Road signs & a confused city

H. Kishie Singh

Chandigarh’s road signage falls into a very unique category of unseen or unknown in any other part of the world. These are very original. Unfortunately you don’t get any points for originality. You are obliged to adhere to set and strict norms for the safety and convenience of the motorists.

These norms date back to 1968 when the Vienna Convention on Road Signs was agreed upon by the UN Economic and Social Council. This was actually a revised and updated version of the 1949 Geneva Protocol on Road Signs and Signals, which evolved from the1931 Geneva Convention concerning the Unification of Road Signs.

Please note Unification of Road Signs. This is the operative phrase. Europe has been following these road signs for 90 years. Chandigarh is wandering in the wilderness trying to invent road signs.

The idea behind this multinational treaty was to increase road safety and aid international road traffic by standardising the signage system, like road signs, traffic lights and road markings, to mention a few for use internationally. Chandigarh’s road signage has failed miserably in following any of these recommendations.

Internationally, traffic signs fall into three main categories: mandatory, cautionary and informative.

The purpose of these three signs is to ensure safe and orderly movement. Again, Chandigarh has failed to ensure this.

Abbreviations further confuse the tourist. Sectt., Grn. Mkt. These and more abound. These are SMS abbreviations used by semi-literates. These convey nothing. Proof of this is that cars with out-of-town licence plates are seen asking for directions.

While on the subject of literate signage, this one takes the cake. The signage artists cannot spell Chandigarh street names correctly. The old signs at roundabouts spelt it as Udian Path. The sky-high signs spell it as Udyan Path. The previous sign boards were at eye level and easier to read. These mentioned street names, which is how these should be. The most important design of the signage has been ignored. This is because the engineer-in-charge has never heard of the Vienna Convention.

Signs have to be rectangular not square. A blue background denotes a highway. A green background denotes a primary route.

Chandigarh signage shows residential areas on a blue background and an almost square board.

Blue background cannot, repeat ‘cannot’ be used in the city.

The three most important signs mentioned earlier are as follows:

‘Mandatory’ means must. It could be Left Turn prohibited, U Turn prohibited and so on. No Parking means just that, No Parking! These signboards are circular on white background with a red border.

Some compulsory signs like Keep Left, Compulsory Turn Right or more. These are white arrows on a light blue background and circular.

‘Cautionary’ could indicate a narrow bridge, diversion, broken road, speed breaker, and the like. These are all triangular on white background with a red border.

Informative means rectangular signages with dark blue background, like petrol pump, toilets, eateries, telephone booth, hospital and so on. These three categories are approved by The Indian Road Congress, the apex body of Highway Engineers founded in 1934. Highway Engineers? Really? I don’t think we have any!

Driving around town the other day, I saw great big yellow metal frame being installed at some roundabouts. What for? Can’t wait to find out!

Happy Motoring!