Route signs — Missouri Permit Test

The shape of a route sign indicates the type of roadway: interstate, United States, state, or county.

Four kinds of road, four shapes. It is how a map and a roadside sign agree with one another.

The shape of route signs indicates the type of roadway: interstate, United States, state, or county.

North-south routes are identified by odd numbers and east-west roads by even numbers.

The number tells you which way the road runs before you have driven a mile of it.

North-south routes are identified by odd numbers. East-west roads are identified by even numbers.

An interstate that loops around a city carries a three-digit number beginning with an even digit.

A loop returns you to the road you left, so its number begins evenly. A spur does not, so it does not.

Interstate highways that loop around cities are identified by three-digit numbers which begin with an even digit

A spur that directs traffic into a city's road system carries a three-digit number beginning with an odd digit.

The odd first digit is the clue that this road ends in the city rather than passing round it.

Roadways that direct traffic into a city’s road system (called “spurs”) are identified by three-digit numbers which begin with an odd digit

On interstates running west to east, exit numbers start at zero at the west and increase as you drive east.

Exit numbers are a distance, not a count. Knowing which way they run tells you how far you have to go.

exit numbers start at zero and increase as you drive east

On interstates running north to south, exits are numbered beginning at the south point and increasing north.

Same rule, turned ninety degrees. South and west are always where the counting starts.

Interstates that travel north/south have their exits numbered beginning at the south point and increasing north.

Emergency reference markers are mile markers placed along the outside shoulder, and they are located every two-tenths of a mile so motorists are always in sight of one.

In an emergency the marker is how you tell somebody where you are on a road that all looks the same.

The reference markers are located every two-tenths of a mile, so motorists will always be in sight of a sign.

Emergency reference markers tell the direction of travel and the route number.

Two facts, and between them they place you exactly on the interstate system.

They tell the direction of travel and route number.

What does the shape of a route sign indicate?

The type of roadway. Four kinds of road, four shapes. It is how a map and a roadside sign agree with one another. Missouri Driver Guide, p.54: “The shape of route signs indicates the type of roadway: interstate, United States, state, or county.”