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Isn't that odd!
The signs are posted to warn us of something ... but we are not told the meaning of the warnings!
A perfect example of bureaucracy.

It looks to me like a sign to inform snowplow drivers of....something
 
Recycling at work - saving the planet one sign at a time:


Hidden Terrace hiding under Brief Road:
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Anchor Drive over Walsh Avenue:
l_ba660dd774f044dabd1131b2e6376641.jpg


Rustic Street over a very slight outline of Cactus Avenue:
l_c9ded013fb58427d888df43097c05302.jpg


Hermit Court over something that seems to have started with a "B":
l_4d15b285c7c74053a30a121c92b8b722.jpg


...and finally Streamdale Court in a nice Scarborough-style template sign. Only problem - Streamdale is in North York!:
l_7f68b4723f4c4a95a499bb278bd02b3d.jpg

EVCCO: Interesting pictures of street signs here-I find these older blue on white street signs interesting because they are of the exact same color,lettering and size of the signs used where I live here on LI-the Town of Islip used this street sign type from the late 70s into the early 90s at least...in recent years the Village of Islandia has placed newer white on green signs that are noticably different and I was able to obtain the signs from my nearest corner being replaced with the described change-over and they are "recycled" the very same way as these are! Nice observation that definitely caught MY eye...LI MIKE
 
^
As are those around Yonge/York Mills and Flemingdon Park!

EVCCO: Interesting pictures of street signs here-I find these older blue on white street signs interesting because they are of the exact same color,lettering and size of the signs used where I live here on LI-the Town of Islip used this street sign type from the late 70s into the early 90s at least...in recent years the Village of Islandia has placed newer white on green signs that are noticably different and I was able to obtain the signs from my nearest corner being replaced with the described change-over and they are "recycled" the very same way as these are! Nice observation that definitely caught MY eye...LI MIKE

White-on-Green seems to be the most common style around North America. That's how they were in my hometown of London, ON.
Are there many towns in the States with mostly blue signs? I know L.A. does...
I think Chicago used to have rather cool looking Black-on-Yellow ones, but now are mostly green too.
 
EVCCO: Sorry its been so long...I have wanted to reply here...
First concerning signs: I believe that the white on green background street signs was a US Federal Highway Administration directive in the 80s concerning standardized street name signs...
Many places still use their own color scheme though...NYC as an example standardized to the single color scheme in the 80s...

Chicago I remember had porcelain enamel black on yellow street name signs...I believe beginning in the late 70s/early 80s era they also went white on green...and I was able to obtain one of those older signs: S WESTERN AV
Western Avenue (2400 W.) was the longest street in the City of Chicago mile-wise N/S and on the SW Side was at one point a major racial dividing line I recall...Black E,White W...
I believe that the City of Chicago still has a City Store and I obtained used CTA porcelain enamel station signs from them back around 2000...

LI MIKE
 
Speaking of the old (and newer) Toronto signs, here's a little post on our various variations...


The old signs are increasingly rare. Finding an intact intersection - even rarer.
But what are the odds of finding an intersection with differing designs? (note the "Ave" styles):

Aves%201_zps05v1l6r0.jpg



Thanks goes to ShonTron when I met him a few weeks back for pointing out these East York anomalies:

eyv_zps7vsms7uf.jpg



Fonts and formats aren't the only things that change from sign to sign. Sometimes even the street names themselves vary:

Wish_zpsqkdsje4y.jpg


Silvan_zpsskhbyclk.jpg


Glen_zpsof7zbfhk.jpg


LinNsmore_zpssehhug7v.jpg



Finally, as the new signs are being installed across the city, so are new streets names - such as this:

Catbird Lane
Corn Chamomile Lane
Doctor Oc Lane
Flicker Lane
Fresh Air Lane
Goatsbeard Lane
Magic Lane
Picking Coke Lane (!?!)
Prohibition Lane
and
Redrocket Lane

Check them all out here: http://pammcconnell.ca/2010/02/16/laneway-names-celebrate-cabbagetown's-heritage/
 
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I read where on one of these threads that Anna mentioned this "sign". So while at St. Lawrence Market I walked over to George Brown College's NE corner at Frederick and Adelaide (the "Duke" was before Adelaide) and took a picture of it.

Does anyone know why Duke was renamed? Some sort of continuity thing when streets were widened and joined as one?

DSCF3194.jpg
 
Fantastic finds Mustapha!


While you were walking all around the Market I suppose you didn't happen to spot one of the old pre-"Old Town" St. Lawrence signs too?
I spent a whole day at the market once hoping one of the merchants might have kept one to decorate their stall or something, but no such luck.



Also,
not sure about the renaming of Duke Street - but it looks like its comming back, along with Duchess (if only in laneway form):
http://www.slna.ca/slna-news-pdfs/lane name recommendations.pdf

Apparently there's also going to be a "Bootleggers Lane," to go along with "Prohibition Lane."
 
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Does anyone know why Duke was renamed? Some sort of continuity thing when streets were widened and joined as one?

Yup, together with Duchess; in the 1960s, when Richmond-Adelaide were one-wayed and connected w/the DVP/Eastern...
 
Haven't posted any new pics in a while, so here's a couple....

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(I know there's an "Arial Court" in Vaughan, but so far I'm still sticking to the city limits.)

This one here incorporates a few of my favourite "lost Toronto" pics from the city archives and posted in various forum threads:
5125244156_14288a3936_z.jpg



And here's a few more oddities...

rockin%20randy_zpsgoh83cip.jpg


jim%20hayes_zpszlxcmkfb.jpg


...I'm sure the first one isn't an official street as its located solely in a gas station - but the second one is more interesting.
It is in a laneway, but affixed to someone's back fence. Possibly a gift from the city in lieu of a more formal plaque?

In any case, both are testaments to the fact that, although the old acorn signs aren't unique to Toronto, they have certainly gained an iconic stature the in this city over the years.
 
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One year on I suppose it's time to give some of the new signs their due:

zeo1_zps6dqgosdb.jpg



These are all the different ones I've come across so far.
Are there any other ones out there that I'm missing?



And here's a bonus collection of the various traffic signs you might spot around town:

 
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A few others I've neglected:

zeo2_zpslhtdp7va.jpg




...and, for those interested, here's a National Post article from a couple of days ago regarding the lack of sufficient signage in certain areas of the city - and in which I'm briefly quoted at the beginning:
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/0...ny-toronto-streets-lack-proper-street-signage

I would have had much more to say about the lack of sufficient creativity in some of the new sign designs though. Is it just me, or is the "Route of Heroes" design particularly deplete of imagination? - especially considering what its meant to honour. I mean, I'm all for simplicity, but.......sheesh!
 
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Awesome pictures. Thanks for all the hard work. Personally, I think all the newer signs look like garbage; the font, the layout. I wish the city would use more attractive poles as well. Those metal, hole punched poles are hideous.
 

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