Page:UK Traffic Signs Manual - Chapter 7 -The Design of Traffic Signs 2013.pdf/23

 below, but where the names occupy three or more lines the route number should always be positioned below the names and ranged left or right as appropriate. A single name such as "Market Harborough" may be on two lines which are centred horizontally. Other destinations in the block will be ranged left with the longest line (i.e. "Harborough" in the example given). A block may contain a patched route number and/or a symbol. Where a block has more than one line of legend the vertical space between each line is known as '"line spacing". Figure 3-14 shows the various combinations of line spacing, together with examples.

Where a non-patched bracketed route number is placed below the legend, line spacing is always 0.5 sw whether the legend has a descender or not.

Where a patch or symbol is placed below a tiled legend, line spacing is increased to 1 sw when the legend has a descender. However, where the descender tile is to the left or right of the patch or symbol by a horizontal distance not less than 2.5sw, the standard vertical gap of 0.5 sw can be used. For a patch this horizontal distance of 2.5 sw is measured from the outside vertical face, ignoring the radius on the corners. In the case of a symbol, judgement will be required in ascertaining the point from where the measurement is made (this may not necessarily be the edge of the symbol tile).

More than one destination block may be associated with the same route. The additional blocks will generally have different route numbers which will be bracketed. Facilities such as railway stations, hospitals, council offices etc. should be grouped together as a separate block and should not form part of the destination/route number block. There may also be instances where a village on a main route is not included with the primary destination and is shown below the route number. Again this forms a separate block. Tourist attraction, MoD, lorry route and parking place panels also are treated as separate blocks. All blocks associated with the same routes are grouped together and ranged left with a vertical gap between each block. This gap is known as "block spacing". Figure 3-15 shows the various combinations of block spacing, together with examples. Block spacing for destinations associated with different routes on map type signs is dealt with in paras 5.14 to 5.17.

Where a patch or panel has a border the vertical gaps for both line and block spacing are measured to the outside edge of that border.

Where a line of legend has a patched route number which does not overlap any tiled legend above or below, it may be possible to use the appropriate line or block spacing for the adjacent tiled legends. There should be a horizontal space of at least 6sw between the beginning of the left hand edge of the patch and the end of the line above or below. Examples are shown in figure 3-16.

Where a single block contains more than one destination and at least one of the destinations is on two lines, a vertical gap, similar to block spacing, is introduced between each destination to avoid any confusion. An example is illustrated in figure 3-17.

An aircraft symbol denoting an airport may be positioned alongside a place name. The same vertical positioning rules apply as for other symbols. As this symbol is likely to appear in a list of place names forming a destination block, line spacing for the individual place names and route number is adjusted, as shown in figure 3-18.

Where a sign contains several blocks associated with the same route, the clarity of the sign may be improved by increasing the block spacing by 2sw. This is particularly applicable to tourist attraction signs where long names might lead to sign overload. An example is shown in figure 3-19. 22