especially on Primary roads, of edge markers as now used on motorways, but trials should be made to determine their best design, siting and spacing (paragraph 129).
Primary routes should be distinguished by having green directional signs with white lower-case lettering and yellow route numbers. This would assist travellers to find their way. It might also enable a code of improved driver conduct to be attached to Primary routes. On all other roads legends should be black on white. Letter heights should be based on vehicle speeds and road layout (paragraph 136).
Certain criteria are recommended for the selection of Primary routes (paragraph 137). These are likely to be predominantly trunk and class I roads. Primary routes should avoid urban centres, but this will only be possible where complete ring roads exist. Urban Primary routes should be kept as few and as simple as possible (paragraph 138).
Directional signs on Primary routes should have a dark background because, as on motorways, this makes it possible to reflectorise the legend only and to have large signs without detriment to amenity. Blue should be reserved for motorways. The dark green of B.S. 2660 No. 6-074 is recommended because it is the most satisfactory colour in urban as well as rural environments and because continuity of directional sign colour throughout Primary routes is important (paragraph 140).
Lettering of place names on directional signs should always be in lower-case with initial capitals and route letters in upper-case (paragraph 141).
The letter heights recommended for all-purpose roads are divided into four groups. These are in Appendix V (paragraph 141).
All names on directional signs should be in lettering of the same size, an exception may be admitted only for long names which cannot be abbreviated or hyphenated (paragraph 142).
Route numbers and letters on Primary routes should be yellow and equal in height to the capital letters used on the sign (paragraph 143).
Route symbols should indicate the layout of the junction or roundabout. The relative importance of the intersecting routes should be indicated by different widths of the arms of the symbol (paragraph 144).
Instead of the existing chequer symbol to denote routes which may be joined indirectly, brackets should be used round the route number. These brackets should be yellow on Primary routes, black on other roads (paragraph 145).
On Primary routes the place names carried on directional signs should normally be confined to the next place of traffic importance. Departments should decide what places rank as places of traffic importance (paragraph 146).
A place name once mentioned on any class of directional sign should continue to be shown on that class of sign until it is reached (paragraph 146).
Rules for the design of direction signs are at Appendix VIII. These rules will be amplified in the light of experience and when issued must be followed by highway authorities and signmakers (paragraph 147).
Owing to the great safety value of indicating the layout of a junction visually, as is done by map type advance direction signs, a sign in stack form should be used only where there is not enough space for a sign in map form. But local advance direction signs should always be in stack form (paragraph 148).
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