War on road clutter: Forest of ugly, confusing and potentially dangerous signs to be axed

• Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin claims new signs 'spring up like weeds'
• Too much information - which is often contradictory - could make accidents more likely
• Campaign to Protect Rural England wants new rules to make it easier to have fewer, smaller signs

By Ray Massey, Transport Editor

Published: 23:48 AEDT, 13 November 2012 | Updated: 13:43 AEDT, 14 November 2012

Unnecessary signs which clutter up the roads are to be scrapped.

They are an ugly, confusing and potentially dangerous blot on the landscape, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said yesterday.

His promise to sweep them away was welcomed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England and motoring groups including the AA. The CPRE said the focus until now had been on the forest of road signs in urban areas, but the countryside was also being blighted.

Motoring groups have welcomed plans to rid British roadsides of unnecessary signs

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin will warn that some signs are actually making driving more dangerous. Here are several contradictory and confusing signs on a road in Surrey

Ridiculous examples spotted include signs declaring Sign Not In Use and Lane Closed To Ease Congestion.

Mr McLoughlin, who was speaking at a conference in London organised by the CPRE, said: ‘Too many country roads carry a reminder of how insensitive planners can be to aesthetics.

‘Ugly and unnecessary signs clutter up the network. New signs seem to sprout like weeds, without any apparent consideration of what’s already there. Often what we’re left with is not just a blot on the landscape. It’s confusing and potentially dangerous too.

‘There are those ‘‘temporary’’  yellow signs saying New Road Layout Ahead that are left to rot for years. Near me in Derbyshire there’s an ugly big sign by a beautiful medieval church that just says: No Footpath. It’s on a small country lane. Of course there isn’t a path. We don’t need a huge sign to tell us that. So I’m determined to do more to sort this out.’

Ministers want an end to duplicate, unnecessary signs and those which give drivers conflicting or confusing information

Mr McLoughlin said a Government review last year had relaxed rules that used to insist on two signs by the road when one would do. Now it was working on revised traffic signs regulations.

He insisted: ‘The combined effect of these changes will be to give authorities and designers much greater freedom to simplify and use fewer signs at country junctions.

‘And I want to make sure that they use it. So my message to highways engineers is: If in doubt, don’t do it. Save your money for something that really matters.’

The Campaign to Protect Rural England says there is no need for TWO signs pointing towards Stonehenge when the historic site is clearly visible from the A303

Examples of confusing signs include this one, when the sign appears to contradict the road ahead

A CPRE spokesman said: ‘Signage clutter builds up over time without anyone taking responsibility for removing unnecessary signs. Not only does it disfigure the countryside, it also distracts drivers and entails long-term maintenance costs.’

AA spokesman Paul Watters said: ‘This is long overdue. There’s far too much clutter and it needs tackling.’

Mr McLoughlin also said the  Government was committed to pressing on with the controversial  £32billion HS2 high-speed rail plan from London to the Midlands and onwards to the North despite widespread opposition.

But to mitigate any disruption to rural dwellers on the route he said an independent design panel of experts in architecture, engineering, town planning and transport will look at areas of concern such as stations, bridges and viaducts.