Why are there no "The EAST" primary destination signs?

[Bryn666]

GB is the wrong shape for these compass based regional destinations to work properly.

We should be abolishing them and using major centres of population as the regional control destination - although I never quite understood why Newmarket was selected ahead of Norwich in the old London signing strategy.

[Owain]

Thinking about it I'm wondering what region "THE WEST" refers to, unless it means the western Southeast (oxford etc), as the actual western regions of england are in the South West/North West/West Midlands. And obviously the south west and north west are existing regional destinations. I guess anything west of southampton could be called "THE WEST".

The system is London-centric.

From that perspective, it seems that 'THE WEST' could refer to anything along the M4 beyond Reading.

Conversely, there are no signs for "THE EAST" because London is there, and the signage inevitably points towards that location.

[qwertyK]

Thinking about it I'm wondering what region "THE WEST" refers to, unless it means the western Southeast (oxford etc), as the actual western regions of england are in the South West/North West/West Midlands. And obviously the south west and north west are existing regional destinations. I guess anything west of southampton could be called "THE WEST".

The system is London-centric.

From that perspective, it seems that 'THE WEST' could refer to anything along the M4 beyond Reading.

Conversely, there are no signs for "THE EAST" because London is there, and the signage inevitably points towards that location.

That is certainly a credible interpretation for the system, I know the road lettering system is london centric, is it the same for this?

Though I would argue London could also be in "THE SOUTH".

The furthest "THE SOUTH" sign I have seen is around Luton.

[jnty]

GB is the wrong shape for these compass based regional destinations to work properly.

We should be abolishing them and using major centres of population as the regional control destination - although I never quite understood why Newmarket was selected ahead of Norwich in the old London signing strategy.

I think I probably agree. You never really see these destinations in Scotland because THE NORTH is to the south. Regional control destinations are a reasonable option, but I wonder if using NORTH etc as directional indicators might make sense. If I'm joining the A74(M) at Abington I happen to know that I ought to be looking for Carlisle on the signs, but it's never where I'm heading, not a place I generally think of and, on the motorway, I'm barely conscious of passing it when I do. What I do know is that I am most certainly heading SOUTH. (Or perhaps towards ENGLAND, but that seems to be banned too. Perhaps, cynically, because it's not a valid destination from London and a very ambiguous destination from Edinburgh.)

[Kinitawowi]

Thinking about it I'm wondering what region "THE WEST" refers to, unless it means the western Southeast (oxford etc), as the actual western regions of england are in the South West/North West/West Midlands. And obviously the south west and north west are existing regional destinations. I guess anything west of southampton could be called "THE WEST".

The system is London-centric.

From that perspective, it seems that 'THE WEST' could refer to anything along the M4 beyond Reading.

Conversely, there are no signs for "THE EAST" because London is there, and the signage inevitably points towards that location.

From London, east basically means the Thames Estuary or the North Sea. There's an argument that signs could point to The SOUTH EAST or EAST ANGLIA but both of those run into definitional problems. (Growing up in Hunstanton, I'm one of those who leans towards East Anglia consisting of Norfolk, Suffolk and nothing else. Essex is just wannabe London. )

[James]

GB is the wrong shape for these compass based regional destinations to work properly.

We should be abolishing them and using major centres of population as the regional control destination - although I never quite understood why Newmarket was selected ahead of Norwich in the old London signing strategy.

I'm inclined to agree. Are there other similar countries that use a strange system like this?

I think the UK does need to overhaul the system. Other countries do this in a much more consistent and understandable implementation.

I just drove back from Granada today along the A92 road, which I always find interesting as, its a very important road that links (via spur roads and other motorways) all the Andalusian centres. So on the signs they just put everything, including Huelva, which you have to drive through Seville to get to.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UXXni1GQLAFC7mzq6

The UK equivalent would be getting on the A1 in London and getting signed something like Cambridge, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, Newcastle.

[Owain]

GB is the wrong shape for these compass based regional destinations to work properly.

We should be abolishing them and using major centres of population as the regional control destination - although I never quite understood why Newmarket was selected ahead of Norwich in the old London signing strategy.

I'm inclined to agree. Are there other similar countries that use a strange system like this?

I think the UK does need to overhaul the system. Other countries do this in a much more consistent and understandable implementation.

I just drove back from Granada today along the A92 road, which I always find interesting as, its a very important road that links (via spur roads and other motorways) all the Andalusian centres. So on the signs they just put everything, including Huelva, which you have to drive through Seville to get to.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/UXXni1GQLAFC7mzq6

The UK equivalent would be getting on the A1 in London and getting signed something like Cambridge, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, Newcastle.

As I'm often pointing out, Italy has geography not unlike that of the UK.

It's like an island, being surrounded by sea on three sides, and cut off from mainland Europe by the Alps. It's long and thin, with a spine of mountains called the 'Pennines' (Appennini) down the middle, and it has significantly-sized portions of its territory separated from the mainland by sea.

For navigation, its motorway and all-purpose road networks use important destinations for directional indications. I don't recall having ever seen anything like 'NORTH' or 'SOUTH'; on the mainland it'll be something like (e.g.) 'Milano/Roma', whereas in Sardinia it'll be 'Sassari/Cagliari'.