This paper described how the principles of sign design were established and how high-performance products are widely available and maintenance regimes are well understood and easily implemented. There is no reason that signs should not deliver their intended message clearly and adequately and with creating hazards to road users. Today's road travelers have high expectations and modern signing systems should always meet such expectations. Realizing that a modern road might cost millions of dollars per kilometer to construct, why not use a small percentage of that cost to provide and maintain signs to ensure that travel on the road is safe and efficient? Finally, it must be noted that signs can form the worst forms of visual clutter, producing an ugly roadside along which a plethora of signs degrades all sings in the minds of road users. The paper discusses the placement of major signs, but at a local level, the main factor determining the placement of curbside signs often appears to be the availability of a free meter of curb. Road managers need to be ever-vigilant to ensure that road signs are appropriately designed, placed, and maintained and that only signs critical to the driving task are placed in the driver's normal line of sight.
Abstract