Too many signs for these times

Over the past couple of years, I’ve spent a lot of time (too much, some might say!) looking at all types pavement clutter, and what we can do to reduce it. (See for example this video I produced for Living Streets Edinburgh and its impact on disabled people especially: bit.ly/39ER0M7). While there’s increasing awareness of the problems caused by ‘A-boards’, bins and pole-mounted signs, I’ve only recently begun to think about one type of rarely-mentioned clutter - directional traffic signs. These signs abound on busy pavements, invariably on double poles. They take up a lot of footway space, are ugly and also convey a general sense that the street belongs to traffic rather than people. But surely they are essential for the efficient circulation of traffic?

I think not. Most signs were erected years, or more likely decades, ago. Certainly well before sat nav and smart phones allowed drivers to navigate ditgitally rather than visual instruction. If as I understand it at least half of drivers now navigate entirely by GPS (1), doesn’t it follow that these signs are much less useful now than when they were installed? So maybe we can remove half of them at a stroke without inconvenience to drivers?

However, what is *on* these signs deserves a closer look. Many massive signs convey very simple information which is either not needed, or could be communicated much more simply. A favourite of mine is the brown “City Centre Attractions” tourist signs like this one on Queensferry Road. Pretty much every visitor to Edinburgh knows that most of its ‘attractions’ are in the city centre, so why the need for these giant two-pole signs? (Edinburgh’s excellent Street Design Guidance, by the way has a presumption against double poles - unfortunately, like much else in the SDG, all too often ignored by the council itself). In Spain or France, these would be replaced by a more modest but equally effective ‘Centro Ciudad’ or ‘Centre Ville’.

(1) https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/motoring/cars/accessories/how-do-sat-navs-work

More widely, on closer scrutiny I’d say that many, perhaps most, directional traffic signs can be simplified or done away with entirely. Take some following examples:

A common sign is the one which basically says ‘straight on’. While there is probably a need for the no left/right turn signs close to the junction, how can these two adjacent signs this size be justified on a busy Hanover Street, right in the centre of a UNESCO world heritage site no less?

This one on Liberton Road is a bit of a classic. Wouldn’t a small ‘city centre’ (‘centre ville’ style, perhaps on a lamp post) do the trick just as well?

On the Western Approach Road, the main traffic route into the city from the west, there is this sign. Among the questions this raises are "how come the ‘city centre attractions’ are in the opposite direction to the city centre?" Wouldn’t a simple sign indicating ‘north’ and ‘south’ be more useful…?

While I appreciate that repeater signs may avoid drivers switching lanes inappropriately, surely they should be a last resort. Certainly, the amount of space taken up on the first sign for parking information is surely unwarranted - drivers increasingly get this information online too, just as with directional information (Semple Street).

Finally, while on the subject of parking signs, I can end on a positive note showing what a difference removing ugly signs can make. Edinburgh Council is taking away these obsolete ‘real time’ parking signs as part fo the 'Spaces for People’ programme. They were first erected (in the 1990s, I think) when they were considered state-of-the-art technology, but haven’t worked for years. As these before and after shots from Palmerston Place in the West End show, the feel of the street can be transformed!

However, there seems to be no routine process which councils use to review the need for traffic signs (or indeed any other signs). Perhaps the solution is, re-affirming the principle that “walking and wheeling are top of the movement hierarchy”, to conduct an audit of every sign in the city to see how many we can remove, rationalise or reduce.  Meanwhile, next time you pass a traffic sign, it is worth stopping a moment to think what it actually says, and ask yourself “does this need to be here at all?”