When were Anderson signs replaced??

[Berk]

What happened to the Anderson signs?? Did they get replaced en bloc at the same time, or just when they needed replacing??

Did some motorways get replacement signs before others, or certain stretches??

Also, did Worboys motorway signs from the early 70s look much different from today??

And does anyone know if any fingerposts or RCS signs got preserved??

[AndyB]

Answering the ones i know about!

1. In NI at least, as and when they needed replacing, which was all done by about 1988, and I didn't see any of the wonky fork signs.

2. Always. M1(NI) J2 was originally signed with a sign to the C1 and a triangle instead of a chevron, but the signs were replaced when the A55 was created.

3. No. While most 1970s signs have long been replaced, they looked the same as the 1980s signs, so there was no patching down at the end of slip roads

4. Not on motorways

[DavidB]

There was a late survivor in the mid-1980s just before Jct.7 of the M4 on the eastbound carriageway. As far as I can remember it was the only one remaining anywhere between Maidenhead and Chiswick at that time.

[AndyB]

I should have added that the REDUCE SPEED NOW board headed by a roundabout approaching Broadway on the M1(NI) survived until at least 2006 and the commencement of the M1/Westlink widening and underpass scheme.

[nowster]

They were replaced as needed. Some of the last ones to be replaced were some of the earliest, on the M6 Preston and Lancaster Bypasses.

The difference with the 1970s ones and the ones used today was the amount of detail on the 1 mile and ½ mile signs. Originally the 1 mile ones had just the road number. The ½ mile ones had the road number and some destinations, but only for the turn. Only the final sign had all the details including the forward destinations.

Also in the 1970s lane drops were signed very differently, with "Left lane" and "Right lane(s)" on separate signs.

[Berk]

They were replaced as needed. Some of the last ones to be replaced were some of the earliest, on the M6 Preston and Lancaster Bypasses.

I figure they should have made an appearance on all Mx motorways - except the M3, M4 west of Maidenhead (and if you’re Scottish, the M9).

The difference with the 1970s ones and the ones used today was the amount of detail on the 1 mile and ½ mile signs. Originally the 1 mile ones had just the road number. The ½ mile ones had the road number and some destinations, but only for the turn. Only the final sign had all the details including the forward destinations.

Also in the 1970s lane drops were signed very differently, with "Left lane" and "Right lane(s)" on separate signs.

That would’ve been rather irritating unless you’d prepped your journey thoroughly beforehand. Or being sent on a diversion. People didn’t have handy lists of roads in those days (except in their head).

[Bryn666]

There was a late survivor in the mid-1980s just before Jct.7 of the M4 on the eastbound carriageway. As far as I can remember it was the only one remaining anywhere between Maidenhead and Chiswick at that time.

The westbound distance sign to Reading was still standing as late as 1993 - someone's posted a pic of it on Facebook in the past.

[Bryn666]

They were replaced as needed. Some of the last ones to be replaced were some of the earliest, on the M6 Preston and Lancaster Bypasses.

I figure they should have made an appearance on all Mx motorways - except the M3, M4 west of Maidenhead (and if you’re Scottish, the M9).

The difference with the 1970s ones and the ones used today was the amount of detail on the 1 mile and ½ mile signs. Originally the 1 mile ones had just the road number. The ½ mile ones had the road number and some destinations, but only for the turn. Only the final sign had all the details including the forward destinations.

Also in the 1970s lane drops were signed very differently, with "Left lane" and "Right lane(s)" on separate signs.

That would’ve been rather irritating unless you’d prepped your journey thoroughly beforehand. Or being sent on a diversion. People didn’t have handy lists of roads in those days (except in their head).

None of the Scottish motorways had Anderson signs as far as I am aware due to when they were built, the only possible length that could've had them was a short length of what is now M90 approaching the Forth Bridge.

The final motorway length to open with Anderson signs was the Preston-Lancaster section of the M6, and the "motorways merge 1/2 mile" sign at J32 southbound was the final mainline Anderson sign to be removed, around 2001/2.

Lane drops had gantry signs even in the Anderson Report, albeit purely for the final sign at the diverge. The "left lane/right lane" stuff was a Lancashire special which was never part of the original report and seemed to originate as a panic because the "Y" fork signs and then stacked information signs were deemed inadequate at major diverges and the 1964 TSRGD still had not figured out gantry signs properly, still using guidance from the Anderson Report and only allowing for gantry signs at the actual diverge point.

You can tell that early Worboys gantry signs were not properly developed until 1975 for several reasons:

1. None of the London Ringways routes had standard gantry signage - they used unique styles including 45 degree downward left pointing arrows to symbolise an exit positioned underneath the text panel;
2. The Mancunian Way did not have standard gantry signage - it used upward pointing arrows positioned either side of the text and 45 degree up left pointing arrows to symbolise an exit;
3. The Leeds Inner Ring Road... well we know about that. It had signs mounted over the left hand lane to symbolise an exit recessed into bridges;
4. And the big winner... Glasgow. Glasgow had to invent its own system because there wasn't one when the first sections of the GIRR opened. Indeed, this is why there were even temporary post mounted signs adjacent to gantry structures for a while whilst these problems were ironed out;
5. By the time the Midlands Links were in place the 1975 style was being developed - but early plans for these motorways showed fork signs mounted on gantries. This did not happen in the end.

Quite a lot of Ministry time was spent having kittens about the approach signing to the M1/M10 split because the Anderson Report's findings on gantries proved inadequate.

Maybe if everyone had spent less time mythering over the now standard motorway symbol being too "European", all of the above could've been avoided.