Written Answers - Road Signage.
Cecilia Keaveney
Question:
393
Cecilia Keaveney
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the plans he has to have Donegal or any of the towns in the county mentioned on road signage on the northern points of exit from Dublin and if he will make a statement on signage policy.
[11562/01]
My Department has published the Traffic Signs Manual – 1996 – as a comprehensive guide to the provision of road signage in Ireland. The manual covers all aspects of road traffic signs and sets out the technical and other standards to be followed in the provision and maintenance of signs. The use of the manual is intended over time to lead to greater uniformity of practice and to the creation of a more consistent approach to signing generally.
Chapter 2 of the manual deals specifically with directional information signs and road authorities are reminded that the consistency of destinations displayed is important. Specific guidance is given in relation to recognised terminal destinations of routes with the recommendation that a destination mentioned on one sign be repeated on all subsequent signs until it is reached. Terminal destinations on the national routes are towns, cities or ports at the terminal of national routes or, for the convenience of road users, at the terminals of the extended route in the case of cross border routes. Formal designations of national routes under the Roads Act, 1993, relate solely to roads within the national jurisdiction.
At present the N3 terminates in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and accordingly, I am advised that the destination signage on leaving Dublin indicate this. Enniskillen is also mentioned on these signs, first, due to the fact that it was the original terminal destination prior to the N3 being extended to Ballyshannon and, second, to inform road users that in order to reach Ballyshannon using this route a crossing of the Border with Northern Ireland will be required. In the case of the N2, the terminal destination is Derry.
The National Roads Authority – NRA – has assumed direct responsibility for the provision of directional signage and delineation on national roads. Issues arising in this connection may be appropriately addressed to NRA.
In its role of oversight of the non-national roads programme, my Department issued a circular letter to road authorities in August 1998 emphasising the importance of providing and maintaining a high standard of road signage. My Department's memorandum on grants for non-national roads, which issued on 5 February 2001, again reminded local authorities of the need to bring their signage on the non-national road network up to the standards of the traffic signs manual. This memorandum also reminded local authorities of the need to provide road signposting so as to assist foreign tourists at points of entry to the country and to remedy any deficiencies in this regard as quickly as possible.
