Oldest Motorway Sign

[KeithW]

This for the Darlington Bypass is pretty long in the tooth.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.5557655 ... &entry=ttu

[Komi san]

This for the Darlington Bypass is pretty long in the tooth.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.5557655 ... &entry=ttu

Copy of original one?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/HANWBC6h7d4ceyxv7

[MotorwayGuy]

This for the Darlington Bypass is pretty long in the tooth.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.5557655 ... &entry=ttu

All of the right-facing flags on that roundabout are also wrong, they shouldn't have the chopsticks symbol unless that road leads inescapably to the motorway. I believe the modern way to sign it would be to have an (A1(M)(South)) patch on a green sign but current guidance states to only sign exits on roundabouts except in exceptional circumstances.

Reminds me of this former sign at junction 4 of the M20, now also gone.

[Alderpoint]

This sign at the bottom end of the M69 may well be the original from when it opened in 1977.

Originally the straight-on had a "No Entry" sign and you can clearly see where it was patched when Coventry Eastern Bypass opened in 1989. The "00" is a patch too.

(Pretty much qualifies for "Manky Signs" as well.)

[nowster]

Is THIS the oldest motorway sign on the Uk network ?

Still there three years later. It'll probably disappear if or when the central barrier is replaced with concrete.

[James1978]

This sign at the bottom end of the M69 may well be the original from when it opened in 1977.

Originally the straight-on had a "No Entry" sign and you can clearly see where it was patched when Coventry Eastern Bypass opened in 1989. The "00" is a patch too.

(Pretty much qualifies for "Manky Signs" as well.)

I noticed the services one on the M69 which I posted on the first page of this thread is now history, it was one of my favourites (Went sometime between July 2018 and October 2020 - the last Google image with it on is Sep 2017 but I did last drive past in in July 2018 and it was still there then).

[Alderpoint]

I noticed the services one on the M69 which I posted on the first page of this thread is now history, it was one of my favourites (Went sometime between July 2018 and October 2020 - the last Google image with it on is Sep 2017 but I did last drive past in in July 2018 and it was still there then).

Strange the line of cones marking where it was have remained for many years!

[Osthagen]

Not a really old sign but this sign at A1(M) J57 going north is clearly a post-1994 like-for-like replacement of a 1960s standards motorway gantry sign, with the Highways Agency clearly not realising that the standard was out of date.

It lists the destinations in a 'X and X' formula (in this case 'Darlington and Teesside A66(M). Durham and Newcastle A1(M)'), and J57 might be the only junction in Britain to feature such gantries. Apparently it used to be more common on other routes, so you would see things like 'Sheffield and Leeds' on the M1 North, for example.

[RichardA626]

Do any Motorways Merge signs still exist?

[Octaviadriver]

Do any Motorways Merge signs still exist?

This one is where the slip from the M6 westbound meets the M42 southbound.
https://goo.gl/maps/HC9KeLjcPZ7Y9p5W9

[Big L]

Do any Motorways Merge signs still exist?

This one is where the slip from the M6 westbound meets the M42 southbound.
https://goo.gl/maps/HC9KeLjcPZ7Y9p5W9

This one not far away, rendered hideously inaccurate 20+ years ago when the M6 Toll barged its way through.

[Darren]

Do any Motorways Merge signs still exist?

Yes, this one on the M26 was replaced just over 15 years ago:

https://goo.gl/maps/VXQ274V8Dkw3LGT57

[Bryn666]

Do any Motorways Merge signs still exist?

Loads. The big cluster is still in the Midlands around the M6/M42/M40 but more locally there's a giant one at the end of the M55. This was, incidentally, also where the final surviving Anderson sign on a mainline motorway was - the M6 southbound still had the Anderson "Motorways Merge" sign until about 2001/2.

[Komi san]

Do any Motorways Merge signs still exist?

Yes, this one on the M26 was replaced just over 15 years ago:

https://goo.gl/maps/VXQ274V8Dkw3LGT57

This RCS also must be over 30 years when they show patched Channel Tunnel.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/CeRgrW6rHpwoyY6q9
Oldest services sign in UK?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/HSmhytSQahsJuWBYA
Too lazy to replace this choptick that remind M62 times in Manchester?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/m5DEo2P6ay5BXdna7
And this one
https://maps.app.goo.gl/cJ4q94eitL5FHX6h7

[RichardA626]

Thanks everyone for the feedback about Motorways Merge signs!

[ManomayLR]

Is THIS the oldest motorway sign on the Uk network ?

Still there three years later. It'll probably disappear if or when the central barrier is replaced with concrete.

"Facilities for the disabled".

I feel like it'll disappear as soon as someone mentions it using an outdated term.
Or maybe they'll just patch it with "universally accessible facilities" or something.

[Komi san]

Is THIS the oldest motorway sign on the Uk network ?

Still there three years later. It'll probably disappear if or when the central barrier is replaced with concrete.

"Facilities for the disabled".

I feel like it'll disappear as soon as someone mentions it using an outdated term.
Or maybe they'll just patch it with "universally accessible facilities" or something.

In current political correctness yes.

[Osthagen]

Is THIS the oldest motorway sign on the Uk network ?

Still there three years later. It'll probably disappear if or when the central barrier is replaced with concrete.

"Facilities for the disabled".

I feel like it'll disappear as soon as someone mentions it using an outdated term.
Or maybe they'll just patch it with "universally accessible facilities" or something.

I'd be inclined to agree, but I suspect it would have been replaced far sooner had it been next to the hard shoulder. It's location in the central reservation probably makes it problematic to replace. Yes, when one of those hideous concrete barriers is erected, it will certainly go.

Still, I don't think the sign in question dates from any earlier than the 1980s, and there's at least some plausibly 1970s signs still on the network. Mainly on thr urban motorways.

[Peter Freeman]

^ Pre 1970's near Leeds IRR tunnel?

[scott125]

This sign at the bottom end of the M69 may well be the original from when it opened in 1977.

Originally the straight-on had a "No Entry" sign and you can clearly see where it was patched when Coventry Eastern Bypass opened in 1989. The "00" is a patch too.

(Pretty much qualifies for "Manky Signs" as well.)

Interesting. Is the streetlighting in that shot original too?