Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the cost of duplicating road signage on minor country roads.

In order to reduce sign clutter, the Government issued a special direction in 2012 to provide English traffic authorities with the discretion to place one traffic sign at the start of a restriction or prohibition instead of two. New traffic signs regulations coming into force next year will extend this freedom to speed limit signs. We will provide new guidance to help traffic authorities determine where it is safe and appropriate.

The Department for Transport does not hold data on the number and cost of duplicated traffic signs on minor county roads. We recently conducted research into the number of traffic signs on roads in England, but this did not differentiate between road types.

More information on the new regulations and the research may be viewed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/traffic-signs-regulations-and-general-directions-2015