Business Route - Marking

Marking

Signage of business routes varies, depending on the type of route it is derived from. Business routes paralleling U.S. and state highways usually have exactly the same shield shapes and nearly the same overall appearance as the routes they parallel, with a rectangular plate reading "BUSINESS" placed above the shield (either supplementing or replacing the directional plate, depending on the preference of the road agency). In order to better identify and differentiate alternate routes from the routes they parallel, some states such as Maryland are beginning to use green shields for business routes off U.S. highways. In addition, Maryland uses a green shield for business routes off state highways with the word "BUSINESS" in place of "MARYLAND" is used for a state route.

Business Interstate highways use the same four-pointed shield design as regular Interstate highways, but substitute the normal red and blue layout with an all-green color scheme. Also, BUSINESS appears at the top of the shield instead of INTERSTATE, and either LOOP or SPUR may appear above the number.

On maps, business routes are typically denoted with a standard marker containing the route number and the abbreviation "BUS" (e.g. "BUS 81" inside a U.S. route shield for Business US 81). For Interstate business routes, an indication of whether the route is a business loop or business spur may be included (such as printing "LOOP 44" inside an interstate marker). MDOT's official Michigan maps denote business Interstate routes with green shields similar to business interstate signage.