Here we have a nice listing of signs from Southwest Durham. This particular part of the city includes such places as Hope Valley, Woodcroft, New Hope Creek, South Square area, and the Streets at Southpoint mall.
Also of note, I also have links to maps for each of the sites I have visited and taken pictures. If you're interested in forming a little "sign hunting trip" of your own, these maps will come quite handy. One thing to keep in mind is that the maps represent the approximate locations, so please make sure to be careful if you are driving and wish to partake in this.
| Sign | Location | Description |
| Clem Rice Durham Beautiful sign [Just Added] | Shannon Rd. @ Old Chapel Hill Rd., just past Post Office [Map] | This is one of those signs that you'd barely even notice until you get close enough to getting knocked out silly. Still, it is a fitting tribute to a well-loved local merchant who did her darndest to make everyone look beautiful. |
| Old Crimestopper sign [Just Added] | Boulder Rd. @ Flint Ln., just off NC Hwy. 54 East [Map] | This is a rather old Crimestoppers sign for the City of Durham, which also lists Domino's as a corporate sponsor. These days, the CM unit implements various mass media outlets in order to get the message out that crime simply doesn't play! |
| Renaissance Village Truck Restriction sign [Just Added] | Renaissance Pkwy. @ Country Ln. [Map] | The owners of this newly-built power center located near the mall are quite picky about letting those big trucks on their parking lots. These signs make sure to let those massive haulers exactly where to go. |
| Roundabout Arrows sign | Witherspoon Blvd. @ Danziger Dr., Patterson Place complex [Map] | This traffic circle sign shows not only traffic flow inside, but the directions the motorist can go if choosing to make a turn onto another road. Patterson Place is a fully-operational mixed retail/office space/residential area that originally opened around Summer 2004. |
| White Lane Ends overhead sign | NC Hwy. 54 @ Quadrangle Dr., just east of I-40 [Map] | What used to be the right turn lane heading east towards Durham was extended a good ways to allow traffic to merge safely into the other lane. It's still a short distance that one has to cover before getting there. |
| State Maintenance Ends sign | Southpark Dr. @ Marlborough Way, Windermere subdivision [Map] | This formerly gravel section of what used to be Massey Road was truncated in the early 1980s upon the completion of Windermere, merely two years before the massive Woodcroft development came into fruition. Before, it had been a mostly rural road connecting two major traffic arteries way before heavy traffic was ever considered an issue in the area. |
| Crossroads at Curve sign | Dixon Rd. @ Buckingham Rd., Hope Valley [Map] | The intersecting street isn't quite as difficult to spot once you maneuver the rather sharp curve up ahead as the sign would suggest. However, it does help to be extra careful when coming through. |
| "Y" Curve Intersection sign | Westover Rd. @ St. Mark's Rd., Hope Valley [Map] | This presumed fork in the road is interesting in that one has to turn left in order to stay on Westover. Otherwise, you'll end up headed toward a different part of this well-heeled community. |
| Sharp Bend with Outlet sign | Dover Rd. @ Rugby Rd., Hope Valley [Map] | A number of roads in this upscale neighborhood have quite a number of twists and turns that the motorist will encounter. This one alerts you to the oncoming intersection that is beyond this rather tricky turn. |
| Green 35 MPH Speed Limit sign | Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway @ Shannon Road, near Wynnsong Cinemas [Map] | Interesting choice of speed limit sign placed on roadway that goes from 15-501, at what used to be South Square, to Hwy. 55 near RTP. |
| No Parking Beyond This Point sign | Service Road off 15-501 between Garrett Road and Mount Moriah Road [Map] | This sign was put up here to keep anyone from parking their vehicles on the grassy median in the background and leaving them there. This spot was notorious for being used as an impropmtu used car lot, where you could get rid of your car without spending a lot of $$. |
| No Trucks Beyond This Point sign | New Hope Commons Drive @ Hoffler Lane, next to OfficeMax [Map] | The road ends about 100 feet from where this sign is located, so how could a truck possibly go any further? |
| 19 MPH Speed Limit Sign | Southpoint Blvd. off Fayetteville Road, The Streets at Southpoint [Map] | Believe it or not, these signs do indicate the official speed limit that motorists must observe along the mall perimeter road. |
| Do Not Pass Berm Sign | Hope Valley Road @ Surrey Road, Hope Valley Country Club golf course [Map] | A berm is merely the shoulder of a road, which is a term commonly used up north. The extended shoulder on the road is used for golfers to sit and wait while trying to cross the heavily-traveled road to continue playing a round of golf. The course owners didn't want drivers attempting to cut off their patrons when someone else needed to make a left turn, so these signs were erected. Apparently, you need to squint in order to read the sign, since it's so durn small. |
| Crossroads Curve sign | Hope Valley Road @ Swarthmore Road [Map] | This is a standard curve sign that mutated because of the tricky intersection ahead. An outlet was put in place to alert drivers of other people getting off Swarthmore and onto Hope Valley. The fact that a Durham fire station is located there necessitated the change. Once the Oaks of Hope Valley townhouse complex was completed a couple of years back, another side road outlet was added to the sign. |
| Red Cross Blood Center sign | US 15-501, just past Garrett Road [Map] | If you're looking for yet another excuse not th give the gift of life, at least figuring out where to go won't be one of them. Pretty clever attempt by the local Red Cross chapter. |
| No Big Rigs sign | Red Roof Inn, US 15-501 @ I-40 [Map] | This fine establishment does welcome those who drive tractor-trailers for a living. However, they're relegated to parking along the service road nearby because the parking lot's way too small to accommodate their gargantuan vehicles. |
| No Trucks/No Thru Street sign combo | Rossford Ln. @ Herndon Rd., across from Southpoint [Map] | This quite unusual sign combination does come in handy should any vehicles mistake this rather unassuming cul-de-sac for the shops at Southpoint Village. |
