What a UK metric road signs changeover could look like

We have explained the need to go metric, to have metric road signs, and have given many examples of what metric road signs would look like. I also believe metrication is a good time to have a look at signage improvements including clutter removal.  I do not plan on going into too much detail about the changeover, as metrication and road signs have been rather overdone (on this blog). But I do intend on looking at the key points.

Could sign colours (motorway, primary route, local route, roadworks) be standardised?

Anyone who has driven through Europe will have noticed that the road sign colours are not uniform for motorways, primary routes, non-primary / local routes, and roadworks signs. The differences are explained in more detail here. Could the colours for these signs be standardised in Europe, if not worldwide? Even though there is no safety issue from leaving things as they are, the purpose of this article is to start a discussion.

More thoughts on tunnel signage and tunnel safety

In this article, I give more thoughts on tunnel signage as well as tunnel safety.  For me, metrication is a big must, and the only thing really needed, as well as ensuring the signs are as clutter free as possible, and which respect international standards, specifically SI (metric system) and the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals.

More signage suggestions and why the UK should properly implement the Vienna Convention

In my previous articles, I have given my thoughts and ideas on possible signage improvements, the aim being to remove clutter and make the signs clearer, more symbolic, and language independent, as well as what British metric signage might (and in my opinion should) look like. This is because metrication and the conversion to 24 hour time would be an ideal time to rationalise road signs, not to do so would be a missed opportunity. But I also believe strongly that the UK should implement properly the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals that the UK already signed up to.

In this article, I give more signage suggestions that (hopefully) are compliant to the Vienna Convention, and that respects the standards including SI, and using 24 hour time format.

No overtaking signage: Metrication and other suggestions

In this article I share my thoughts on "No overtaking signage".  Not much needs to be done, except for metrication, making the supplementary plates more symbolic, and given the sign means no overtaking already, then perhaps remove the supplementary plate "No overtaking" (and thus eliminate the need to translate for bilingual signs too).

Suggestions for crawler lane signage

In this article, I will share with you the thoughts I have had on crawler lane signage, in particular how crawler lane signage can be made language independent. This article shows three different approaches, one is to modify the existing sign and graphic of the crawler lane sign, or alternatively one can use speed limit by lane, or mass limit by lane (and the lane without the speed limit or mass limit would be the crawler lane by implication).

These suggestions are described and illustrated in more detail in this article.

Signage improvements: Turn signs for One Way and Dual Carriageways revisited

Following the feedback and comments I have received on a previous article, "Signage improvements for mandatory direction and turn signs", and having thought about this some more, I have had some more thoughts and alternative ideas for the turn signs, one way roads, and dual carriageways.

Motorroads / Expressroads / Expressways 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.

Signage improvements: Diversion and advisory routes

This article suggests changes (and new signage) to modify and improve diversion and advisory route signage, by making them wholly symbolic and language independent as well as metric, which can benefit safety by making the signs easier to read at a glance.  Of course the bare minimum is to leave the designs as is and just metricate. 

I believe however that we can do better, and make the signage more symbolic at the same time, where applicable.  As with all the previous articles in the "Signage improvements" series, examples are given in this article as well. Also stated in this article is where changes are not required, for example recommended lorry routes, many diversion signs, and many signs showing routes avoiding restrictions (such as no left turn), do not require change.

Signage improvements for mandatory direction and turn signs

This article suggests improvements to mandatory direction signs, for example mandatory left or right turn, mandatory straight ahead, keep left, keep right.

One of the improvements suggested, which should be done, is to remove all supplementary plates e.g. "One way" or "Dual carriageway". They really are unnecessary and just add clutter, they look unnecessary and add clutter.

The other improvement suggested is to suggest new signs to prescribe: Mandatory left or right turn (you cannot go straight ahead), mandatory straight or left turn (i.e. no right turn), mandatory straight or right turn (i.e. no left turn). These would not replace existing no left turn or no right turn signs. Similar filter arrows for traffic lights could also be considered in future.

Examples to illustrate are shown in this article.

Suggested new signs for the UK: Mandatory minimum following distance

This is one of many quick articles to show some suggested new signs. The minimum following distance for vehicles are shown in this article. Typically whenever mandatory following distances would be shown, they would always have to be much longer than the typical stopping distance at a certain speed.

For instance, in the Fréjus Road Tunnel, the minimum following distance is 150m and the speed limit is 70km/h. By contrast, in dry conditions, the typical stopping distance in dry conditions is approximately 57m when a vehicle is travelling at 70km/h.

The two suggested new signs are shown in this article: Mandatory minimum following distance, and mandatory minimum following distance for LGVs over 3.5t.

Signage improvements: Traffic calming, warning of pedestrians

In this article, we look at signage improvements for traffic calming, including give way to oncoming traffic, priority over oncoming traffic, and humps . Also shown in this article are improvements to signs warning of pedestrians, including making the graphic for zebra crosssing actually look like a zebra crossing among other things.

In general, the improvements shown here (as in our other signage improvement articles) are to metricate, and either remove wordy supplementary plates, or to replace wordy supplementary plates with symbolic supplementary plates.

Signage improvements: Give Way and Stop signs

This article focuses on improvements to Give Way and Stop signs, specifically to approach signs.  The Stop sign itself does not need to change, and the approach to stop only needs metrication which alone will make it easier to understand.  The Give Way sign will benefit from not only metrication but being made wholly symbolic (by removing the words Give Way), after all an inverted red triangle always means Give Way and does not need to be translated (for example in Wales).  Example signs to illustrate are shown in this article.

Signage improvements: Cycle, bus, tram, and car sharing lanes

In this article, signage improvements are suggested for cycle lanes, bus lanes, and car sharing lanes which are also known as carpool lanes and officially known as High Occupancy Vehicle lanes (HOVs).  As well as metricating the signs and making times 24 hour (which are the most important), improvements which make the signs clearer are also shown, and some new signs are suggested.

Example signs are shown in this article.

Signage improvements: Motorway and service signs

Further to our previous article showing the metrication of distance signage (including motorway and services signs). The most important thing is to metricate all applicable signs. This article will show how motorway signs can be improved further, by replacing wholly worded signs with their symbolic equivalents, and improvements to services signs (including space efficiency and removal of unnecessary wording).

Example images are shown in this article.

Metrication and improvement of road works signs

In this article, we look at road works signs. The most important thing is to make the road signs metric, as part of a general road signs metrication programme. As well as this, there are many improvements that can be made to the road works signs, including getting rid of superfluous words and supplementary plates, and in making the signs clearer in general, and examples to illustrate these improvements are shown in this article.

Signage improvements: Pedestrian Zones, Home Zones, and Quiet Lanes

In this article, we look at more ways of reducing road sign clutter, in this case eliminating unnecessary wording on signs for pedestrian zones, home zones, and quiet lanes.

Signage improvements: No stopping and no waiting

Following on from the previous article regarding decluttering parking signs, this article suggests improvements to no stopping and no waiting (also known as no parking) signs. There are many no stopping and no waiting signs which have unnecessary wording, and more importantly use 12-hour time and non-metric measures which have to be converted.

Signage Improvements: Decluttering parking signs

This article is another signage improvement suggestions article, in which we focus on parking signs.  Parking signs are good in the UK in that they are mostly symbolic, and generally conform to international norms.  However, there are some problems including that non-metric measurements and 12 hour time are used, there are lots of wordy signs, and some of the parking signs can be very cluttered as a result, especially in urban areas.

Restriction signs and depth indicators

Following on from the previous article "Supplementary plates for warning and restriction signs", this article looks at restriction signs and depth indicators, which needs to be converted to metric-only.  This article gives examples of metric-only signs for height restrictions, width restrictions, and length restrictions signs, signs warning of restrictions ahead, and correcting the symbol on the already metric weight restriction signs.  In addition to this, an example of a metric-only depth indicator is shown.