Vol. 566 No. 1
603 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Transport the plans he has to reposition signposts prior to junctions rather than at junctions to improve road safety; if he intends to abolish the use of per mile signposts in conjunction with the revision of speed limits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11747/03]
The Road Traffic Acts provide the legislative basis for the determination and provision of traffic signs and also provide that responsibility for the provision of traffic signs is vested in road authorities. The detailed policy in relation to the positioning of traffic signs addressing siting, placement, mounting heights and orientation considerations is set out in the traffic signs manual, which was published in 1996. A copy of the manual is available in the Oireachtas Library.
It is proposed to introduce metric units of measurement for road traffic speed limit signs and speed measurement in 2004 and to complete the ongoing conversion from imperial to metric values on road traffic distance signs at the earliest possible date. The change over to metric values in these fields of application will fulfil the requirements of the European Communities (Units of Measurement)(Amendment) Regulations 2002 (SI 619 of 2002) and of the European Communities (Units of Measurement) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 (SI 283 of 2001) in this regard.
The adoption of metric values for speed limits will create the need for alternations to the current imperial values and I am taking the opportunity afforded by the process of metrication to review the current speed limit structure.
