CBRD - Motorway Signals Article

[Chris Bertram]

The discussion of the M5 system mentions that it was controlled from Worcestershire police HQ. I once saw an item which said that one reason for choosing the M5 was that the whole motorway (as then extant) was within one county.

I assume the system didn't continue along the M50 to J1!

No, it ran from Strensham to Lydiate Ash on the M5, and not along the M50 at all. It wasn't even extended to Quinton when the M5 opened to J3.

[wrinkly]

The 1970s I-Spy on the Motorway book shows a picture of a neon sign on the M4, that lit up saying "M4 CLOSED USE A4".

That sounds familiar. I think I saw that in 1967 when I was once in a taxi going from Imperial College to Heathrow.

[Lockwood]

"The Geneva Convention governs the use of road signs internationally"

I thought that was the Vienna Convention?
Or, are we suggesting that incorrect road signs are a warcrime?

[Gareth]

Those MS things immediately bring up memories of going down to the West Country on holiday. I quickly learned from a very young age that those flashing ambers meant we'd probably be stuck in traffic for what seemed forever at the time. Seeing one with "End" written on it was such a relief. Speaking of which, why did that replace the circle with slash? The meaning seems fairly obvious to me, so I'm surprised there were problems with its interpretation.

Good article. Have always enjoyed CBRD.

[ManomayLR]

Those MS things immediately bring up memories of going down to the West Country on holiday. I quickly learned from a very young age that those flashing ambers meant we'd probably be stuck in traffic for what seemed forever at the time. Seeing one with "End" written on it was such a relief. Speaking of which, why did that replace the circle with slash? The meaning seems fairly obvious to me, so I'm surprised there were problems with its interpretation.

Good article. Have always enjoyed CBRD.

Almost been a year now-but I believe the NSL-like symbol was replaced as people thought it meant 'road clear' which caused confusion because the sign did not necessarily mean 'there is no more fog,' let's say, so they put 'end of advisory restrictions' to show normal driving can safely be resumed. Additionally, the circle with slash (or an inverted version of it) is now used to indicate return to 70mph (NSL) after a VSL section on a smart motorway.

I'm not really surprised people don't know the meaning- take the red X for example, compliance can sometimes be up to pathetic. Seems like people don't seem to care but red X is way more serious I guess...

[Glom]

More VSL thingies are doing a proper NSL sign now. On the M25 Western section there's just a few stragglers around J14.

[ManomayLR]

More VSL thingies are doing a proper NSL sign now. On the M25 Western section there's just a few stragglers around J14.

I know. AMIs, the ones above lanes, are now nearly all showing the proper NSL and MS4s have been doing so on all ALR sections for a long time now.