Page:Report of the Traffic Signs Committee (1963).pdf/40

 into the town to join up with other Primary routes entering it from the side on which there is no by-pass. Obviously, these urban Primary routes should be kept as few and as simple as possible and retained only until such time as they can be eliminated.

139. It was for the reasons given in paragraph 133 as regards motorway signs that we felt a dark background should be used for directional signs on Primary routes. Blue being reserved for motorways was not available. We observed the experimental use of black in Oxfordshire but the majority of us thought that this was too funereal for general use and also that it lacked target value when used for small signs. After considering other colours we concluded that green held most promise.

A considerable number of experiments were carried out for us in built-up areas to determine whether signs with a green background would have a sufficient target value in that environment, and we are satisfied that they would. In reaching this conclusion we took into account that speeds in these areas are not high, that the white legends and route symbols which we recommend have themselves a considerable target value, and that where there is street lighting all advance direction signs should have independent direct lighting at night. We considered the possibility of yellow. Though this would have been very visible in urban areas and for this reason some of our members preferred it, most of us thought it unacceptable aesthetically; and it would also have involved discontinuity in the colour of directional signs on Primary routes which we thought it important to avoid.

After experiments with heavier route symbols and white borders it was felt that green background signs would have a satisfactory target value in urban areas as well as ensuring continuity.

140. We found considerable difficulty, however, in agreeing on the appropriate shade of green for the background. Our problem was to find a shade which was light enough to be clearly recognisable as green in varying conditions of light and one which would be adequately conspicuous in urban and rural areas whilst not being offensive on amenity grounds whatever the nature of the background against which it would be seen. After a great deal of thought and experiment with various shades of green in many different circumstances we finally chose British Standard colour 2660 No. 6-074. This is the colour which has already been in use on the Stamford by-pass since October 1960 without evoking adverse comments. To the majority of us this seemed on balance to be the most satisfactory shade of green for use in urban as well as rural environments, on dark days and on bright, and under varied conditions of illumination.

Four of our number however (Messrs. Jack Howe, J. M. Richards, Peter Shepheard and L. Hugh Wilson) had reservations about the use of green, on amenity grounds and especially in relation to the countryside. The only green they were prepared to accept was British Standard colour 2660 No. 6-068, a darker and more muted shade than that favoured by the majority and one of the several shades with which the committee conducted full-scale experiments. These four members were convinced that the green chosen by the majority would have a damaging effect on many types of landscape and on architectually noteworthy town and village streets, and they saw no practical disadvantages