Archived decisions

1. Summary

1.1 The issue of road signing, and its effect on the rural environment in particular, is of increasing concern to a number of Members and also to other local representatives. It has been raised recently by the Petersfield Society and the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) in relation to signs in the east of the county, and over a number of years by the New Forest Committee. There is clearly a conflict between the need for signs and road markings which regulate, warn and direct drivers and the adverse impact on the surroundings in which they are placed.

1.2 This report reviews the conflicting pressures and outlines various strategies to achieve an acceptable balance, whilst recognising that each location has its own separate characteristics and must therefore be treated accordingly. The matter of resources to improve the current situation is addressed and consideration is given to potential new traffic management proposals which should be sensitively designed so as not to add unnecessarily to the environmental disbenefits.

2. Introduction

2.1 Road signing is an integral part of any modern highway and the County Council, as the highway authority, has statutory responsibilities for signing provision in connection with regulating traffic and promoting highway safety. As vehicle ownership increases and new developments generate greater volumes of traffic, the need to manage and control vehicular movement over a large part of the highway network becomes increasingly apparent. Rural communities, sometimes on relatively minor country roads, report real local concern about the environmental impact of speeding traffic or heavy goods vehicles and seek assistance from the County Council for the introduction of village speed limits and environmental weight limits.

2.2 More traffic inevitably leads to greater potential conflict, particularly where speeds are too high for the conditions or where the road layout itself is restricted or difficult to determine for the unwary driver. In most cases changing the road layout is neither practicable nor desirable and the solution lies in the introduction of targeted accident remedial schemes which often make use of conspicuous signing and produce significant benefits in terms of accident savings for very modest costs. Such programmes and the casualty reduction benefits arising from them are reported upon annually in the County Council's Road Safety Plan and Report.

2.3 Changes in Government regulations also have a major impact, recent examples being the de-regulation of brown tourist signing and the granting of powers to parish councils to finance traffic calming schemes in their areas. All these issues have a direct and significant influence on the highways infrastructure in terms of a greater potential for sign proliferation. The question to be addressed therefore is whether an appropriate balance is being achieved between the adverse environmental impact of traffic itself and the adverse visual effect of the signs that are used to control it.

3. Legal Background

3.1 The primary documents relating to the provision of highway signing throughout the United Kingdom are the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1994 (TSRGD) and the associated published chapters of the Traffic Signs Manual. All signs used on the highway must either conform with the regulations or be specially authorised by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, otherwise they constitute an illegal obstruction. A discussion on the use of regulatory, warning and direction signs in Hampshire, together with examples, is contained in the following paragraphs.

3.2 White and yellow line road markings are also defined in these regulations, but in addition the use of various surface treatments which act as warning signs are covered in general terms by the Traffic Calming Regulations 1993. Reference will also be made to these where appropriate.

4. Regulatory Signing

4.1 Regulatory signing is used to give effect to a Traffic Regulation Order and as such must conform with the TSRGD and other requirements relevant to the particular type of Order. If the signing is deficient, the Order will not be enforceable and will quickly fall into disrepute. However, with regard to the placing of regulatory signs there is usually some discretion within the regulations to allow for local circumstances and it is general practice to minimise the number and size of the signs used, provided the message to the driver is clear and unequivocal. This general approach also applies to the illumination of signs where only those signs that are required to be lit by the regulations are provided with lighting units.

4.2 Speed limits are a particularly topical subject with 85 new schemes introduced in the last two and a half years, many of which were in rural villages. At one time, speed limits were permitted only as an accident remedial measure but, having recognised the environmental and community benefits of slower traffic, parish councils continue to press for such measures. However, speed limits have to be signed, not only with terminal signs but also with repeater plates, unless the limit is 30 miles per hour (mph) in a street-lit area. Furthermore, in order to make the terminal signs more conspicuous and therefore more effective, they are often supplemented by yellow backing boards and in some cases, road surface treatments and other street furniture. These `gateway' installations are currently popular with parish councils and rural communities, and a number are actively pursuing them in partnership with the County Council and with a commitment to parish funding under the Local Government Act 1997.

4.3 The nett result of these initiatives is the perception by some members of the community of an increasing urbanisation of rural villages to a point where fundamental questions of the type posed in paragraph 2.3 are being asked. To mitigate this, the approach that has been developed is to work closely with parish councils and local Members in agreeing the magnitude and impact of speeding traffic before embarking on a speed limit scheme. There is a current example in Easton near Winchester where parish council representatives are reconsidering their request for a village speed limit in the light of monitoring information given to them. In cases where there is an agreed need for a scheme to go ahead, signing will normally conform to the minimum requirements and will only be enhanced where there is an overriding safety need or where the parish council has been closely involved and may be contributing to the costs.

4.4 A related but separate issue of particular concern to rural communities is the impact of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on unsuitable country lanes. A number of 7.5 tonne zone restrictions have been introduced, notably in the New Forest area and in East Hampshire, but the signing at each entry point to the zones, together with advisory lorry route signing on the approaches, has attracted much criticism. Under current regulations there is no alternative to the signing requirements, particularly as an exemption for local access is usually required, and therefore before pursuing such a scheme it is essential to establish and agree the scale of the perceived problem. In this respect, the current policy of requiring a working day minimum of 20 through trips by HGVs to justify a scheme has been successful in limiting extensive proposals and dealing with parish council concerns.

4.5 One area of existing regulatory signing which would benefit from a review is that of clearways which involve a large number of signs in rural areas. Many of these pre-date the motorway system and were introduced to safeguard the movement of traffic on the former main road network. In terms of their traffic function most are still `A' class roads but many could be considered for a revocation of the clearway orders. It is proposed that such a review should be undertaken as soon as is practicable, with the aim of rationalising the current system and removing redundant signing.

4.6 Waiting restrictions and their attendant road markings and signs are less of an issue in the countryside, although they are increasingly called for in some market towns and villages. Much is already being done to lessen the visual impact of the signing by seeking permission to attach sign plates to walls and buildings rather than mounting them separately on posts. Also, the practice of using narrow, primrose lines has long been established to harmonise more readily with the rural environment. Fundamentally, the current policy is to resist restrictions of this type away from the main towns, unless there is a proven need for them.

5. Warning Signs

5.1 For the most part, high visibility warning signs and road markings are deployed at locations with poor personal injury accident records, as determined from data supplied by the Chief Constable. Although the impact of such signing can be visually quite severe, the results in terms of accident savings speak for themselves and it would be difficult to argue for any lessening of this programme of work, which is supported annually by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions through supplementary credit approvals for local safety schemes. It does however emphasise the need for careful targeting of warning signs, not only to solve a particular problem, but also to ensure that the effect of such signs is not diminished by general over-use.

5.2 Speed camera signing is another controversial issue in some areas, but Members will be aware that the strategy has been to target those roads which have exhibited a significant number of speed related accidents, combined with locations where there are a number of drivers exceeding the legal maximum speed limit. The purpose of the enforcement camera signing is to increase the effectiveness of Police enforcement action, with the clear message that drivers should be extra vigilant when travelling on these routes. The intention has been to deploy signing at no greater intensity than necessary in order to adequately reinforce the message to drivers that active enforcement of speed limits is taking place. Initial indications of accident reductions are extremely encouraging, but in the New Forest Heritage Area an undertaking has been given that, if there is no measurable road safety benefit from the enforcement strategy within two years, the signs will be removed. In the meantime, any individual sign considered to be particularly visually damaging to the unique Forest environment will be critically reviewed.

5.3 Despite the need for selective targeting, a great many miscellaneous warning signs have been installed over the years for a variety of reasons. There are those that highlight bends, junctions and road narrowings for example and can be considered an essential part of the road layout. Recent traffic calming schemes incorporating such signs are another example. However, there are also signs that have been installed under pressure from parish councils and other local representatives in response to the concerns of individuals and it is these that require to be critically re-examined.

5.4 In proposing a way forward to improve the current situation, Members should be aware that the resources necessary to undertake a comprehensive review or 'audit' of all existing signing would be very significant. It is therefore proposed that a rolling programme of critical inspection should be instigated, with a view to rationalising and removing unnecessary warning signs in full consultation with local representatives. Some of this work can be undertaken over a time as part of the routine maintenance operation, but a more formal approach would be to consider all existing signs as part of new traffic management and community engineering initiatives. It is worth noting that significant staff resources are already being devoted to giving advice and in many cases resisting requests for new but inappropriate signing.

6. Direction Signs

6.1 Significant changes to the design rules in the 1994 TSRGD have meant that annual programmes of direction sign replacements incorporating the new requirements have already been carried out, recent examples being the A31, the A287 and the A326. The A27 signing scheme in Eastleigh is a substantial part of the current year's sign refurbishment programme valued in total at £117,000. The nett result is that, at many locations, it has been possible to combine a number of old, worn out direction signs into a single neat sign assembly which is easy to read and much less damaging to the immediate environment (see Appendix 1). This programme has already played a significant part in reducing overall sign clutter and is continuing to do so.

6.2 Perhaps one of the potentially most damaging changes in legislation as far as sign clutter is concerned was the deregulation of white-on-brown tourist signs, the effect of which was to permit a much wider range of tourist attractions and facilities to be eligible for signing. However, the County Council was one of the first highway authorities to put into place a policy to control this signing and this has largely been successful in minimising the number of signs, especially in environmentally sensitive areas, whilst trying to meet the needs of the tourist industry and help economic development in the county. Pressure is often brought to bear on individual Members and officers to agree to more extensive tourist signing schemes but it is essential to conform with the approved policy and guidance if sign proliferation is to continue to be contained.

6.3 There are certainly examples throughout the county where signs have been erected for various reasons on a piecemeal basis over many years and where there is scope for further rationalisation and removal of signs which are no longer necessary. A particular example of rationalisation is in the New Forest, where, as part of the New Forest Highway Strategy, schemes have been implemented on some parts of the minor road network to replace unsightly direction signing with cast fingerpost signs to enhance, rather than detract from, the environment (see Appendix 2). The critical review referred to in paragraph 5.4 is the best way forward in dealing with this issue and over time should result in considerable improvement. An immediate and straightforward action however would be to remove temporary signs that are no longer required to new housing estates, completed road improvement schemes and the like. Furthermore, any future applications for location and direction signing, including parish boundary signs, should be assessed in the light of their environmental impact as well as their intended function.

7. County Planning Officer's Comments

7.1 The review of road signs provision is to be welcomed. The environmental implications of signing differ between the characteristics of a locality and the main impact is in relation to the visual amenity of the neighbourhood. Some parts of the county are very important in landscape and townscape terms. Hampshire has five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the New Forest Heritage Area, which has equivalent status to a National Park. Together these designations account for 35% of the land surface of the county. There are also about 230 Conservation Areas in Hampshire. It is important therefore that particular attention should be paid to all these designated areas and they should be a top priority for the rolling programme of the road signs review.

8 Conclusion

8.1 Sign clutter in the countryside is often an emotive issue for which there is no simple answer. This report highlights a number of the conflicting pressures and suggests a framework in which the situation can be improved and managed in the future.

Recommendations

1. That the general approach to the provision and management of signs in the countryside, as set out in this report, be endorsed.

2. That the policies with regard to speed limits, heavy goods vehicles and tourist signs continue to be endorsed as a basis for minimising sign provision in consultation with elected Members and parish councils.

3. That a review of all clearways on county roads be undertaken and a report prepared for consideration by the Roads and Development Sub-Committee as soon as is practicable.

4. That a rolling programme of reviewing signs be instigated, with a view to rationalising and removing unnecessary signs in full consultation with local representatives.

5. That immediate steps be taken to remove temporary signs no longer required.

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