Many of Vermont's state-numbered highways retain their numbers from when they were part of the New England road marking system of the 1920s; for instance, VT 9 was part of Route 9 of the New England system.

The circular highway shield continues to be used for locally maintained routes.

Recent guide sign replacement projects along Vermont's Interstate Highways include the newer green shields to indicate Vermont state routes, as the older guide signs used the circular shield.

[3] The VTrans report to the legislature in 2012 appeared to disagree, stating that the goal of 25% in poor condition had been met.

[3] The Burlington Free Press conducted a survey on 11% of the roads and found that signage was inadequate, often not warning drivers of dangerous curves; striping was inadequate, having been scraped off by winter snowplowing.

These roads are maintained by the state but are not assigned signed route numbers.