Botched Roadsigns

[Chris Bertram]

Conway is still a thing in Chester
https://goo.gl/maps/dMXcJyiq9M72

The other signs on the junction do get it right

Isn't Chester in England?
In which case the first sign is surely correct?
The one after it has the Welsh spelling, for some reason.

The "English" name, Conway, has mostly fallen out of use nowadays. So it shouldn't even be used on signs in England.

[Euan]

The sign certainly doesn't look ancient, so definitely a botch. I have to say that I have only ever seen or heard the name as "Conwy" and never "Conway", so the name must have dwindled a long time ago.

[Westie]

HTTP 404: speed limit not found (okay, couldn't resist)

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.47888 ... 312!8i6656

Unless of course, Leicestershire CC are really wanting me to do NSL through the centre of Market Harborough, after leaving a 30mph... zone??

(The road in question is a 20mph zone)



I believe these were put up in the last few months or so.

[nodnirG kraM]

The more I try to decipher what these three signs are trying to tell me the more confused and scared I get.





'End of dual carriageway ending for the next mile' is the closest I can get.

A23 London Road approaching the abrupt ending of the M23 between Merstham and Hooley, Surrey - interestingly though none of the signs is in place when GSV last visited in April this year.

EDIT:
Rolling the clock back a few years, it would appear the "For 1 mile" plate refers to a Fig 642 'no stopping' order sign that fell down some time between 2012 and 2015. The "End" presumably then should be facing the other direction and relate to another 642.

The 'Dual Carriageway Ends Ahead' is a mystery altogether though .. because it doesn't until after some time after the ex-M23-North traffic merges.

I just wonder who it was that looked at that before going home thinking "yep .. did a good job there"!

[avtur]

I saw this on my travels yesterday, on the A281 just south of Henfield (Sussex).

What amused me was the permanent nature of the 'roadworks and end' sign. There are two sets of signs about half a mile apart, facing in opposite directions, meaning they sort of book-end a roadworks zone. However, there are only signs to indicate the end of the roadworks zone, there is nothing to indicate entering this 'zone'.

Oh, and there was no sign of any actual roadworks.

Any ideas why a roadworks sign would be sited permanently?

[jimboLL]

Any ideas why a roadworks sign would be sited permanently?

road sign.JPG

Maybe a site that suffers regular landslips that need rectifying? Maybe you'd expect a "falling rocks" triangle as well, but if the slipping material is mud rather than rocks, maybe you wouldn't?

[jimboLL]

HTTP 404: speed limit not found (okay, couldn't resist)

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.47888 ... 312!8i6656

Unless of course, Leicestershire CC are really wanting me to do NSL through the centre of Market Harborough, after leaving a 30mph... zone??

(The road in question is a 20mph zone)



I believe these were put up in the last few months or so.

Is this not due to some legislative nonsense, ie the area signed as 30 is limited by some kind of specific order, whereas the area signed as NSL is limited to the NSL of 30 by default?

[avtur]

Any ideas why a roadworks sign would be sited permanently?

road sign.JPG

Maybe a site that suffers regular landslips that need rectifying? Maybe you'd expect a "falling rocks" triangle as well, but if the slipping material is mud rather than rocks, maybe you wouldn't?

Nice try but we're talking about the fields of agricultural mid-Sussex, nothing of height nearby.

[Brigham]

"Dual Carriageway Ends for 1 Mile".
Probably thought-up by the same person who created:
"Double Bend (first to left) for 2 Miles".

[Westie]

(post cropped)

Is this not due to some legislative nonsense, ie the area signed as 30 is limited by some kind of specific order, whereas the area signed as NSL is limited to the NSL of 30 by default?

No.

The road from which I was travelling from is a 20mph zone, as such no speed limit repeater signs are required but there are required to be speed calming measures which would be "self enforcing".

The road to which I would be joining, which with no 30mph (or NSL, for that matter) repeaters, would in my eyes be a restricted road with a 30mph limit. Hence, NSL would be incorrect here.

What is really baffling is that the sign on the other side of the road... is old but correct. It's almost like someone was trying to play sign bingo or something.

I'm still flummoxed by the idea of a 30mph zone - a self-enforcing limit that would require no police presence to enforce! What a brilliant idea.

[nodnirG kraM]

I saw this on my travels yesterday, on the A281 just south of Henfield (Sussex).

What amused me was the permanent nature of the 'roadworks and end' sign. There are two sets of signs about half a mile apart, facing in opposite directions, meaning they sort of book-end a roadworks zone. However, there are only signs to indicate the end of the roadworks zone, there is nothing to indicate entering this 'zone'.

Oh, and there was no sign of any actual roadworks.

Any ideas why a roadworks sign would be sited permanently?

road sign.JPG

The site was only cleared in the past month and the embankments reinstated either side. There were roadworks here for a few years prior to this, hence the 'permanence' of the Men At Work signs I presume!

This is part of the route for buried high voltage cables to the brand spanking new Bolney electricity substation that deals with the leccy that's being generated by the equally new and equally spanking wind farm out in the Channel near Brighton. They cross under the road here.

As this area is all now National Park, I assume this is why the cables have been stuck underground (instead of pylons) and the substation sited so flipping far away from the turbines (outside the Park). But if you look at the massive scar that's been left on the landscape as a result (have a look at satellite layer between Lancing and Bolney in West Sussex)....
oh wait this place is about roads not electricity isn't it!!

Anyway hope that answers the question. Next time you pass through Henfield, drop in for a cup of tea.

Bring your own cup. And teabag.

[Johnathan404]

Black-and-white chopsticks

EDIT: Just spotted that there's a roundabout sign on the left. The roundabout in question was removed 10 years ago!

[avtur]

I saw this on my travels yesterday, on the A281 just south of Henfield (Sussex).

What amused me was the permanent nature of the 'roadworks and end' sign. There are two sets of signs about half a mile apart, facing in opposite directions, meaning they sort of book-end a roadworks zone. However, there are only signs to indicate the end of the roadworks zone, there is nothing to indicate entering this 'zone'.

Oh, and there was no sign of any actual roadworks.

Any ideas why a roadworks sign would be sited permanently?

road sign.JPG

The site was only cleared in the past month and the embankments reinstated either side. There were roadworks here for a few years prior to this, hence the 'permanence' of the Men At Work signs I presume!

This is part of the route for buried high voltage cables to the brand spanking new Bolney electricity substation that deals with the leccy that's being generated by the equally new and equally spanking wind farm out in the Channel near Brighton. They cross under the road here.

As this area is all now National Park, I assume this is why the cables have been stuck underground (instead of pylons) and the substation sited so flipping far away from the turbines (outside the Park). But if you look at the massive scar that's been left on the landscape as a result (have a look at satellite layer between Lancing and Bolney in West Sussex)....
oh wait this place is about roads not electricity isn't it!!

Anyway hope that answers the question. Next time you pass through Henfield, drop in for a cup of tea.

Bring your own cup. And teabag.

That is excellent information MG, many thanks. I'm a relative newcomer to the area (from Manchester), now living near Haywards Heath since June, so hadn't been aware of the underground cable project.

I hadn't visited Henfield until this week, however working as a part-time delivery driver I've driven to Henfield at least half a dozen times this last week. Now you mention it I'd noticed the reinstatement at the roadside but hadn't made the connection with the signs.

[Arcuarius]

In East Dereham

https://goo.gl/maps/M1PVVoch3B52

Under the patch at the top I guess it used to say 'all routes' or similar, but now if all routes should turn left, shouldn't the thick black arm now be on the left, not straight ahead ?

The thickness of the arms depends (I think) on the road's classificaton - unclassified = 1 stroke width, B-road or non-primary A-road = 2 stroke widths, primary A-road or Motorway = 3 stroke widths. As all roads at this junction are unclassified, they should all be 1 stroke width. Subject to confirmation from Bryn ...

2.5sw, 4sw and 6sw respectively. So they should all be 2.5sw.

The arm at the top of that sign should also really be a stub if there's no destination attached to it.

[ellandback]

The "Z" Series of bends sign was phased out in 1975.

I am trying to convince people to bring it back...

I wholeheartedly support your efforts. I have never understood why it was removed from usage and share the frustrations of those who decry the inappropriate use of 'double bend', which have led to the meaning of that sign becoming ambiguous.

I think this may well be my favourite yet of these!

[Euan]

The "Z" Series of bends sign was phased out in 1975.

I am trying to convince people to bring it back...

I wholeheartedly support your efforts. I have never understood why it was removed from usage and share the frustrations of those who decry the inappropriate use of 'double bend', which have led to the meaning of that sign becoming ambiguous.

Were they the signs that the N signs replaced? The N signs do distinguish between between left first double bends and right first double bends, but did Z signs have a similar way of distinguishing between the two?

[Chris Bertram]

I am trying to convince people to bring it back...

I wholeheartedly support your efforts. I have never understood why it was removed from usage and share the frustrations of those who decry the inappropriate use of 'double bend', which have led to the meaning of that sign becoming ambiguous.

Were they the signs that the N signs replaced? The N signs do distinguish between between left first double bends and right first double bends, but did Z signs have a similar way of distinguishing between the two?

I don't think so, but given that the bends should be frequent and usually alternate in direction, it was hardly crucial.

[multiraider2]

I think this may well be my favourite yet of these!

Completely agree. This may be the most nonsensical installation on all 404 pages of this thread and it can only possibly mean that the dual carriageway that ended a mile back (or which took a mile to end) has now ended. So it's in fact a double negative "Dual Carriageway Ahead". If only we had a sign for that

[Viator]

Black-and-white chopsticks

EDIT: Just spotted that there's a roundabout sign on the left. The roundabout in question was removed 10 years ago!

Also rather odd is that "Stepaside R113" sign. The road indicated is indeed the R113, but it does not go to Stepaside. If I -- Stepaside-bound but unfamiliar with the layout here -- get into the lane boldly marked R113 I will find myself, 100 m later, very much in the WRONG lane for Stepaside!

[Bryn666]

I wholeheartedly support your efforts. I have never understood why it was removed from usage and share the frustrations of those who decry the inappropriate use of 'double bend', which have led to the meaning of that sign becoming ambiguous.

Were they the signs that the N signs replaced? The N signs do distinguish between between left first double bends and right first double bends, but did Z signs have a similar way of distinguishing between the two?

I don't think so, but given that the bends should be frequent and usually alternate in direction, it was hardly crucial.

N was for a single double bend. Z was for a series of bends, much like the Irish "wiggly" road sign.

Spaghetti Junction had Z signs when first opened because the slip roads went around several curves.