They tell us where we are, where we need to go and dictate how long we can stay there.
Street name signs and parking control signs are vital to the smooth running of our roads and parking areas.
For the first time since the late 1990s, the standards for these signs are undergoing a revision.
Standards Australia will soon release drafts available for public comment on AS 1742, the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices Part 5: street name and community facility signs and Part 11: parking controls.
National Road Signs Committee member Robert Morgan, who has represented IPWEA interests for more than 30 years, says Part 5 and Part 11 are “the ones that most affect local government”, and encourages local government practitioners to register any concerns and provide comments on the proposed revisions.
The parking sign standard was first released in 1989 and revised in 1999.
Morgan says a major amendment in 1999 was to area parking controls, which provide uniform parking control over a large area, commonly by signposting entries and exits rather than individual lengths of kerb.
“We got feedback from councils that the new area control system wasn’t being understood well enough” he says.
“As a result of feedback the 1999 revision included repeater signs.
“With parking signs, there’s also the connection between what's on the sign and the enforcement - there's always an issue that people are going to contest them."
Morgan says one issue that has been raised ahead of this year’s revision was area parking signs in multi-storey carparks that had different time restrictions on each level.
Otherwise, the revision builds on the strengths of the original 1989 standard, including legend sizes and the arrangement of information on signs.
“If the standard is followed, parking control signs are generally easy to read and easy to understand,” Morgan says.
“If it’s not followed, you risk facing problems like those recently encountered across Sydney, where there has been a public backlash to over-complicated parking signs with small, virtually unreadable text.”
For street name signs, Morgan says legibility is key.
“It’s important that councils use the standard font that’s legible and make sure the letter height and width is what the standard recommends,” he says.
“One issue that’s often poorly understood is that wider letters are easier to read than narrow letters.”
Some of the most common issues with street name signs that the standard seeks to avoid are:
- Types of lettering is that are difficult to read, such as very thin or curling text. What looks good in a book will not necessarily be easy to read quickly while driving.
- The colour and contrast of the text and background that make the sign difficult to read.
- Letters that are too narrow.
- Signs not located where drivers are looking for them.
You can visit the Standards Australia website to see if the drafts revisions to AS 1742.5 and AS 1742.11 are open for comment.