Mosman Council to rip down pointless road signs

Too many unnecessary road signs are a blight on the Mosman landscape and will be ripped down, says Mosman Council.

Mosman councillor Libby Moline and Mayor Peter Abelson say Mosman is full of a confusing clutter of redundant road signs. Pic...

IN WHAT Mosman Mayor Peter Abelson calls a “war against signage”, the first shots have been fired.

The clutter of signage - the scourge of modern life on the lower north shore - will slowly and systematically be eradicated by Mosman Council wherever road safety rules allow.

The council’s first battle will be to remove as many No stopping signs as possible and instead mark the areas with yellow lines on the road.

“I am pleased to report a victory in the war against signage,” Cr Abelson said in his letter to residents.

Work has begun removing the signs on Military Rd and Belmont Rd.

Mosman Council wants to remove as many traffic and road signs as possible to reduce clutter and improve visual amenity.

The move is part of a suburb-wide audit of signage which is systematically identifying signs which are “redundant” and can be removed legally. Already, the number of signs on Belmont Rd have been cut from about 150 to 110.

The council is investigating how it can remove all 50km/h speed limits signs from the entire suburb as it believes they are redundant because it is the default speed limit.

The proliferation of council signs at Balmoral foreshore such as No dogs on reserve, No smoking on beach, No feeding the birds are also on the hit list.

Other signs targeted for removal include Neighbourhood Watch signs, bicycle symbols on bike parking stands, and a low speed limit sign on Queen St.

“People say we are sick of signs saying ‘don’t do this and don’t do that’ so we are working on the rationalisation of signage, as much as legally possible,” Mosman councillor Libby Moline said.

About 40 signs have been culled from Mosman streets in the council’s war against signage.

“Over time we’d like to see all street signs printed in the same print and colour scheme to give the suburb a uniform look with a village appearance.”

Cr Moline cited the worst areas of “visual pollution” in Mosman included at the intersection of Belmont and Mayhgah Roads where there is a “mish mash of signs that is confusing and very, very ugly.”

She said it has two crossings, yellow signs, a school zone, 40km/hr, a pedestrian crossing, a give way sign and speed humps.

Last year, the council tasked a new committee to “improve the visual amenity of Mosman, particularly in relation to rationalisation of signage and advertising”.

Other areas targeted for rationalisation include Raglan St and The Esplanade.

It will also look at ways of reducing advertising across the suburb and replacing standard steel street sign poles with square poles painted in heritage green.