Developer guidance notes for street name plate installation

The Developer is reminded of the continuing need to maintain a good standard of street name plates and property numbering schemes and to improve existing standards where necessary.

Both are essential for the efficient functioning of the Postal and Emergency Services as well as for the convenience and safety of the general public. It should be remembered that street names need to be legible by night as well as by day.

Installation of street name plates

Street name plates should be fixed as near as possible to street corners, so as to be easily readable by drivers as well as pedestrians. The name plate should normally be within 3 metres of the intersection of the kerb lines, but where this is not practicable the distance may be varied up to a maximum of 6 meters.

Street name plates should be mounted so that the lower edge of the plate is approximately 1 metre above the ground at sites where they are unlikely to be obscured by pedestrians or vehicles and at approximately 2.5 metres where obscuration is a problem. They should never be lower than 0.6 metres or higher than 3.6 metres.

Name plates should normally be fixed at each street corner. At minor crossroads, particularly in residential areas, one plate on each side of the street positioned on the offside of traffic emerging from the road may be sufficient, except where the road name changes or where it is thought that paragraph 8 would apply. At major crossroads, name plates will be necessary on both sides of each arm.

At T-junctions a main street name plate should be placed directly opposite the traffic approaching from the side road.

Where the street name changes at a point other than a cross-roads both names should be displayed at the point of change and many local authorities have found it useful to include arrows to indicate clearly to which parts of the street the names refer.

On straight lengths of road without intersections name plates should be repeated at reasonable intervals with priority given to such places as bus and railway stations and opposite entrances to well frequented sites such as car parks.

Where two streets branch off obliquely from a common junction with a third street, plates on fingerpost mountings can be useful, provided they do not obscure any traffic sign.

Where it might reasonably be expected, for example at intervals on long straight lengths of road or at intersections or T-junctions, many local authorities have found it useful to incorporate on the name plate information indicating the street numbers on either side of the intersection.

Whenever practical, street name plates should be mounted on walls, buildings or other boundary structures at the back edge of the footway. Post mounting or finger mounting should only be used where normal mounting does not make the plate conspicuous (e.g. where an important side road has a narrow entrance or in the exceptional circumstances mentioned in paragraph 7 above, or where it will frequently be obscured by pedestrian movement and cannot be mounted at the 2.5 metre height).

The name plates should be so fixed that there is a clear space of at least 300mm in every direction between them and any notices, advertisements or other printed or written matter and where possible greater clearance should be provided. Name plates should not be incorporated in other direction sign assemblies, but be kept distinct and mounted in as standardised a manner as possible. Care should be taken to keep the view of name plates free from obstruction by trees and other growth.

Where possible, name plates should be fixed so that they will be illuminated by light from street lamps, especially at important junctions, provided they remain visible to vehicles on the main carriageway.

Duplication of street names or nearly similar street names should be avoided within one postal area.

Specification for street name plates

General

Street nameplates shall be provided on both sides and at each through road and be sited at the back of the footway.

They shall also be provided at intersections and junctions at the discretion of the D.P.T.S. A location plan showing the required positions will be supplied by the D.P.T.S. after the roads have been allocated names.

Generally they shall be sited in accordance with the recommendations of the Department of Transport Circular Roads 35/37 dated 8^th December 1977.

Nameplates

These shall consist of 225mm (9in.) wide non-reflective die-pressed aluminium plate with a semi-sheared stove enamelled finish. The lettering shall be of the 90mm (3 1/2in.) Kindersley type and shall be black on a white background. There shall also be a 12mm (1/2in.) black border around the edge of the nameplate (see drawing number 1.)

On occasions, where appropriate, a street nameplate incorporating a “No Through Road” symbol maybe required. This shall be constructed in accordance with drawing number 2 of the specification.

Frames and Legs

The frame around the nameplate is to be 40mm X 40mm iron. The legs to be 50mm X 50mm box section steel 1.2m long with base plates and plastic closing caps.

Frames and legs to be hot dipped galvanised to B.S.729 .

Erection

The nameplates should be fixed to the frame by pop rivets and covered by plastic caps of a colour to match nameplates. The legs shall be concreted into the ground so that when erected the lower edge of the nameplates shall be approximately 0.6 metres (2ft) above ground level.

Supplementary Wording

Where additional information is to be included on the nameplate the main wording is to be offset to the top of the plate. 50mm (2in.) black M.O.T. is to be used for additional wording, offset from the bottom.

On estate roads where the same road name is to be utilised for more than one spur, information concerning the house numbers in that spur must be provided.