BEFORE
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AFTER
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The English Heritage campaign ‘Save Our Streets’ was launched on 14 October 2004.
It is concerned that:
"The towns and villages of England are being blighted by superfluous signs, haphazard paving and unstructured footways…… our streets are losing their character. ‘Save Our Streets’ is a campaign to return England’s streets to places where people want to be, where all street users are accommodated…."
But this short report was begun before the English Heritage campaign. It was inspired by over-enthusiastic signage on Romsey's latest two developments: the upgrading of The Hundred/Latimer Street and of Church Place. It is not complete and some of its recommendations may not be practical but it is a start and it is hoped it will encourage others to add their views.
As an example of what can be done, the picture, (After) above show the tranquillity which descends on Latimer Street (viewed from The Hundred) when signs and posts are removed. For this, thanks are due to my grandson, Russell (aged 12) who carried out this remarkable improvement in less than 20 minutes!
Geoffrey Morris
Latimer Street 1 - Junction with The Hundred and Love Lane
Now that Latimer Street has been upgraded it is one of the prettiest streets in the town. But the accretion of road signs at the junction with The Hundred should be reviewed. At this point, traffic has been ‘calmed’ and is travelling slowly. There are only two minor T-junctions to contend with and all three roads at this intersection are one-way. Yet there are 13 signs here - many of them duplicated.
Why should instructions given by blue symbols have to be accompanied by a sign underneath in text? Emerging from Love Lane into Latimer Street (as in the picture) there are six such signs. In case a driver misses all of these, two ‘No Entry’ signs forbid driving up The Hundred.
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RECOMMENDATION
The proposal is to remove all signs and posts except the four below:
1. ‘No right turn’ from Love Lane to Latimer; this can be sited in Love Lane
2. One ‘No entry’ sign into Love Lane from Latimer; this can be fixed to the wall
3 ‘No right turn’ from Latimer into the Hundred; this can be fixed to the wall
4. One ‘No left turn’ into Latimer from The Hundred; this can be fixed to the wall
Finally, if obtrusive lamp posts in the conservation area were replaced by attractive wall-mounted street lights, clutter would be reduced and the Latimer Street junction would appear on the picture here
Latimer Street 2 - Junction with Lortemore car park entrance
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Only a hundred paces or so from the 13-sign junction with The Hundred is this further clutch of five signs.
The 'Humps for 200 yards' sign is unnecessary as the humps are very gentle and the traffic should not be travelling in excess of 30 mph. The other two signs indicating that the road is a one-way street may be necessary but could perhaps be mounted on the adjacent street lamps and the posts removed to avoid clutter.
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RECOMMENDATION
1. Remove the 'Humps for 200 yards' sign and its post
2. Fix the 'one-way street' signs on to the lamp posts and remove the sign posts.
Latimer Street 3 - Narrow section by Portersbridge Street
| Only a few paces from the five-sign junction with the car-park is a narrow stretch of road where signs give priority to traffic travelling north. There are several narrow stretches of road in the conservation area (Church Road or Church Lane for example) that are quite well used and have no signposts indicating priority. Does this short stretch really need two signs? Travelling south, there is only one sign instructing traffic to ‘give way to oncoming traffic yet this is more critical than the ‘Priority’ signs of which there are two. |
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RECOMMENDATION
Remove one, perhaps both of the ‘Priority’ signs and posts
Church Place - Narrow section by Portersbridge Street
| At the time of writing, these impressive signs at the entrance to the recently upgraded Church Place and another in Church Road have been recognised as inappropriate and HCC/TVBC are considering what to do about them. Nevertheless, Church Place is included in this survey as it shares a common problem with the Cornmarket.
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The two signs and another in Church Road indicate that motorists are entering a ‘Restricted Zone’. Having entered Church Place, three further signs (back to back with the ‘Restricted zone’ signs) tell the motorist that he is now in a ‘Controlled Zone’. This is too subtle for most people and many park illegally (often unintentionally) alongside the Magistrates Court. This sometimes leads to arguments with parking wardens about what the signs mean.
The principle of restricted zones can work well in large areas but in small areas such as this (and the town's Cornmarket) the signs become too obtrusive and in this case they dominate one of the most attractive and well-decorated scenes in the town. |
RECOMMENDATION
Drop the concept of restricted/controlled zones for small areas and remove all three pairs of signs. Replace them with discreet ‘no parking’ signs on some of the bollards on the Magistrates' Court side.
Double yellow lines in this space would be unattractive but they would be more effective than the existing signs and would look better than a row of cars. As things are, there are sometimes more cars parked illegally in Church Place than were parked legally prior to enhancement.
Abbey Water 1
| This ugly pair of signs, mounted on the standard galvanised pole at the eastern access to Abbey Water is adjacent to the medieval gateway to the Abbey Church and to the splendid URC Church. It is an otherwise uncluttered area The road name plate below could be fixed to the railings and its galvanised poles discarded. |
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Abbey Water 2
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Abbey Water is one of the town's beauty spots although, at the time of writing, it is marred by rubbish in the mill stream and an ugly concrete and steel handrail.
There are plenty of unmarked restricted width roads in Romsey's medieval streets and it is hard to see why this one has been honoured with a sign. The restricted width is self evident.
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RECOMMENDATION
1. Remove the restricted width sign from the western end of Abbey Water
2. Consider alternative ways of controlling the access of motor vehicles to this and other sensitive places in the conservation area
Bell Street
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Approaching Bell Street from Middlebridge Street, one is confronted with three 'one way' signs each mounted on its own galvanised pole. |
RECOMMENDATION
Remove all three posts and ‘one way’ signs and fix two ‘one way’ signs on the road crossing lamp posts
The Bypass
| This large sign is mounted high on two galvanised poles located by historic MiddleBridge on the Heritage Trail. Does it serve any useful purpose? The entrance to Middlebridge Street already has two ‘no entry’ signs to prevent vehicles from turning into it. |
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RECOMMENDATION
Remove the sign and its two poles
Broadwater Road 1 - Sign at Mountbatten House
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This sign outside Edwina Mountbatten house is on the fringe of the conservation area but, with the one below, is included because it is part of the face that Romsey presents to visitors. The camera foreshortens the view but this sign is in fact a long way from the roundabout. |
RECOMMENDATION
Remove the sign from the lamp post
Broadwater Road 2 - Sign at Roundabout
The large sign to the left of the picture is conveniently placed but is very unattractive. Much of the information is repeated on a sign (arrowed) on the wall surrounding the Dukes mill shopping centre. There would seem to be no serious loss if a larger sign on the wall carried all the information.
Because of its illuminated central reservation, there is clearly a roundabout ahead; is the 'give way' sign really necessary?
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RECOMMENDATION
1. Remove the large sign and its two supports and convey the information in a single sign fixed to the Dukes Mill shopping centre wall
2. Remove the 'give way' sign and its post
Broadwater Road Car Park 1 - Sign for the disabled
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Somewhat surprisingly, the Broadwater Road car-park lies within the conservation area. Two pairs of signs giving instructions for parking by disabled people are accompanied by a third pair a little farther along the toilet block. It is difficult to think why disabled people should need so much repetition. |
RECOMMENDATION
Remove two pairs of these signs
Broadwater Road Car Park 2 - Sign between seats
| This sign pleading with vandals not to misuse the seats is a delight but it should not be perpetuated as there are dozens of opportunities for such signs in the town. |
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RECOMMENDATION
Remove the sign
Broadwater Road Car Park 3
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Drivers planning to park may be interested to know this is the Broadwater Road car park. There is a sign the same as this at the entrance to it. The purpose of this sign letting them know they have returned to it is less obvious. |
RECOMMENDATION
Remove the sign
Cornmarket
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Of these two signs, the 'No Entry' is clearly required but the 'Pedestrians Zone Ends' is redundant. The change of surface indicates the change of conditions and there is no loss if drivers fail to recognise that.
The concept of pedestrian zones is good. The problem comes when the areas concerned (such as the Cornmarket) are small and the signs become relatively dominent.
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| The sign to the right of the picture indicates that motorists will find humps for the next 200 yards. On a fast road this would be important but here it is not. The large sign (left of the picture) tells us who resurfaced the Cornmarket. This is unnecessary clutter. If it were removed, the 'ahead only' sign next to it could be fixed to the lamp post and the existing post removed. The 'ahead only' sign could be rectangular which is less intrusive. |
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The large sign to the left of the picture tells us that this is a pedestrian zone; something which is evident from the change in surface texture. The parking and loading information on this sign could be given by discreet signs fixed on some of the bollards. Another sign to the rear of the pedestrian zone sign tells us, unnecessarily, that the pedestrian zone has ended. If this were replaced by a 'No Left Turn' sign, the 'No Entry' sign to the right of the picture could be removed. |
RECOMMENDATION
1. Remove both 'pedestrian zone ends' notices
2. Remove large green HCC notice claiming they resurfaced the Cornmarket
3. Remove 'Humps for 200 yards' sign
4. Remove 'No Entry' sign (right side of bottom picture) and replace it with a 'No Left Turn' sign in place of pedestrian zone ends notice (left of bottom picture)
5. Remove 'pedestrian zone begins' notice. Give parking and loading information on discrete signs fitted to some bollards
Market Place
| The rectangular sign on the Palmerston roundabout indicating that there is to be no unloading at any time is redundant because marks against the doubled yellow lines indicate the same thing. There are four of these signs on the roundabout. |
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The blue direction sign to the left of the picture seems to have no purpose as it can only be read by motorists driving the wrong way up The Hundred. There are four of these signs on the roundabout. |
| The sweep of the road, the white line and the raised cobbled area are sufficient indication that a roundabout is ahead. The 'roundabout ahead' sign and the blue direction sign are unnecessary.
The same argument applies to the approach to the Palmerston roundabout from The Abbey (road).
The approach from Bell Street needs a sign indicating that a roundabout is ahead. It could be sited in Bell Street. |
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RECOMMENDATION - With a view to un-cluttering Market Place:
1. Remove the four blue direction signs from the Palmerston roundabout
2. Remove the four unloading signs from the Palmerston roundabout
3. Remove the 'roundabout ahead' sign in Church Street and The Abbey (road)
To maintain safety:
1. Fix a new 'roundabout ahead' sign in Bell Street
Portersbridge Street
| Portersbridge Street has a fine collection of houses dating from medieval times via Georgian and Victorian to some sensitively designed 20th century buildings. It winds charmingly from Church Street to Latimer Street. This unusual sign indicating that the road narrows around the corner is unnecessary. As they turn left, drivers will find two further signs indicating that the road narrows and that should really be enough. |
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RECOMMENDATION
Remove the sign and its posts
Palmerston Street
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The view along Palmerston Road to The Hundred is one of the most delightful in the town.
It could be argued that this sign forewarns drivers that they must not turn left but even standing on the pavement to take this picture one of the two 'no entry' signs is visible.
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RECOMMENDATION
Remove the sign
The Hundred
This sign (near Linden Road) gives useful information and is included here because of its impoverished appearance that is not appropriate in a conservation area. The signs are bright blue and mounted on a galvanised pole.
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RECOMMENDATION
Replace the sign with a fingerpost to conservation area standard like the one outside the Old Magistrates Court
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TOP
Romsey Street Clutter
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