Motorroads / Expressroads and making Dual carriageway ahead symbolic

Following feedback received for "Improvements for UK speed related signs", especially for the Motorroad / Expressroad part, and having had more thoughts about this topic, I decided to revisit Motorroads / Expressroads. And on a loosely related note, I also believe that all of the wordy "Dual carriageway ahead" signs should be replaced with symbolic equivalents, whether or not the dual carriageway in question is a motorroad / expressroad.

Motorroads / Expressroads

To recap, for dual carriageways with motorroad / expressroad regulations, the following regulations would apply:

• Minimum speed limit 60km/h (no mopeds less than 50cm3 engine capacity)
• No cyclists, pedestrians, tractors / agricultural vehicles, or horse riders.
• Default speed limit the same as that for dual carriageways without motorroad / expressroad regulations, unless overriden by posted speed limits.
• No U-turns or reversing.

In other words, motorroads / expressroads would be motorway-like.  Unlike motorways, I think there could be a case for allowing learner drivers on motorroads / expressroads - after all they are allowed on dual carriageways.  But that is only if this is practised where motorroads / expressroads are already in use elsewhere.

Dual carriageways which already prohibit cycles, pedestrians, horse riders, stopping and U-turns (or at least 3 from this list), should definitely be converted to motorroads / expressroads.

I also think that dual carriageways which already prohibit cycles or U-turns (as a possible minimum) should be considered candidates for conversion to motorroads / expressroads on a case by case basis.

Start of motorroad / expressroad regulations.

End of motorroad / expressroad regulations.

Motorroad / expressroad regulations 1500m ahead.

Below is an illustration of how "start of motorroad / expressroad regulations" can replace no less than at least 4 signs:

Single Motorroad / Expressroad sign replaces no less than 5 signs.

Single Motorroad / Expressroad sign replaces no less than 4 signs.

Single Motorroad / Expressroad sign replaces no less than 4 signs.

Note that the above examples were for standalone start of "motorroad / expressroad regulations" sign, which I would definitely recommend introducing.

Of course, normally, the start of motorroad / expressroad regulations would include the route number.  Examples of "start of motorroad / expressroad regulations" with the route number, designed like motorway signs but with the motorroad colours as blue, are shown below:

Start of motorroad / expressroad regulations, on the A329 (non-primary route).

Start of motorroad / expressroad regulations, on the A33 (primary route).

Some alternative designs for start of motorroad / expressroad regulations non-primary and primary routes are shown below, with route number plate included:

Start of motorroad / expressroad regulations, on the A329 (non-primary route).
Alternative designs.

Start of motorroad / expressroad regulations, on the A33 (primary route).
Alternative designs.

Note that in the designs above, the colour blue has been used for the motorroad / expressroad symbol. In Europe, it the colour for the expressroads always matches motorway colours (so it's blue in much of Europe, but green in Italy and Switzerland for example), regardless of the colour of primary routes and local routes.

It is worth considering, as Alexander has suggested, having the expressroad symbol reflect the road classification. This would definitely make it neater on direction signs, as well as on the "start of expressroad regulations" signs. It also seems more logical to reflect the road classification colours too.

Standalone entry signs and exit signs:

Start of motorroad / expressroads regulations reflecting route classification:
Start of expressroad regulations on a primary route (left)
Start of expressroad regulations on a non-primary route (right)

End of motorroad / expressroads regulations reflecting route classification:
End of motorroad / expressroad regulations on a primary route (left)
End of motorroad / expressroad regulations on a non-primary route (right)

For the primary route, the expressroad regulation signs which also incorporate route numbers could look as shown below:

Start of expressroad regulations on a non-primary route.
The expressroad / motorroad colour reflects the route classification.

Start of expressroad regulations on a primary route.
The expressroad / motorroad colour reflects the route classification.

An alternative is including a border around the car symbols, this way one can distinguish "motorroad / expressroad" from "motor vehicles" (as used in no motor vehicles), especially for non-primary routes:

Start of motorroad / expressroad regulations on a
non-primary route (border included around pictogram).
The colour reflects the route classification.

Start of expressroad regulations on a
primary route (border included around pictogram).
The colour reflects the route classification.

Thank you Kevin Steinhardt and Alexander for your feedback in the "Improvements for UK speed related signs" article (especially the motorroad / expressroad part), and also for your suggestions for what this type of dual carriageway can be called (motorroad and expressroad respectively), I have not made a decision either way which one to go for, both are equally good for me. And also thank you Alexander for your suggestion that expressroad symbol colours should reflect the road classification colours.

Dual carriageways which are not motorroads / expressroads

For dual carriageways which are not motorroad / expressroads (specifically without the start of motorroad / expressroad regulation signs), cyclists should continue to be permitted, as should tractors and other agricultural vehicles, horse riders, and anyone or any vehicle allowed to use dual carriageways today.

Replacement of "Dual carriageway ahead" signs with symbolic equivalents

Signs which say "Dual carriageway (distance) ahead" should definitely be metricated. But we can do better, because these signs, along with "Dual carriageway ahead" should be made symbolic as well. There is no reason to have language specific text here when language independent graphics and symbols are easier to read and don't require translation. Only primary routes and non-primary routes are affected.

An example conversion for a primary route is shown below:

Replacement for "Dual carriageway ahead" with a symbolic equivalent, for a primary route.

Another example for a primary route is shown below, for a dual carriageway 3000m ahead:

Dual carriageway 3000m ahead (primary route), before and after conversion.

Examples for non-primary routes are shown below, for two different types of dual carriageway:

Dual carriageway ahead (non-primary route), before and after conversion.

And an example conversion of dual carriageway for 800m, symbolic and language independent of course, is shown below:

Dual carriageway for 800m (non-primary route), before and after conversion.

As we can see, the dual carriageway ahead signs can be replaced by symbolic equivalents.  Although the wholly symbolic versions would be bigger (which I believe could be inevitable), they would be clearer, easier to see at a glance and at a distance, not need to be read, and not require translation.

Of course, if we are on a single carriageway where there is a dual carriageway a certain distance ahead, and the dual carriageway starts immediately after a roundabout (in a rural area). I think in this case, if the dual carriageway immediately after the roundabout is also a motorroad / expressroad, then one can use a "Motorroad / Expressroad 1500m" (as shown earlier) in stead of "Dual carriageway 1 mile ahead", and then have a "Motorroad / Expressroad" sign at the start itself. If the dual carriageway after the roundabout does not have motorroad/expressroad regulations as well, either the sign could be removed if possible, or a graphical equivalent can be used (I think it is better to use the graphical equivalent).