A wayfinder gives a user an instruction directing them how to continue on the road the user is already on, in situations where it may be unclear, and there would otherwise be no instruction. For general guidance on wayfinders see the Limited Access Junction Style Guide.
Criteria
A wayfinder is warranted in the following cases:
The continuation path on a controlled-access highway or freeway, when an exit is present on the typical side, has at least two fewer travel lanes after the exit than before it;
The continuation path on a controlled-access highway or freeway has the same number of lanes as, or fewer lanes than, the exit path after the fork;
The continuation path on an uncontrolled highway, or when an exit is present on the atypical side of a controlled-access highway or freeway, has at least one fewer travel lane after the exit than before it;
The continuation path consists of a single lane; or
Other conditions exist that may suggest a fork, rather than an exit (use your better judgement, and discretion) -- for example:
The physical roadway itself forks or diverges with no clear straight-ahead direction;
The road which appears to be straight ahead is not the actual continuation;
Signage and striping do not clearly provide all expected "exit" indications, or do so inconsistently; or
Signs are present with arrows pointing left and right but no sign clearly establishes the continuation.
In these cases, we need to use a wayfinder configuration. Each wayfinder configuration will have one "IN" segment and two "OUT" segments.
Segment naming
If the continuation is signed, and a wayfinder is warranted,
If the continuation sign contains the name or shield of the continuing road, do not use "to" at the beginning of the name of the OUT segment. e.g., a freeway fork where one side is the continuation of the same freeway (the user is already on the road, not going "to" it). Most wayfinders will fit this criterion.
If the name of the continuation is included but is not listed first on the sign, move the name of the continuing road to the beginning of the segment name. (e.g. In this wayfinder the highway you are on now, and continuing on is I-275, so the segment name should be "I-275 N / I-74 E / US-52 E / Cincinnati".)
If the continuation sign does not contain the name or shield of the continuing road, then the road name should begin with "to".
If the word "TO" is explicitly included on the continuation sign,
Move the shields or names affected by the "TO" to the end of the segment name after a slash (/). (The example BGS shown is for the continuation of I-80, which leads to I-280, with a control city Morristown.)
If any included control cities or road names correlate only to the roads affected by the "TO", then those control cities or road names should be moved after the "/ to [road(s)] /" on the segment name.
If Morristown is served by I-80, the continuation segment should be named "I-80 / Morristown / to I-280".
If any included control cities or road names correlate to the roads not affected by the "TO", then those control cities or road names should remain in place before "/ to [road(s)]".
If Morristown is served by I-280 and not by I-80, the continuation segment should be "I-80 / to I-280 / Morristown".
If the continuation is not signed, and a wayfinder is warranted,
If the OUT segment is a continuation of the same road, it should be left unnamed (check the "no name" box).
If the OUT segment is an exit, it should be named following the guidelines for an unsigned exit.
If the OUT segment is a short continuation of the same road leading to another road, name the segment starting with "to" followed by the name of the road to which the continuation leads, following these guidelines:
Where the wayfinder is just before, but not at, the termination of a road, so the continuation OUT segment is named for the road that the continuation leads to at the termination. However you still must travel for a short distance on the continuation of this road until those exits/termination. Our example here is a wayfinder on US-1-9 N (Truck), the left OUT is the continuation, however the right OUT also continues on the same road until it intersects with SR-440, with an exit to SR-440 S along this short segment. There are no roadway signs for any of these forks, or exits/terminations. The OUT segment here would be named "to SR-440 S / Communipaw Ave", and the SR-440 exit will be named following the unsigned exit guidelines. However it may be appropriate (if there are no House Numbers, or other on ramps past this wayfinder before it reaches the exit, to leave this entire portion with no name, and the instruction will inherit the name of the next road to which you are going.
