Temporary road signs to get ‘remove by’ dates

Transport Secretary sets deadline to take down temporary notices and de-clutter streets

Temporary road signs must have a “remove by” date written on them in an attempt to get rid of thousands of “useless traffic signs” blighting the roads, ministers have said. Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, has announced plans to “declutter” roads and “obliterate pointless signs”. He is particularly concerned about temporary signs “left to rot” for years, sources said. Ministers believe the new rules will allow pedestrians and motorists to call companies to demand that signs are removed if the deadline has passed.

TEMPORARY road signs must have a “remove by” date written on them in an attempt to get rid of thousands of “useless traffic signs” blighting the roads, ministers have said. Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, has announced plans to “de-clutter” roads and “obliterate pointless signs”.

He is particularly concerned about temporary signs “left to rot” by the sides of roads for years, sources said.

Under the plans, every road sign will have a “remove by” date.

Ministers believe that this will allow pedestrians and motorists to call companies to demand that signs are removed if the deadline has passed.

The new taskforce is being run by Sir Alan Duncan, who previously served as an international development minister. The number of road signs on British roads has doubled from two million in 1993 to more than 4.6 million today.

This is around one sign for every seven cars on the roads.

Temporary signs, such as those warning about a “new roundabout ahead”, are only supposed to remain in place for three months.

Sir Alan said: “The UK has erected thousands of road signs which are completely unnecessary, such as traffic light warning signs when you can see the lights themselves. We are going to look at how we might get rid of whole categories of unnecessary signs and improve the look of our roads and streets.”

Mr McLoughlin added: “Useless traffic signs blight our landscape, waste taxpayers’ cash and can be a dangerous distraction to drivers.

“We are restoring common sense to Britain’s roads while ensuring drivers have the information they need to get about safely.” The Department for Transport has previously said that Britain has around 9,000 signs which are redundant or misleading and need to be revised. The problem was highlighted two years ago when it emerged that the tiny village of Feock in Cornwall was blighted by 900 signs – one for every three residents. After Feock was named as “Britain’s most over-signed place”, the council agreed to remove nearly 200 pointless signs.

Sir Alan added: “The rate of the expansion of road signs has been equal to their ugliness and uselessness. The taskforce that I will be leading will look at how to reverse this tide.

“A massive culture change is needed amongst council highways officials, along with clear guidance about what signs are needed and – crucially – which are not.

“Drivers need signs that tell them where they are going and what hazards are coming up on the road.

“But some of our road sides have become so cluttered with repeated signs that there is little chance of getting any useful information from them.”