Star.pngStar.pngStar grey.pngStar grey.pngStar grey.png

Warning Sign/Steep Hill

From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search


Steep Hill
Cornwall sign - Coppermine - 1194.JPG
The modern Steep Hill sign
Cameraicon.png View gallery (68)
TSRGD ref  : 523.1 / 524.1 / 583
From  : 1920s
To  : present
Changes  : 1975, 1990s?
Variants  : Slow Lorries
Common Plates  : Low Gear Now  • (for) x yds / miles

Pre-Worboys sign

Steep Hill into Eskdale - Geograph - 453745.jpg

The Pre-Worboys sign design for Steep Hills had the standard red triangle at the top of the post, with a plate below. Sometimes the plate appears to have simply stated 'Steep Hill', but more often than not it featured a 45 degree right angled triangle with text below. The text could again simply read 'Steep Hill', or 'Hill 1 in x'. It is not clear whether the symbol was reversed to indicate an ascent or descent, or indeed if signs were used at both ends of a hill.

Worboys Report sign

Low gear - A93.jpg

Following the Worboys report, all warning signs had a symbol inserted into the red triangle. In the case of the Steep Hill signs the triangle symbol was changed quite significantly, becoming much flatter, and cut off to the shape of the red triangle on the up-hill side. This was to provide room for the '1 in x' text to be inserted above the symbol, within the red triangle. More recently the '1 in x' text has been steadily replaced with percentages although it seems that the general public still have little idea of what is steeper!

Whilst the sign is now definitely reversed to presumably indicate whether the hill is up (slope up from left to right) or down (slope up from right to left), this detail often seems to be missed by the sign designers, which on occasion makes it difficult to anticipate what may be just around a corner. The signs are often set above plates bearing the text 'for x miles' or 'Low gear now'. Sometimes a combination is used in the format 'Low gear for x miles' as seen to the left.

Slow lorries

Another variant, generally only found on hilly parts of Motorways and dual carriageways, is the 'Slow moving vehicles likely on incline ahead' sign, which features the slope of the uphill steep hill warning sign with the lorry silhouette used on a variety of regulatory signs, and indeed the black Goods Vehicle Direction Signs.

The intention of the sign is to forewarn other drivers that they may need to pull out into an outer lane in order to overtake vehicles that they may normally expect to travel with. Roads which feature this sign are increasingly gaining an a additional lane to allow for the slow moving lorries, such as the M5 between Gordano Interchange and Clevedon Interchange.

Irish sign

Irish warning signs W 105 Steep Descent and W 106 Steep Ascent, as prescribed in the Traffic Signs Manual 2010, are – apart from having the standard yellow diamond background shape and colour used on all warning signs in Ireland – virtually identical to their UK equivalents. Descents are indicated by a percentage figure surmounting a triangle the top edge of which descends from left to right, and vice versa for ascents. The signs are normally used in all cases where the gradient is greater than or equal to 10% for a distance of at least 30 metres.




Warning Sign/Steep Hill
Related Pictures
View gallery (68)
M90, Balmanno Hill - Coppermine - 11037.jpgRievaulx Bank - Coppermine - 7809.jpgB5055 Heading Downhill to Bakewell - Geograph - 1370827.jpgA9 Cambusavie - Slow lorries for 1 mile.jpgOld Youghal Road steep hill.jpg
Traffic Signs
TypesInformation (UK TSRGD) • (IRL TSM) • Regulatory (UK TSRGD) • (IRL TSM) • Warning (UK TSRGD) • (IRL TSM)
UKAnderson report • Worboys report • Traffic Sign Design • TSRGD and TSM (Motorway alphabet • Transport alphabet) • Guildford Rules
IrelandTraffic Signs Manual • Gaeltacht Signage
MiscellaneousBilingual signs • List of Street Furniture Manufacturers
Warning Signs
List of Warning Signs in TSRGDAdvance Warning of Wig Wag Signals • Agricultural Vehicles • Bend • Cattle Grid • Cattle / Sheep • Children • Cross Roads • Cycle Route • Double Bend • Dual Carriageway Ends • Edge of Carriageway Marker • Falling Rocks • Flood & Try Your Brakes • Ford • Gate • Horses • Hump Bridge • Ice & Snowdrifts • Level Crossing with Gates or Barriers • Loose Chippings • Low Flying Aircraft • Maximum Headroom • Maximum Speed • Military Vehicles • Opening Bridge • Open Level Crossing • Other Danger • Overhead Electric Cable • Pedestrians • Plates below Signs • Quayside • Queues Likely • Reduce Speed Now • Risk of Grounding • Road Humps • Road Narrows • Roadworks • Roundabout • Sharp  Deviation of Route • Side Road • Side Winds • Slippery Road • Soft Verges • Staggered Junction • Steep Hill • Stop or Give Way Ahead • T Junction • Traffic Merges • Traffic Signals • Trams Crossing • Tunnel Ahead • Two Way Traffic • Uneven Road • Wild Animals (various)
Other Warning SignsAccident Black Spot

SABRE - The Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts
Discuss - Digest - Discover - Help