One of the minor charms of Reston was its small white-on-navy blue street name signs. They came in two styles: all caps (judging from the wear patterns I see, these are the older ones) and mixed case.

Sometime about 1990, the county took over responsibility for maintaining the signs, and gradually began replacing the dainty endemic Reston signs with small white-on-green signs (very bland) and blaringly large white-on-blue signs—a slightly lighter blue, more of a Dodger blue.

The increased legibility of the new blue signs does not compensate for the loss of character. The new signs are of a good scale at major intersections, when set high; but for side streets, they're just too darn big.

But there are a few neighborhoods where the older signs have escaped the maw of efficiency and uniformity, at least for now. The low-rise office parks around Isaac Newton Square have already undergone a wave of redevelopment. with taller buildings and a park and ride lot replacing older buildings.

In many of Reston's clusters, the street from the main road into the subdivision branches and forks into a T or a stirrup pattern (there is even a Stirrup Road off of Colts Neck Road). In these cases, the engineers erected street number locator signs at the junction. Left, a weathered sign on Escalante Court, and right, a somewhat more sheltered sign in the Charter Oak section off North Shore Drive.

posted: 5:25:16 PM