Road identity street sign

A street sign is a type of traffic sign

Traffic sign

Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With traffic volumes increasing over the last eight decades, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to facilitate international travel...

 used to identify named

Street name

A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street. The street name usually forms part of the address...

 roads, generally those that do not qualify as expressways or highways. Street signs are most often found posted at intersections

Intersection (road)

An intersection is a road junction where two or more roads either meet or cross at grade . An intersection may be 3-way - a T junction or fork, 4-way - a crossroads, or 5-way or more...

, and are usually in perpendicularly oriented pairs identifying each of the crossing streets. Modern street signs are mounted on either utility poles or smaller purpose-made sign poles, or hung over intersections from overhead supports like wires or pylons. Up until around 1900, however, street signs were often mounted on the corners of buildings, or even chiseled into the masonry

Masonry

Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

, and many of these old-fashioned signs still exist in older neighborhoods.

A street sign may indicate the range of house numbers found nearby.

Although this article is based on North American practices the same methods and systems prevail throughout the world.

Most streets have a traffic sign

Traffic sign

Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With traffic volumes increasing over the last eight decades, many countries have adopted pictorial signs or otherwise simplified and standardized their signs to facilitate international travel...

 at each intersection to indicate the name of the road. The design and style of the sign is usually common to the district in which it appears. The sign has the street name and sometimes other information, such as the block number or the name of the London borough

London borough

The administrative area of Greater London contains thirty-two London boroughs. Inner London comprises twelve of these boroughs plus the City of London. Outer London comprises the twenty remaining boroughs of Greater London.-Functions:...

 in which the street is located. Such signs are often the target of simple vandalism

Vandalism

Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...

, and signs on unusually or famously named streets are especially liable to street sign theft

Street sign theft

Street sign theft occurs when street signs are stolen, often to be used as decorations, but also sometimes to avoid obeying the law by claiming later the sign was not there. Although the theft often seems arbitrary, signs that are unusual or amusing tend to be stolen more frequently...

.

Usually, the color scheme used on the sign just reflects the local standard (for example, white letters on a green background are common throughout the USA). However, in some cases, the colour of a sign can provide information, as well. One example can be found in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

. Within city limits, all major arterial roads use a blue sign, north-south roads use a green sign, and east-west roads use a brown sign. Other places sometimes use blue or white signs to indicate private roads.

In recent years, many US and Canadian cities have adopted the mast arm for traffic signal equipment; major intersections are marked with large signs mounted on the mast arms. This was started in the 1960s by the California Department of Transportation. Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 and San Francisco started in the 1970s and recently New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

has started the bigger signs at its intersections.

Roadway-spanning community street sign

A roadway-spanning community street sign is one that spans a street or roadway to identify a community. Often these were first used along street car lines during the first half of the twentieth century.

Community street signs have increased in popularity in recent years. As of 2008, San Diego County, California has 10 community street signs. Often illuminated in neon, these signs are typically built using a steel arch to support the sign or the sign can be suspended over the street using cables.