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Government taskforce set up to tackle 'ghastly blight' of road signs Government taskforce set up to tackle 'ghastly blight' of road signs
(34 minutes later)
The number of signs dotting Britain’s roadsides is due to fall as the government promised to end the “ghastly blight” of gratuitous road signs. The number of signs dotting Britain’s roadsides is due to fall as the government promised to end the “ghastly blight” of gratuitous road signs. Promising to tackle street clutter and cut red tape, the Department for Transport has set up a traffic signs reduction taskforce, headed by Alan Duncan, to advise on cutting the worst examples. It has also proposed measures including remove-by dates on temporary signs, and a clampdown on logos and advertising on road signs.
Promising to tackle street clutter and cut red tape, the Department for Transport has set up a traffic signs reduction taskforce, headed by Alan Duncan, to advise on cutting the worst examples. Research conducted by the department in 2013 showed that the number of traffic signs had doubled in two decades. It believes that many of the signs are redundant and can confuse drivers, as well as blocking space for pedestrians.
It has also proposed measures including remove-by dates on temporary signs, and clamping down on logos and advertising on road signs. The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said: “Useless traffic signs blight our landscape, waste taxpayers’ cash, and can be a dangerous distraction to drivers. We are restoring common sense to Britain’s roads while ensuring drivers have the information they need to get about safely. We have already made much progress, but Sir Alan Duncan’s new taskforce is an important step towards striking the right balance.”
Research conducted by the department in 2013 showed that the number of traffic signs had doubled in the past two decades. It believes that many of the signs are redundant and can confuse drivers, as well as blocking space for pedestrians. Duncan, a Conservative MP and longstanding campaigner, who claimed that “our streetscape has become a disgusting expression of bureaucratic excess”, will lead the taskforce with the assistance of departmental officials. It is expected to make practical suggestions for removing clutter and eliminating certain signs altogether, as well as attempting to change a perceived culture of oversignage in local authorities.
The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said: “Useless traffic signs blight our landscape, waste taxpayers’ cash and can be a dangerous distraction to drivers. We are restoring common sense to Britain’s roads while ensuring drivers have the information they need to get about safely. We have already made much progress, but Sir Alan Duncan’s new taskforce is an important step towards striking the right balance.” Duncan, who cut his teeth in the John Major government, said he was delighted to lead this latest initiative. He said: “The UK has erected thousands of road signs that are completely unnecessary, such as traffic light warning signs when you can see the lights themselves. We are going to look at how we might get rid of whole categories of unnecessary signs and improve the look of our roads and streets.
Duncan, a Conservative MP and longstanding campaigner, who claimed that “our streetscape has become a disgusting expression of bureaucratic excess”, will lead the taskforce with the assistance of departmental officials. “Why have these box-camera signs? Or traffic light signs when you can see one ahead? It’s ghastly overengineering and aesthetic blight. This is a project to make highways engineeers do their jobs properly. They leave rubbish there and just humour anyone who says tidy it up.”
It is expected to make practical suggestions for removing clutter and eliminating certain signs altogether, as well as attempting to change a perceived culture of over-signage in local authorities. Stephen Glaister, emeritus professor of transport at Imperial College, said: “The aesthetics of roads have been neglected, and I do welcome any initiative to make things look better. But there’s no doubt users want clarity – and it is a problem when they get obscured and difficult to read. Some signage is safety or directions, some is advisory and some is advertising, and that clearly has be controlled. But it’s not a straightforward field to get the balance right.”
Duncan, who cut his teeth in the John Major government, said he was delighted to lead this latest initiative. Glaister warned that cuts were also playing a part in confusing drivers: “There’s an issue on local authority roads of being short of cash to do maintenance, so signs get left, or covered up by vegetation, and in better-financed times would be cleared.”
He said: “The UK has erected thousands of road signs that are completely unnecessary, such as traffic light warning signs when you can see the lights themselves. We are going to look at how we might get rid of whole categories of unnecessary signs and improve the look of our roads and streets.
“Why have these box-camera signs? Or traffic light signs when you can see one ahead? It’s ghastly over-engineering and aesthetic blight. This is a project to make highways engineeers do their jobs properly. They leave rubbish there and just humour anyone who says tidy it up.”
Stephen Glaister, emeritus professor of transport at Imperial College, said: “The aesthetics of roads have been neglected and I do welcome any initiative to make things look better. But there’s no doubt users want clarity – and it is a problem when they get obscured and difficult to read.
“Some signage is safety or directions, some is advisory and some is advertising, and that clearly has be controlled. But it’s not a straightforward field to get the balance right.”
Glaister warned that cuts were also playing a part in confusing drivers: “There’s an issue on local authortity roads of being short of cash to do maintenance, so signs get left, or covered up by vegetation, and in better financed times would be cleared.”
The transport department said some regulations around signs had been relaxed to help local authorities declutter roads.The transport department said some regulations around signs had been relaxed to help local authorities declutter roads.