Road signs in the United Kingdom

A non-primary road sign near Bristol showing Guildford Rules patches.

Road signs in the United Kingdom conform broadly to European norms, though a number of signs are unique to Britain and direction signs omit European route numbers.

The system currently in use was developed in the late 1950s and the early 1960s by the Anderson Committee, which established the motorway signing system, and by the Worboys Committee, which reformed signing for existing all-purpose roads. Older ("pre-Worboys") signs belong to a different system which developed incrementally after 1904, when the Local Government Board first published a circular on traffic signing. The standards governing this system remained of an advisory nature until 1933 when regulations for traffic signs were published under powers created by the Road Traffic Act, 1930.

Design

A sign for the Magic roundabout in Swindon showing an unorthodox method of incorporating mini-roundabouts into signage. (The correct method, introduced in the 1994 TSRGD, is to use a black disc with central white dot for each mini-roundabout.)

The document governing traffic signing in Britain is the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) which is comparable with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices in the United States. The current signing system was introduced on 1 January 1965 by TSRGD 1964.

Britain remains the only European Union member nation using non-metric (imperial) measurements for distance and speed, although metric authorised-weight signs were prescribed in TSRGD 1981 and there is now a dual-unit option for clearance and road width signing.

TSRGD 1994 prescribed a system of white-on-brown direction signs for tourist attractions and also promulgated the Guildford Rules (see below). TSRGD 2002 contains the current standards and includes a sophisticated system of black-on-yellow direction signs for roadworks.

All signs have rounded corners. This is partly for aesthetical reasons, but also because it is less dangerous for the engineers fitting the signs.

Colours

Three separate colour schemes exist for Worboys direction signs that relate to the classification of roads. A road may be a motorway (white on blue), a primary route (white on dark green with yellow route numbers), or a non-primary route (black on white). Trunk roads, which carry a high proportion of long-distance traffic, are managed by the Highways Agency (and equivalent bodies in Wales and Scotland) on behalf of central government, are always primary routes, but so also are some local authority managed routes.

Guildford Rules

A sophisticated system, called the Guildford Rules, is used to put directional information pertaining to routes of different class on patches coloured appropriately for those classes on direction signs which have the overall background colour appropriate to the roads where they are located. Patches of other colours, for example brown for tourist destinations, can also be added to primary and non-primary directional signs; however, the Guildford Rules do not apply to roadworks direction signs. This patching system was developed in the mid-1980s as part of an effort to eliminate sign clutter and receives its name from the town of Guildford, Surrey, where experimental versions of this signing system were tested.

The direction sign shown at the top right of this page is located near Bristol. It is patched according to the Guildford Rules. It gives directions to (Bristol) Parkway railway station (red British Rail symbol), motorways (blue-background patches), and towns reached via non-primary A-roads. Red-edged panels and red-bordered signs are used for military establishments (the Ministry of Defence at Abbey Wood in this example). Destinations which are reached indirectly have the corresponding road number in brackets; for instance, this sign indicates that Filton is reached by following the A4174 ring road to the A38 and then turning on to the A38 for Filton.

Typefaces

Two typefaces are specified for current British road signs. The Transport font is used in two weights: Transport Medium (for light text on dark backgrounds) and Transport Heavy (for dark text on light backgrounds). Transport is a mixed-case font and is used for all text on fixed permanent signs except route numbers on motorway signs. Motorway route numbers are displayed in Motorway Permanent (light on dark) or Motorway Temporary (dark on light) on motorway signs; these have elongated characters and are designed to add emphasis to route numbers on motorways. Transport Medium and Motorway Permanent were developed for the Anderson committee and appeared on the first motorway signs; the other two alphabets are similar but have additional stroke width in the letters to compensate for light backgrounds. The Motorway typeface has a limited character set consisting of just numbers and a few letters and symbols needed to show route numbers.

These typefaces are the only ones permitted on road signs in the UK. Although signs containing other typefaces do appear occasionally in some places, they are explicitly forbidden in Government guidelines, and are technically illegal.

Language

Place names in Gaelic are becoming increasingly common on road signs throughout the Scottish Highlands.

Bilingual signs are used in Wales. Welsh highway authorities choose whether they are "English-priority" or "Welsh-priority" and the language having priority in the highway authority's area appears first on signs. Most of south Wales is English-priority while west and north Wales is Welsh-priority. Bilingual signs were permitted by special authorisation after 1965 and in 1972 the Bowen committee recommended that they should be provided systematically throughout Wales. Bilingual signing in Wales and elsewhere has caused traffic engineers to inquire into the safety ramifications of providing sign legend in multiple languages. As a result some countries have opted to limit bilingual signing to dual-name signs near places of cultural importance (e.g. New Zealand), or to use it only in narrowly circumscribed areas such as near borders or in designated language zones (e.g. the NAFTA countries). A small number of these signs exist in the UK on major roads that leave major ports (such as Dover). They detail in English and French, standard speed limits and reminders to drive on the left.

In the Scottish Highlands, road signs are often found with the Scottish Gaelic given (in green) as well as the English (in black). This seems to be part of the Gaelic language revival encouraged by many, including the Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Categorisation

Road signs in the United Kingdom may be categorised as:

Directional signs

An old style fingerpost directional sign near the village of East Lavington.

The term "Directional sign" covers both Advance Direction Signs (ADS), placed on the approach to a junction, and Direction Signs (DS) at the junction itself, showing where to turn. A DS usually has a chevron (pointed) end, and this type is also referred to as a flag-type sign. However, a DS may also be rectangular with an arrow when it is necessary to indicate a direction other than left or right.

An ADS may be one of four types:

• Stack type — with the destinations in each direction on a separate panel that also contains an arrow;
• Map-type — to give a highly clear and simplified diagrammatic plan view of a junction, for example a roundabout.
• Dedicated lane — shows the destinations separated by vertical dotted lines to indicate which lane to use;
• Gantry-mounted — for use on busy motorways and other wide roads where verge mounted signs would be frequently obstructed by other traffic.

An ADS generally has blue, green or white as its background colour to indicate the status of road (motorway, primary or non-primary) on which it is placed. Except on the main carriageway of a motorway, coloured panels are used to indicate routes from the junction being signed that have a different status. A DS should always be a single colour indicating the status of the road to be joined, although there are a few rare exceptions to this rule.

Destinations are written in mixed case white Transport Medium alphabet for green and blue backgrounds, and in black Transport Heavy alphabet for white backgrounds. Route numbers are coloured yellow when placed directly on a green background. Some signs show the closest destination on the route first (ie, on top), whilst others show the most distant settlement first. On a roundabout DS, the route locations are usually listed with the closest destination at the bottom and the furthest away at the top when going straight ahead, and likewise going left and right.

All types of ADS (but not DS) may optionally have the junction name at the top of the sign in capital letters in a separate panel.

Warning signs

This sign warns drivers that there may be a queues or line of traffic ahead.

UK road sign warning of horses and riders ahead

The importance of a warning sign is emphasised by the red border drawn around it and the mostly triangular shape.

Regulatory signs

Signs in circular red borders are prohibitive, whether or not they also have a diagonal red line. Circular blue signs mainly give a positive (mandatory) instruction. It is often said that regulatory signs are mainly circular, but by far the most numerous type relates to parking (waiting and loading plates and zone entry signs) and are rectangular.

Informational signs

Informational signs are mainly rectangular (or oblong) but, strictly speaking, this category also covers directional signs. They are often coloured to match the directional signing for the status of road in question, but where this is not necessary they are generally blue with white text. Examples include "lane gain" and "lane drop" signs on grade-separated roads, and "IN" and "OUT" indications for accesses to private premises from the highway.

Road works signs

These signs are mainly yellow, and are all temporary. These are on stands which are often weighted with sandbags, to prevent them being blown over in the wind. Some road works signs are provided with interchangeable parts, for example the distance before the road works begin or the lane closed ahead.

The triangular, red-bordered warning format (see above) is used for the initial sign warning of works ahead. This features a man digging (known popularly as 'Roddy the Roadman').

Street name signs

Legally these are not defined as traffic signs in the UK. This gives authorities flexibility on how to design and where to locate them. They can be fixed to a signpost, wall, lamp column or building. As well as the Transport alphabets used on road signs, it is also common for street nameplates to use the Kindersley serif font.

See also

• Highway Code
• Gaelic road signs in Scotland

External links

• Department for Transport traffic signs and signals index page.
• The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002.
• "Know Your Traffic Signs" (DfT) 2007 edition.
• Traffic signs driving theory test
• Signs & Markings. Part of the Highway Code website.