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All the United States Pennsylvania Meadville PennDOT Road Sign Sculpture Garden

PennDOT Road Sign Sculpture Garden

The Pennsylvania landscape depicted by a quarter mile of mosaics made from used road signs.

Meadville, Pennsylvania

Added By
Jane Weinhardt Goldberg
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CAPTION
Road sign skyline   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Road sign barn   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Hot air balloon made of road signs   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Road sign Ferris Wheel   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Bentley Hall made of road signs   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Road sign roller coaster   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Road sign boy, balloon, and horse   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
Giant road sign flowers   Doug Kerr / CC BY-SA 2.0
  kyednock25 / Atlas Obscura User
  BrittanyZ / Atlas Obscura User
  kyednock25 / Atlas Obscura User
  kyednock25 / Atlas Obscura User
Barn and silo out of street signs   heady13 / Atlas Obscura User
  canderson26 / Atlas Obscura User
  canderson26 / Atlas Obscura User
  Michaels / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Along the Smock Highway in Meadville, Pennsylvania, in an otherwise drab stretch of strip malls, the north side of the road is lined by a colorful pattern of repurposed road signs that stretches for nearly a quarter mile. Located on the property of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation building (hence the name “PennDOT”), the PennDOT Road Sign Sculpture Garden is the most perplexing set of driving instructions you’ll ever see.

Alternatively known as “Read Between the Signs,” the road sign sculpture garden was created when art students from the nearby Allegheny College teamed up with DoT employees who had a few extra road signs on their hands. The result was both bizarre and ingenious, portraying the Pennsylvania landscape with a recycled metal homage.

Along the sculpture garden’s 10-foot mural wall, Smock Highway drivers will pass by oceanic waves made of blue hospital signs, a barn constructed from red stop signs, and an adjacent silo made of white junction signs. Turkeys, sombreros, oil wells, kayakers, rainbow hot air balloons, and Ferris Wheels movable by hand are portrayed through creative road sign assortments, and an intricately accurate road sign model of Allegheny College’s Bentley Hall sits toward the wall’s western end. Farmers will enjoy the sculpture garden’s takes on various farm animals, and theme park enthusiasts will be thrilled by a rollercoaster slope made of 45 mph signs.

Related Tags

Roadside Attractions Roads Signs Sculptures Sculpture Gardens Mosaics

Community Contributors

Added By

Jane Weinhardt Goldberg

Edited By

nickelcurry, lewblank, BrittanyZ, kyednock25...

  • nickelcurry
  • lewblank
  • BrittanyZ
  • kyednock25
  • heady13
  • canderson26
  • Michaels
  • lambrechtleslie

Published

May 9, 2017

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Sources
  • http://uncoveringpa.com/penndot-road-sign-sculpture-garden-meadville
  • http://www.paroute6.com/poi_detail/2
  • http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/12120
PennDOT Road Sign Sculpture Garden
18492 Smock Hwy
Meadville, Pennsylvania, 16335
United States
41.620861, -80.167035
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Photo of Pennsylvania

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