N67 - finger post signs

Ji Case

Finger post signs on N67
On last Thursday employees or sub contractors of the NRA removed most (but not quiet all) the licenced finger post signs from a section of the N67 from the junction at Kilcolgan to the Clare boundary and perhaps beyond. Not only were the signs taken down, the posts were cut off at ground level. Most of these signs referred to bed and breakfasts and other small enterprises and would have been subject to a licence application to Galway Co Co and erected by Council employees. These signs are vitally important to small businesses, especially those situated off the main road.
When the workers were approached they said they were carrying on the instructions of the NRA and produced a phone no for an office in Waterford and a name for the person responsible ,C**** o ******** However a phone call to the no. got the response that C**** was 'off sick'.
It would be interesting to know if this is happening on other major tourist routes around the country or is it confined to a section of the N67 approaching Kinvara? In other words is it NRA policy to cripple already struggling small businesses or is somebody 'on a frolic of there own'?

biko

Ji Case wrote: »

It would be interesting to know if this is happening on other major tourist routes around the country

For a national discussion this is moved to Infrastructure.

Maybe it has more to do with clearing the singage clutter on our road network, see images below as an example





as for

In other words is it NRA policy to cripple already struggling small businesses

if those businesses are reliant on a road sign for their survival then they have bigger problems.

For example a B&B can:
- put their Loc8 code or similar on their website
- put a map on their site or embed a google map

In other words, they adapt to the change and make use of new services and tools that their customers are already using or they wither and die

I, for one, applaud the NRA for this, the visual pollution on our road network is ridiculous

murphaph

I hope this is true. About time some action was taken against this signage clutter. Most of these signs have NO PERMISSION and the owners could be prosecuted for their erection.

In 2011 people find B&Bs on the net, not from a roadside signpost. The NRA and local authorities have improved (generally) road signage immensely in recent years, far outweighing the loss to these businesses of single signs.

Far better to have a decent website with the road number on it and for the roads authority to have erected decent signage that allows your patrons to actually find you using a map and not happening upon your single signpost.

dubhthach

What's gas in a sense is one of thing tourists are always complaining about on the internet and elsewhere is the problem with signage, images like the above are often referenced as it's impossible when driving to often make out any detail as it's way to cluttered.

marmurr1916

Deleted User wrote: »

Maybe it has more to do with clearing the singage clutter on our road network, see images below as an example





I, for one, applaud the NRA for this, the visual pollution on our road network is ridiculous

Agreed.

It would be much better if we had this type of signposting for tourist destinations:





And something like this for tourist attractions within walking distance (say 500m) of a particular point:

murphaph

marmurr1916 wrote: »

It would be much better if we had this type of signposting for tourist destinations:

We do though. The TSM provides for brown tourist signage based on minimum visitor number criteria.

JupiterKid

I agree with the others here. The numerous finger post signs that are basically advertisements for private businesses are way, way too cluttered. It's good to the the NRA finally taking this matter seriously.

BTW that raises another issue - what about all the old black and white finger post signs that are sold to tourists as part of the "Ireland package?" Are these in any was protected or provided for?

murphaph

JupiterKid wrote: »

I agree with the others here. The numerous finger post signs that are basically advertisements for private businesses are way, way too cluttered. It's good to the the NRA finally taking this matter seriously.

BTW that raises another issue - what about all the old back and white finger post signs that are sold to tourists as part of the "Ireland package?" Are these in any was protected or provided for?

IMO any remaining cast iron finger post signage should be listed and preserved in situ as is done in the UK with such signs. The slight problem with that is that the distances are in miles, but tbh I don't think it's a massive problem. There are relatively few of these signposts left now and they are characteristically Irish, so should be looked after as part of our tourist industry and our own heritage. The state of a lot of these poor old signs however reveals that most Irish people don't give a sh!t about heritage.

Wrt this story, I am particularly heartened to hear the NRA are just cutting the poles at their bases, otherwise it would be a matter of days before the poles would be re-populated with these junk signs. I hope this measure isn't limited to N routes.

marmurr1916

murphaph wrote: »

We do though. The TSM provides for brown tourist signage based on minimum visitor number criteria.

I know that, but I'm talking about the style of signpost used. Instead of multiple fingerpost signs, one board style sign for multiple tourist destinations, as in the example from Scotland, could be used.

ftnbase

marmurr1916 wrote: »

I know that, but I'm talking about the style of signpost used. Instead of multiple fingerpost signs, one board style sign for multiple tourist destinations, as in the example from Scotland, could be used.

The biggest problem in Ireland is that signposts have to be / should be bi-lingual (except in Gaeltacht areas). This means that tourist signs need to be massive so that thay can be read by motorists - having a clutter of signposts with small text (x-height) is a hazard and the NRA should be applaused for removing and Local Authorities should be discouraged from issuing licences for them. Tourist attractions need to move to the Loc8 postcode type system immediately - road signs are a thing of the past.

NFD100

Even after all the investment in recent years, I still think Ireland has some of the worst signposting I've ever seen. Without being dramatic, It is some of the worst visual pollution out there (litter excepted.) A few things that stand out:

1. Badly erected signs (half way down poles, too many on one pole etc..)
2. Inappropriate locations
3. Badly maintained, unreadable, vegetation growing over them and mangled.
4. Inappropriate content
5. Lack of consistency. (Now you see it, now you don't)

I've driven in South Africa and New Zealand. Both these countries have excellent signage that you couldn't fault in anyway. Clear, consistent and easily read.