Coloured Lines May Replace Street Signs

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday March 13, 2007

Sunanda Creagh Urban Affairs Reporter

THOUSANDS of street signs may be removed from the CBD and replaced with coloured road line markings, under a plan proposed by the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore.

At a City of Sydney Council meeting last night, Cr Moore suggested coloured line markings could replace "No stopping" and "No parking" signs to reduce visual clutter and save on the cost of sign maintenance.

"This whole issue of signage is very important, and clutter creates urban blight. Secondly, it defeats the purpose for which it's put in; because there's so much of it, people stop noticing it," she said.

"In the worst cases, contradictory signage reduces safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians."

The council has removed 1557 signs and 1363 poles from the inner-city since June 2004, when it decided to review excessive signs. Thousands more could be removed if the line-marking system was introduced, Cr Moore said.

The council was unable to give details last night of how the line markings would look, but they could follow Britain, where yellow lines painted close to the kerb indicate parking restrictions.

"I think, as occurs in other cities, it could be by the kerb, maybe using different colours," Cr Moore said.

She did not say how much the marking plan would cost but promised it would be cheaper than signposts.

The proposal could only work in co-operation with the Roads and Traffic Authority, which has argued against a coloured road line-marking system in the past.

However, the authority's chief executive, Paul Forward, wrote to Cr Moore recently saying he would consider a proposal from the council.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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