In the interest of legibility and turning a fresh face, about 250,000 of New York City’s street signs will soon be getting an interesting “typeface lift:” the all-caps Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) series font, casually known as Highway Gothic, will soon be replaced with upper case and lower case street signs using Clearview, a typeface created by designers Donald Meeker and James Montalbano. See below.

According to New York City Department of Transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, the new typeface was chosen for its “crisp, clean design,” while reports from the FHWA indicate that using Clearview yields slightly better readibility especially when both upper case and lower case letters are printed on reflective surfaces.

Images via The New York Times