Road sign maintenance Road sign maintenance
Signs are a necessary physical resource used to communicate information, and therefore appropriate provision must be made to enable their erection, maintenance and removal without undue constraint.
Road signs
- Regulatory signs to advise drivers of restrictions such as speed limit signs, stop signs, and parking restriction signs
- Permanent warning signs to indicate the presence of road hazards such as curve warning signs, speed hump signs, and "slippery when wet" signs.
- Temporary warning signs to indicate hazards of a temporary nature such as road works signs, loose metal signs, and lane closure signs.
Sign maintenance
Auckland Transport maintains all road signs on the road network. This excludes signs on the motorway and state highway networks and signs providing direction to private or commercial locations (e.g. motels, shops etc).
If a company requests a private sign to be installed, the request must be made in writing and will be considered in accordance with the Control of Signs Bylaws.
The applicant covers all costs of supply and installation of the sign. If the sign requires maintenance, this is also the responsibility of the purchaser.
Request for a sign or street furniture
To request a new sign, a sign to be moved or the removal of a sign e.g. a parking or directional sign, simply contact us with the following information:
- The exact location of the sign
- Why you believe the restriction is required or requires relocation or removal
We also investigate requests for new street or roadside furniture (i.e. seats, barriers, bollards, edge-post markers and chevrons).
Reasons why a sign may be moved or removed
Signs may have adverse effects on road-user and pedestrian safety. Too many signs or signs that are located in inappropriate positions may be distracting or confusing to road-users, thereby creating a hazard.
Signs positioned too close to roads, intersections, tight curves and corners, or in inappropriate positions, have the potential to obscure sight lines, road markings, traffic signals, and road-users.
Safety
Safety on and around Auckland roads is important for pedestrians and cyclists as well as drivers.
We spend more than $2 million a year on a variety of road safety projects. These include:
- Intersection improvements
- Street lighting upgrades.
- Road sign upgrades.
Street name signs
Street name signs are provided to indicate the names of streets. Their best use is in providing assistance to road users who are unfamiliar with the area and are trying to confirm road names when following a map or route instructions.
No person may:
- Wilfully or maliciously destroy, pull down, obliterate, or deface the name of a road, or the number of any premise.
- Give a name to or affix, set up, or paint a name on a road, private road, or public place.
Amenity signs
Amenity signs supplement street name signs to assist in locating a particular facility. The use of amenity signs is carefully managed to provide additional assistance to road users where warranted, while avoiding the proliferation of large numbers of signs.
Signs are a necessary physical resource used to communicate information, and therefore appropriate provision must be made to enable their erection, maintenance and removal without undue constraint.
A significant issue relating to signs is the potential for signs to have adverse visual effects on aesthetic and amenity values of a place. The presence of a sign or signs has the potential to reduce people’s appreciation of an area.
Objectives
- Signs in maritime areas should not adversely affect the natural characteristics or visual amenity of maritime areas
- To limit advertising to a level consistent with the high amenity values in residential zones
- Signs in open space zones should not adversely affect the natural and physical characteristics of the areas nor the visual amenity of adjacent environments.