New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 16 - TRANSPORTATION
Chapter 42 - SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
Subchapter 4 - GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS
Section 16:42-4.1 - General requirements for acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques

(a) All acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques shall comply with the provisions of the MUTCD.

(b) All acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques shall be placed as close to the site(s) being sponsored as possible.

(c) All acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques shall remain in place only for the duration of the sponsorship agreement.

(d) Acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques shall not display any directional information.

(e) Acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques shall not display telephone numbers, Internet addresses, or other legends designed for the purpose of contacting the sponsoring entity or to obtain information on the sponsorship program, such as, but not limited to, how to become a sponsor at an available site.

(f) Sponsorship includes the provision of highway-related services, products, or monetary payments that occurs through naming sponsorship (sometimes referred to as "naming rights") of officially mapped named or numbered highways. A naming sponsorship may be acknowledged in the highway right-of-way with an acknowledgment sign. However, an acknowledgment sign shall not display a legend that states, either explicitly or by implication, that the highway is named for the sponsor. Directional signs or signs on connecting roadways may not be used to indicate that a highway has been unofficially named to acknowledge a sponsoring entity.

(g) Acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques shall only take the form of static, non-changeable, non-electronic legends.

(h) With the exception of sponsorship of travel service programs that are not site-specific, such as 511 Traveler Information, Radio-Weather, Radio-Traffic, and Emergency Service Patrol, acknowledgment sign and acknowledgment plaque messages shall not be interspersed, combined, or alternated with other official traffic control messages, either in the same display space, by adjacency in the same assembly, or by adjacency of multiple assemblies whose longitudinal separation does not meet the placement criteria contained in the MUTCD, including when placed on opposite sides of the roadway facing the same direction of travel.

(i) Only roadside, post-mounted installations of acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques are allowed. Acknowledgment signs and acknowledgment plaques shall not be overhead installations.

(j) When a graphic logo is used to represent the sponsor, instead of a word legend using the Federal Highway Administration Standard Alphabets (as found in the MUTCD), the logo shall be the principal trademarked official logo that represents the corporate name of the sponsor. Secondary logos or representations, even if trademarked, copyrighted, or otherwise protected, are classified as promotional advertising and shall not be allowed.

(k) An alternative business name whose sole or primary purpose appears to circumvent the provisions of the MUTCD is classified as promotional advertising rather than an acknowledgment of a sponsoring entity of a highway-related service and shall not be allowed on any traffic control device or its supports.

(l) No acknowledgment sign or acknowledgment plaque that includes displays mimicking advertising shall be allowed.

A brief jurisdiction-wide slogan may be displayed on an acknowledgment sign. The slogan displayed shall be a program name, such as "ADOPT-A-HIGHWAY." Slogans for companion, supplementary, or other programs unrelated to the service being sponsored shall not be displayed on any acknowledgment sign or acknowledgment plaque.