Council plans road signs that actually show the way

Signposts on the North Shore are too general and strangers are getting lost in its sprawling suburbs, so the city has vowed to get specific.

One of the first to go will be an overhead gantry sign on the Northern Motorway at Tristram Ave northbound announcing "East Coast Bays". Critics say that the East Coast Bays is an 11km coastal strip with at least nine suburbs, so such signs are meaningless.

The removal is part of a purge of advanced direction signs for 53 intersections on the city's main arteries.

Emphasis is on "trail blazing" signs so that a destination is consistently signed through each intersection until it is reached.

Diagram signs will help motorists prepare to get in the right lane when approaching intersections.

Errors in the urban route numbering system will be corrected and missing signs and hard to read signs will be replaced.

"A sensible way of directing people around the city is well overdue after a decade of discussions," said the city council's infrastructure chairman Tony Barker.

The community board agreed that the East Coast Bays sign at Tristram Ave was too broad a destination.

Browns Bay and Mairangi Bay will receive individual exit signs, with Long Bay Regional Park.

The council also wanted a destination sign for the North Shore Events Centre. However, Mr Barker said an argument had to be settled over whether the whole name could fit on a sign without being too hard to read.

Long Bay Regional Park, which is Auckland's most visited park, will get a destination sign with a brown background easily identified on tourist's maps.

North Shore Stadium and North Shore Hospital will be signposted.

Tawa Dr is to be removed from the off ramp signs at Greville Rd and replaced with Rosedale.

Transit New Zealand has to approve sign changes on motorways.

Transit traffic safety engineer Brian Rainsford said there were four exits for the East Coast Bays so new destination signs - 500 metres before the on ramp - would give motorists one shot at taking the most direct route.

Auckland City has large map signs with white lettering on blue background in advance of arterial roads.

Manukau City is reviewing its advanced direction sign strategy involving about 200 signs.

Traffic engineer Bruce Conaghan said Manukau City was relatively easy to get round without getting lost and isolated from a main road.

What do you think?

Do Auckland's road signs make it easy to navigate around? What's the worst sign? Fax newsdesk: (09) 373-6421