Making sense of road signs

H. Kishie Singh

New signs have come up at the PGI roundabout in Chandigarh. The chief engineer has ‘threatened’ to put them up at all the rotaries in the city. Not a good idea! The signs we have in the city serve no purpose, other than to deface the City Beautiful. 

It is a common sight in the city to see a car with an out-of-town license plate stopping by a PCR van and asking for instructions. That would not be necessary if the signage was adequate. This was pointed out in this column even on June 27, 2009. That is when this signage first appeared in the city. These failed to carry the message and that is the sole purpose of a signboard. 

The photograph shows a sign at the PGI rotary. It is being tom-tomed as ‘smarter signage’. Really? 

This sign cannot be found in the Indian Road Congress manual (IRC) that is followed in India. The IRC is the apex body of highway engineers in the country. It was established in December 1934. Nor does this signage comply with the norms of the International Road Federation or the International Road Congress or the World Road Association. So where did it come from?

I think the engineer plays Sudoku and this was the puzzle of the day. It was inadvertently given to the Works Department who made a signboard out of it. 

Maybe these numbers indicate sectors. The most outstanding feature of Chandigarh is the grid system. Each grid is called ‘sector’. This most important word is missing from the sign board. As it was in the signage in 2009. Someone does not know the genisis of Chandigarh. Sectors are what makes Chandigarh unique and gives it the honour of being designed as one of the best-designed cities in the world.

Now, I want to go to Sector 15 from 11. What do I do? According to these instructions, I go to Sector 9 which is Matka Chowk. I do an about turn and come down on the other side of Madhya Marg to get to Sector 15.

Actually, there is a road connecting Sector 11 to 15. This does not show on the sign board. So much for ‘smart signage’!

The background colour is wrong. According to International rules, and there are such things. Blue background is for highways, called motorways in UK, ‘auto bhan’ in Germany. ‘Auto strada’ in Italy, ‘inter state’ in the USA, all follow this rule. 

Nowhere in the world will you find a blue background signage in the heart of a city. A green background is mandatory for ‘A’ Roads or ‘arterial roads’. These roads connect the internal points, like from Sector 11 to Sector 15. The background colour is important. I have seen writings in scripts like Cyrillic (Russia), Magyar (Hungary), Greek, Arabic, Thai, Malaysian, which I could not  comprehend. However the colour carried a loud and clear message. 

I have driven in Mexico, USA, Canada. A two-year posting in Geneva allowed me to drive to just about every European country. I have driven overland from London to Chandigarh and this covers most countries in the northern hemisphere. 

At all times, road signs were my guiding light. But in my hometown I am confused, thanks to some uninformed PWD babu.

Happy motoring!