Norfolk signals end to rural traffic signs

15 October 2008

A new ‘green derestriction sign’ could be trialled as part of Norfolk’s government-funded rural demonstration project.

The county council is looking into trialling the sign on C-class and unclassified roads within its demonstration area, in an effort to improve road safety by placing more responsibility on the driver.

This would also enable the widespread removal of signs warning of hazards ‘which should, in any event, be expected in this environment’. Devon County Council is taking a similar approach with plans to pilot a ‘green speed’ rural zone (Surveyor, 11 September 2008).

Both councils, together with Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire county councils, have been selected for the Department for Transport’s £8M rural road safety-demonstration project. Norfolk’s sign would replace the existing derestriction sign with a green-chevron sign, accompanied by a temporary, green-bordered sub-plate reading ‘Rural byway, take care’.

The sub-plate is proposed as a temporary sign which would be removed once the project was established. The effectiveness of the project – which will be subjected to public consultation – will be monitored in terms of casualty reduction, change in vehicle speed on selected roads, public perception of the project, and the overall net reduction in traffic signs.

‘There may be risk implications associated with the removal of warning signs on the rural road,’ said Stuart Hallet, Norfolk’s director of planning and transportation. ‘However, to mitigate the risk, each sign removed will be subject to a safety audit process, and will have an accompanying explanation of why it is considered appropriate to remove the sign.’ He said it was the first sign removal trial in a rural situation in the UK. It is expected to be implemented in spring of 2009, ahead of the Devon trial the following autumn. DfT approval is expected within the next few weeks.

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