00A The Freeway General Service (D9-18) sign (see Figure 2I-3) is for use on freeways to inform motorists about certain services conveniently accessible at exits.

00B The Freeway General Service shall have white letters, symbols, arrows, and borders on a blue background. Letter and numeral sizes shall comply with the minimum requirements of Tables 2E-1 through 2E-4.

00C The Freeway General Service sign shall carry the symbols for one or more of the following services only: Food (D9-8), Gas (D9-7), Diesel Fuel (D9-11), Alternative Fuel — Compressed Natural Gas (D9-11a), Electric Vehicle Charging (D9-11b), Alternative Fuel — Ethanol (D9-11c), Propane Gas (D9-15), Lodging (D9-9), Tent Camping (D9-3), Trailer Camping (D9-3a), Telephone (D9-1), Hospital (D9-2), or Tourist Information (D9-10) (see Section 2D.45).

00D Only symbols shall be permitted on the Freeway General Service sign. The D9-18a and D9-18c signs shall not be used in New York.

00E For numbered interchanges, the exit number may be incorporated within the sign legend (D9-18b) or displayed on an Exit Number (E1-5P) plaque (see Section 2E.31).

00F The Freeway General Service sign should be used where the overall public interest is better served by omitting brand and facility names. Where the public interest would be better served by including such information, Specific Service signs (see Chapter 2J) should be used instead.

00G Freeway General Service signs should be limited to areas which are rural in character. They should not be used in urbanized areas where the availability of motorist services is evident or may reasonably be assumed.

00H Freeway General Service signs should not be used on approaches to interchanges with other freeways, on approaches involving lane drops, or on approaches where diagrammatic Advance Guide signs (see Section 2E.33) are used. They should also not be used where it would be inconvenient for motorists leaving the freeway to re-enter to resume their travel.

00I Freeway General Service signs should only be used where necessary General Service symbol signs are in place on the exit ramp, and at subsequent locations where traffic must turn to reach the particular services.

00J Where Tourist-Oriented Directional signs (see Chapter 2K) provide guidance at locations where turns are necessary, the follow-up General Service Symbol signs may be omitted.

00K Ramp signs are usually not necessary at double-exit interchanges. They are also generally not needed at single-exit interchanges for businesses which are readily visible from the ramp terminal.

00L No more than six services, including any appended panels, shall be displayed on one Freeway General Service sign.

00M The qualified services available shall be shown at specific locations on the Freeway General Service sign. To provide flexibility for the future, when the service might become available, the sign space normally reserved for a given service symbol shall be left blank when that service is not present.

00N Symbols for businesses which are operated on a seasonal basis shall be removed or covered when the businesses are closed.

00O The symbols on a Freeway General Service sign should be displayed as follows:

00P Signing for Diesel Fuel, Propane Gas, or other alternative fuel services may be substituted for any of the general services or appended to such signs. The International Symbol of Accessibility for the Handicapped (D9-6) sign may be used for facilities that qualify.

00Q Substitutions of other services for any of the services shown above may be made by placing the substitution in the lower right (four or six services) or extreme right (three services) portion of the sign panel. An action message or an interchange number may be used for symbol signs in the same manner as they are used for word message signs. The Diesel Fuel symbol or the Propane Gas symbol may be substituted for the symbol representing fuel or appended to such assemblies. The Tourist Information sign may be substituted on any of the above configurations.

00R At rural interchange areas where limited road user services are available and where it is unlikely that additional services will be provided within the near future, a supplemental plaque displaying one to three services may be appended below a post-mounted interchange guide sign.

00S If more than three services become available at rural interchange areas where limited road user services were anticipated, the appended sign plaque described in Paragraph 00R shall be removed and replaced with an independently mounted General Service sign as described in this Section.

00T A separate Telephone sign may be installed if telephone facilities are located adjacent to the route at places where public telephones would not normally be expected. The Recreational Vehicle Sanitary Station (D9-12) sign may be used as needed to indicate the availability of facilities designed for dumping wastes from recreational vehicle holding tanks. In some locations, signs may be used to indicate that services are not available.

00U To be eligible for a Freeway General Service sign, businesses or facilities should meet the requirement set forth for Specific Service signs (see Chapter 2J) and General Service signs (see Section 2I.02).

00V The eligibility requirements for a particular type of service may be satisfied by a single business or facility, or jointly by two or more businesses or facilities in reasonably close proximity.

00W Where eligibility for signing involves more than one business or facility, all shall be within the specified travel distance limit from the exit gore, and guidance to all shall involve the same General Service symbol sign on the exit ramp and at all subsequent locations.

00X Only one Freeway General Service sign shall be used in each travel direction at a single-exit interchange. The number of Freeway General Service signs per travel direction approaching a double-exit interchange shall be limited to one for each exit.

00Y Where the services associated with each exit of a double-exit interchange are identical, one Freeway General Service sign, covering both exits, may be used.

00Z If the distance to the next point where services are available is greater than 10 miles, a NEXT SERVICES XX MILES (D9-17P) plaque (see Figure 2I-2) may be installed below the Exit Direction sign (see Section 2E.36).

00AA Where used at a numbered interchange, the Freeway General Service sign shall be supplemented with the interchange number, as illustrated in Figure 2I-3.

00BB Where used at an unnumbered interchange, the Freeway General Service sign shall be supplemented with an action message such as NEXT EXIT or SECOND RIGHT, as illustrated in Figure 2I-3.

00CC Symbols on the Freeway General Service sign shall be identical in design and meaning to those used on General Service symbol signs (see Section 2I.02).

00DD Symbols on the Freeway General Service signs should be 18 inches high or 18 inches wide, as appropriate. They should be arranged so that the horizontal spaces between them are uniform. The Gas and Diesel Fuel symbols should not ordinarily be displayed together on the Freeway General Service sign. Also, the Trailer Camping and Tent Camping symbols should not ordinarily be displayed together.

00EE The Gas and Diesel Fuel symbols, or both the Trailer Camping and Tent Camping symbols, may be included where it is deemed in the public interest to do so.

00FF The Freeway General Service sign should be placed at least 800 feet from any other guide sign.

00GG At a single-exit interchange, the Freeway General Service sign should be placed between the Advance Guide sign and the Exit Direction sign. If more than one Advance Guide sign is used, the Freeway General Service sign should be placed after the last one.

00HH Where a Supplemental Guide sign (see Section 2E.35) is used, the Freeway General Service sign should be placed to follow it. Where a NYI9-5 or NYI9-10 ATTRACTION sign (see Chapter 2J) is used, the Freeway General Service sign should be placed to follow it.

00II Where two Freeway General Service signs are used at a double-exit interchange, the signs for both exits shall be placed at the same location. The Freeway General Service sign for the first exit to be encountered shall be placed immediately above the Freeway General Service sign for the second exit.

00JJ The Freeway General Service signs for double-exit interchanges should be positioned between the Advance Guide sign and the Exit Direction sign for the first exit. If more than one Advance Guide sign is used, the Freeway General Service signs should be placed after the last one. Where a Supplemental Guide sign is used, the Freeway General Service signs should be placed to follow it. Where NYI9-5 or NYI9-10 ATTRACTION signs are used, the Freeway General Service signs should be placed after them.

00KK Where only one Freeway General Service sign is used at a double-exit interchange, it should be positioned between the Advance Guide sign and the Exit Direction sign for the first exit. If more than one Advance Guide sign is used, the Freeway General Service sign should be placed after the last one. Where a Supplemental Guide sign is used, the Freeway General Service sign should be placed to follow it. Where NYI9-5 or NYI9-10 ATTRACTION signs are used, the Freeway General Service sign should be placed after them.

00LL The Freeway General Service sign may be supplemented with a Truck Parking (D9-16) General Service sign to indicate the availability of truck parking at a nearby service area if the criteria listed in Section 2I.02 are met.

00MM Where a Truck Parking sign is used in conjunction with the Freeway General Service sign, the Truck Parking sign should be placed immediately beneath, and centered horizontally on, the Freeway General Service sign.

00NN The Truck Parking sign may be placed at a height which is less than that required by Section 2A.18.