€60m road sign programme to 'end confusion'

The National Roads Authority (NRA) is to start work on its €60 million road signage programme next month to end what it admits are "ridiculous" inadequacies with national road signs across the State.

Fred Barry, NRA chief executive, told The Irish Timeslast night that the new signs would end the confusing practice of not mentioning key cities along a route.

An example of this problem is that motorists on the M50 wishing to drive to Cork must already be aware that the turn-off is signposted for Limerick. Similarly, the Galway road is signposted for Sligo.

"We are going to sort out these anomalies on the M50 and we are going to try and introduce a little common sense elsewhere around the country where needed. Signposting around the country is very haphazard," Mr Barry said.

"Depending on where you are and the date something was built, or which local authority you are in, the signage can be decent and clear or you can easily get lost. It is just not good enough."

The NRA is also planning to build gantries over many of the major roads, similar to the one on the new M50 south eastern motorway, on which the NRA ran a pilot project to test its new signs.

Overhead directional signs are more easily visible, particularly when there are up to four lanes of traffic, as will be the case on the upgraded M50.

The NRA has also developed a junction numbering system for each of the inter-urban routes; the M1, M4/N6, N7, N8 and N9. This new system will also apply to certain dual-carriageways, including the N2, N3, N11 and N18. According to the NRA, numbered junctions will allow motorists to better plan their route on motorways and dual-carriageways.

The first of the new signs are due to be erected this summer. The N11, N3 and N17 are among the routes along which the new signs will be erected first. The new signs will also carry Irish placenames.

Signage for the inter-urban routes is being designed in anticipation that these roads will be reclassified as motorways, a move which will also see the speed limit rise to 120km/h.

This is one of the provisions of the Roads Bill 2007 - currently before the Oireachtas - which makes provision for the reclassification of dual-carriageways to motorways by ministerial order.

Existing or planned dual-carriageways on each of the five main inter-urban routes are likely to be reclassified, as well as sections of the N11 and N18 along the Atlantic Corridor.

Speaking in the Seanad on the Bill last week, the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said a key reason for upgrading some dual-carriageways was because access and development controls for motorways are far stricter than for dual-carriageways.

The Minister also said last week that work by his department on a review of its traffic signs manual was ongoing.

This review started in 2004 and Mr Cullen said he expects it to be complete by the end of this year. The manual sets out the type of signs and instructions on how they should be used. Mr Cullen added that as part of this process, the Department of Transport contacted road authorities last month with a revised set of rules for temporary traffic measures and signs for roadworks.

The NRA also published updated guidelines for signposts for tourist or leisure attractions on national roads in recent days to end the "proliferation and misuse" of the special white on brown tourist signs. In particular the NRA is keen to end the practice of these signs being used for many non-tourist destinations.

While the NRA resignage programme will deal with national roads, for the roughly 90,000km of non-national roads, problems remain.

Fianna Fáil and the PDs pledged in their Programme for Government to put in place a five-year plan to ensure non-national roads are properly signposted.

Between 2003 and 2006 roughly €21.5 million was allocated to this programme, but almost three-quarters was never spent due to uncertainty over the rules of Irish placenames in signs.

As a result, as the Department of Environment admits, the programme has "been less successful to date than had been hoped."

More than €7 million has been allocated to non-national road signage this year.

Annette Devine president of the Irish Hotels' Federation said this programme has made little practical difference. She said frustrated tourists were still giving "continuous negative feedback" about confusing signs on many Irish roads.

As an example, she said drivers arriving in Dún Laoghaire and trying to make their way to the M50 encountered particular problems.

Despite highlighting these roads signage issues "again and again over the years, no action has been taken to rectify the problem," she said.