Hmm...now that you mention it, signs indicating 0.6 and 1.2 miles (1 km and 2 km) to various locations *did* seem to be the most common (I saw others indicating 0.8 miles).
I don't know if these signs are partly for the benefit of Canadian tourists, but they seem to be everywhere. I even saw some here in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. These signs *do* have a unique appearance and color scheme--they are deep blue with white characters and borders, and they are unusually long and narrow (250 mm - 300 mm high X 1.5 m - 1.75 m wide, by my estimate). I wonder if Canadian road distance signs look like this? -- Jason ----- Original Message ----- From: Paul Trusten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; U.S. Metric Association <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 12:56 PM Subject: Re: [USMA:30006] Decimal "proto-SI" road signs seen > Since 0.6 mile is about 1 kilometer, and 1.2 miles about 2 kilometers, could > these signs actually be soft conversions from metric to U.S., somehow for > the benefit of visiting Canadians? For people thinking metric, why didn't > the signs just read 1 km and 2 km? Strange. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "James Wentworth" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, May 30, 2004 2:54 PM > Subject: [USMA:30006] Decimal "proto-SI" road signs seen > > > > Hello All, > > > > Last week I drove from Fairbanks, Alaska down to Palmer (about 60 km north > > of Anchorage) for several equine experiential learning (EEL) sessions. > > > > Along the highway and in the various communities, I noticed a large number > > of road signs that gave distances to locations in decimal miles, which is > > unusual in the US. Interestingly, they did not give the units (miles, of > > course) that one almost always sees on other road distance signs which use > > fractional miles (Example: "Exit 1/2 Mile"). These signs read like: > > "Campground 1.2" and "Post Office 0.6". If US motorists can comfortably > use > > decimal road distance signs, then kilometer road distance signs using the > > same format will also be readily understandable to them. -- Jason > > > > > >
