Sign of the times: DfT wants councils to check and remove unnecessary furniture as part of new guidelines
The Department of Transportation has told municipalities to tear down “unnecessary” road signs because they waste money and mar roads with useless furniture that confuses drivers.
New guidance provided by the department’s Traffic Signs Task Force called on local authorities to check signs in their areas and remove any they consider “outdated or unnecessary”.
In a report provided to the Times, the DfT group is directing councils to take a “less is more approach” to future installations and new rules on temporary signage.
The Road Sign Task Force said the current concentration of road signs was “ruining the landscape” of many towns and villages, as well as driving unnecessary costs to taxpayers.
This includes deadlines for temporary signs used to inform drivers of upcoming road works or detours.
Councils have been instructed to issue ‘removal by’ dates with all roadside signs left to ensure they are picked up as soon as the information is no longer needed.
In a document released to the authorities, the DfT group demanded that all red signs warning of a “new road layout ahead” be removed within three months of the road works being completed.
Yellow and black instructions warning of new asphalt and ongoing construction work in housing developments should also be issued no more than six months after the work is completed.
Additionally, brown tourist information notices will be narrowed down to only “major destinations” and will need to be placed within two to three miles of the location.
The task force also wants no more than two signs to appear on the same post, to avoid confusing motorists with too many messages and said councils should consider mounting them to walls, railings and lamp posts to use existing structures instead of adding more. mess along the way.
The brown tourist information notices will be narrowed down to “major destinations” only and will need to be placed within two to three miles of the location
These are just some of the “golden rules” the task force hopes will keep signage to an absolute minimum after a 2015 review revealed there were 4.6 million signs on our roads, double that of two decades ago.
The DfT report states: ‘The excessive use of road signs defaces the landscape, wastes taxpayers’ money and dilutes important safety-critical messages.
“Clutter also increases the risks for road workers and creates additional maintenance burdens.”
Councils have been instructed to issue ‘remove by’ dates with all signs left by the roadside to ensure they are picked up as soon as the information is no longer needed
While the new rules could help reduce the massive amount of roadside furniture, they could put drivers at a higher risk of getting caught speeding.
This is because the instructions also require that speed limit signs alerting motorists to a new limit should only be placed on the right side of the road rather than both sides.
And as new signs are erected, councils are told to eliminate any others that have become redundant if they no longer serve a purpose.
A DfT spokesman told the Times: ‘Road user safety is our top priority which is why we want to ensure that signage is clear and consistent.
“While local authorities are best placed to decide whether they want to remove, replace or install new signs, we provide guidelines to ensure they are easy to interpret and comply with regulations.”
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