Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signposting Policy and Guidance

The New Trunk Road Policy

BARRY ASPINALL

TRANSPORT SCOTLAND

The New Policy

• Reason for Review

• Review Procedure

• Key Changes

Reason for Review

• Old policy from 1992 and 1998

• New Traffic Signs Regulations in 2002

• English Policy and Guidance 2004

• General Inconsistency in the application of old Policy

The Policy Review

TRL were commissioned in August 2003 to review the old Policy

Initial consultation in September 2003• Letters sent to around 100

stakeholders• Around 30 responses• Key Issues identified

Workshops – January 2004

Day 1 – Tourist facility operators, Enterprise Companies

Day 2 – Area Tourist Boards, motoring organisations, Scottish Executive, Transport Scotland

Day 3 – Local authorities, trunk road managing contractors

40 representatives attended

Workshops –Issues Identified Symbols

• No consensus• Preference for ‘Thistle’ retained

Distance criteria• Need more local flexibility• Need to avoid proliferation

Visitor numbers• Need to retain but be more

flexible• Need to accept ‘seasonality’

Workshops –Issues Identified Retail Outlets

• Inconsistency between motorways and other roads

• ‘Tourist shops’ only

Quality Assurance requirements• Need more flexibility• Need to recognise other QA

schemes

Application Procedure• Too complex and too many

organisations• Need a ‘one stop shop’

Draft Policy Consultation

Draft Policy was published as a Consultation Paper on the Scottish Executive website in November 2005 and sent for comment to Tourist facility operators Enterprise Companies Area Tourist Boards Motoring organisations Scottish Executive Transport Scotland Local authorities Trunk road managing contractors

New Policy Published

Policy published on 9 October 2006 with electronic copies available on Transport Scotland web site.

Main Changes

Definition of Tourist Destination was brought into line with TSRGD 2002, which states that

A Tourist Destination is a permanently established attraction or facility which:

(a) attracts or is used by visitors to an area; and (b) is open to the public without prior booking

during its normal opening hours; and

(c) is recognised by VisitScotland

Main Changes

Home Traffic Authority (HTA)

• Applicants have now a single point of contact• HTA co-ordinates assessment with other

authorities.• The HTA is the road authority of the road

immediately accessed from the tourist destination.

• The HTA does not decide whether signs are approved in other authority areas.

Main Changes

Retail outlets can now be signed from motorways• Tourist (brown) signs only when accredited as a

‘tourist shop’ and meeting all other criteria• Standard direction signs used where required for

traffic management reasons

Main Changes

Visitor Number Criteria• Still required on motorways only• 50,000 visitors per year• Seasonality measure (10,000 visitors in peak

month)• Projected visitor numbers now allowed• Relaxations for historic or cultural attractions

Main Changes

Tourist Signs on Urban Motorways• Difficult to locate signs on

urban motorways• No new tourist signs unless a

significant case for them• Take account of visitor

numbers, visitors from outside area, access arrangements

• Eligible attractions expected to receive several hundred thousand visitors per year

Main Changes

Environmental Impact• New requirements for additional

consultation in certain areas• National Parks, National Scenic Area,

Geoparks, Areas of Great Landscape Value, conservation areas.

• Further guidance in ‘Road Furniture in the Countryside’

Main Changes

Signs to accommodation• B&B and hotels can now be signed from

all-purpose trunk roads (if local policy allows)

• Normally only if attraction is within 6 miles of trunk road

• ‘Thistle’ symbol should be used

Symbols Destinations accredited by VisitScotland

use ‘Thistle’ symbol ‘Thistle’ symbol may be supplemented or

replaced in certain circumstances

Local Facilities Signs

Facilities signs are not tourist signs• Destinations do not need to be

recognised by VisitScotland

Diagrams 2328 and 2329• Alternative to Local Facilities Signs• To direct visitors to small towns/villages

not on main through route• Destinations must meet basic tourist

criteria• ‘Thistle’ symbol not necessary• Not permitted on motorways

Collective signing

Guidance is given on the use signing towns with several attractions

Diagram 2215 for all-purpose roads Diagram 2927 for motorways

National Tourist Routes

Guidance is given on signs for• National tourist routes and

tourist trails

• National Parks and Geoparks

• Other geographic areas

• Boundary signs need special authorisation

Sign Design Guidance

Destination Legends• Lengthy destination legends to be avoided• May need shortened• Max 4 words on single destination sign• Max 2 lines describing single destination• Max 8 lines on any sign

X-heights• Use LTN 1/94 guidance at all times• X-heights for all destinations on a sign must be

the same

Financial Arrangements

On trunk roads and motorways all tourist signing is provided at the expense of the applicant.

This cost includes the design, manufacture, supervision of works, posts and fittings, concrete, erection, traffic management, lane rental charges and safety fencing.

Applicant should be made aware of likely costs at an early stage.

Financial Agreement

• A specific agreement must be made between the trunk road authority and the applicant prior to the installation of tourist signing

Design, Manufacture and Installation

Some HTAs will require that the design is carried out in-house whilst others will require designs to be carried out by approved consultants.

The approved signs must be manufactured by a sign manufacturer approved by the HTA.

In the case of signs on Trunk Roads and Motorways, the signs must be installed by an approved contractor in liaison with the trunk road operator.

Maintenance

Once the signs have been installed, they come under the control of the trunk road authority.

No alterations to the signs can be made without the consent of the trunk road authority.

The trunk road authority will be responsible for maintenance and repair of the signs including cleaning and the operation of variable flaps or covers.

The Future?

Ensure that tourist destination is a “point of interest” on GPS networks.