importance as Americans began
to decry the overuse of billboards and so dense were
these unsightly clusters of commercialization. The President Lyndon B. Johnson
signed the Highway Beautification Act in October of nineteen sixty five,

(06:24):
which limited billboard and other outdoor advertising. States also took
it upon themselves to reduce the number of billboards along
their roadways. Vermont took things even further, banning billboards outright,
along with Maine, Hawaii, and Alaska. With limited billboard opportunities,
companies still needed a way to get the word out,

(06:45):
so states compromised enter the big blue signs. They provide
smaller businesses a feasible way to market their service at
a cost much lower than billboards, and thanks to their standardization,
they're easy to read as your zipping by at speed.
Today's episode is based on the article who does and

(07:07):
Doesn't get featured on Blue Highway exit Signs on how
Stuffworks dot Com written by Nathan Chandler. Brainstuffs production of
I heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,
and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my
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