If A Sign Says It Is Brown Street, Is It Really Brown Street?

You may have noticed a sign at the intersection of Robbins and Lowell streets and thought, “What does that mean?”

The sign depicts a four-way intersection along with another sign beneath it that reads “Brown Street.” To some, it may be confusing because clearly, Brown Street is the next street and not the location of the sign.

Well, the city’s Traffic Commission has some answers about the oddly-placed sign.

“In both directions on Lowell Street (northbound and southbound), an intersection ahead warning sign (a yellow diamond sign with a four way intersection diagram on it) is installed, and beneath each diamond sign is a yellow sign indicating the name of the street the driver is approaching (Brown Street).  Since they are yellow signs, not green signs, they are not street name signs indicating the name of the street you are currently on,” Waltham Traffic Engineer J. Michael Garvin told Waltham Patch.

“I acknowledge that the distinction of the type of sign they are based on the color may be lost on many drivers. I am going to review the placement of the signs and if I feel that the yellow street signs are confusing, I may end up removing them, and retaining the yellow diamond intersection warning signs,” he wrote.

The Massachusetts Department of Transpiration selected the location and installed the signs as part of a program to install “regulatory of warning” signage in various communities. In Waltham, the DOT selected the intersection of Robbins and Lowell streets and Bacon and Plympton streets.