Warning signs
No Outlet sign
The street or network of streets ahead has no through connection to another road, even though it may branch and wind for some distance first. Everyone on it eventually has to turn back.
- Diamond
- Yellow
- MUTCD W14-2
Shape and background first
Federal designation W14-2 in the MUTCD, the national standard every state signs to. Common at the entrance to residential subdivisions built around loops and cul de sacs that never connect back to a through road.
What the MUTCD specifies
Designation: W14-2
MUTCD Section 2C.24
Conventional road size: 30 x 30 in
Source: Federal Highway Administration, MUTCD 11th Edition (December 2023), Part 2, Table 2C-1, verified 2026-09-26.
What the test wants you to know
The mistake people make
The distinction from Dead End is scope: No Outlet warns that a whole network of connected streets, loops and cul de sacs ahead all fail to reconnect to a through road, not just the one street you are on. Read it as information about the layout ahead, not as an instruction to stop where the sign stands.
The sign people confuse it with
No Outlet gets mixed up with Dead End more than any other pairing in this category. Put them side by side and the difference is obvious, which is exactly why it is worth doing once rather than meeting them cold in the exam.
No Outlet
The street or network of streets ahead has no through connection to another road, even though it may branch and wind for some distance first.
Dead End
The road ahead terminates with no through connection.
