Page:Report of the Departmental Committee on Traffic Signs (1946).djvu/54

 Street name-plates and street numbering

144. Hitherto street name-plates have not been regarded as traffic signs to be governed by Regulations made by the Minister under Section 48 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930. We have been impressed by the frequency and unanimity with which representative associations of road users have emphasised the importance to the safety and convenience of all traffic, of uniformity of practice in the display of legible street name-plates and street numbers. We therefore feel justified in referring to the subject in some detail.

The statutory provisions with regard to the naming and numbering of streets are contained, for England and Wales, in Sections 64 and 65 of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847, as incorporated in the Public Health Act, 1875, and in Sections 17, 18 and 19 of the Public Health Act, 1925. These statutes require the local authority to cause the houses and buildings in its area to be marked with numbers, and to put or cause to be put up in a conspicuous place the name by which the street is to be known. These powers are (outside the County of London) in force in all boroughs and urban districts. The Minister of Health has powers to apply the provisions to rural districts or parts of rural districts. Responsibility under the Acts is vested solely in the local authority.

In the County of London the County Council is required under the terms of the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act, 1939, to make Regulations as to the setting up of street names and the numbering of houses. Owing to the war the making of these Regulations has been delayed, but when they are made the Metropolitan Boroughs will be required to comply with them, the County Council having powers in default of their observance by the local authority to do any necessary work and recover the cost from the local authority.

In Scotland, under Sections 144 and 145 of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, similar powers are exercisable in burghs and by adoption of these Sections, in any special Lighting, Scavenging, Drainage or Water District of a County Council. In a number of larger towns to which the 1892 Act is not applicable similar provisions are contained in local Acts.

The position is, therefore, that outside the County of London most local authorities have the necessary powers and are required to erect, or cause to be erected, street name plates, though there is no machinery for any check on the manner in which they exercise them. Similar remarks apply to the application of the powers of local authorities with respect to street numbering.

The results obtained by the exercise of existing statutory powers are, in our opinion, unsatisfactory. We consider that the Minister’s attention should be specifically directed to the matter in view of its importance from the aspects of both safety and circulation of traffic, and we make the following recommendations which differ only in matters of detail from those which have from time to time been endorsed by representative bodies, including the 1933 Committee.

Street Name-plates

(a) Street name-plates should be fixed as near to the street corner as possible, and in any case not more than 10 ft. from the intersection of the highway boundaries.

(b) The most suitable height in city areas is about 8 ft. above the road level but in suburban and other areas where there are comparatively low fences and hedges, a less height may have to be accepted. In any case the bottom of the plates should not be less than 3 ft. or more than 12 ft. above road level.

(c) Name plates should be fixed at every street corner on both sides of each street, except that at junctions where a main street extends on each