Traffic signs and signals

Transport topics
- Traffic and parking management

Traffic signs are essential in providing road users with the information that they need to navigate the road system safely and efficiently.

Traffic signs policy review

This Department’s wide ranging traffic signs policy review ran between September 2008 and May 2011. This has been the most fundamental review of the approach to traffic signing for 40 years and the key aims are to develop a traffic sign system that will meet the changing needs of road users, provide effective tools for the better management of the road network and minimise the impact on the environment.

Traffic signs are more than a traffic management tool and that they can contribute to wider transport objectives. The traffic signs policy review has focussed on providing policy recommendations on three of these key areas:

improving road user information to ensure that traffic signs provide information that helps all road users
ensuring that traffic signs contribute to effective enforcement by informing road users of the restrictions on the road network
ensuring that traffic signs contribute positively to the environment – one of the key messages of the review is that local authorities should only place signs where required, and they should remove signs that are not necessary

Signing the way – traffic signs policy review policy document

The ‘Signing the way’ policy document sets out the findings of the traffic signs policy review. This document provides a framework for a new traffic sign system which retains national consistency so that traffic signs remain instantly recognisable across the country but reduces central government involvement in local decisions, reducing costs and giving local authorities the flexibility to deliver timely traffic management solutions.