Green light for capital’s new road signs system

A CONTROVERSIAL road signage scheme in Dublin is finally due to be re-erected next month, it has been confirmed.

Dublin City Council will shortly begin work on erecting over 650 of the re-designed orbital road signs around the capital as part of plans to remove traffic congestion from the city centre.

It will be the local authority’s second attempt to put in place the radical system after being forced into an embarrassing U-turn when it came under political pressure to remove the signs within days of their erection last August.

The Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan criticised the complexity and colour of the eye-catching, if confusing, signs as well as the lack of consultation with the Department of Transport on their design.

However, the new system is now at an advanced stage and awaiting final approval from the Department.

A new colour scheme will be incorporated in the new signs after the orange colouring of the original signs was deemed to run contrary to national regulations whereby orange is used to indicate warning notices.

A system of using numbers in preference to place names plus the omission of an English translation of “An Lar” on the original signs also added to confusion for drivers.

Under the revised road signage system, additional signs will be erected in advance of major junctions to give directions to major suburbs like Tallaght, Dun Laoghaire and Ballymun.

The main aim of the system is to divert traffic wishing to cross the River Liffey away from the city centre onto inner and outer orbital routes.

However, critics of the schemes claim the new orbital routes are already congested thoroughfares which will not be subjected to any special signalling to speed up traffic movement along them.

They point out that hold-ups over the completion of the M50 motorway which will provide a C-ring route around Dublin will further add to congestion along these routes.

The inner orbital route is also incomplete as the construction of a new bridge at Blackhall Place is not now expected to be finalised until the summer, several months behind target.

Dublin City Council’s director of traffic, Owen Keegan, accepts that errors had been made with the original design.

“I’m quite prepared to admit we made mistakes and I’ll be the first to say that the new scheme is better,” said Mr Keegan.

However, he remained confident that motorists would quickly adapt to the new road signs.

“We are trying to convey a lot of information. Although it’s a new concept, we have no doubt that it will catch on quickly,” said Mr Keegan.

Dublin City Council also claimed that the cost of the revised scheme was “not significant” as the original signs were redesigned. However, Mr Keegan was unable to provide an estimate of the cost.