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FAQ - WedgeFAQ - Plan FAQ - Sign FAQ - Wedge

 

Why this new wedge notation? What’s wrong with the usual way of showing addresses?

Several things: 

Numbers usually shown, say 12-20, refer only to the side of the street where the sign is. Numbers on the opposite side are ignored and the driver must still guess which way to turn if he’s looking for, in this case, an odd number. Some signs do show both sets, say 12-20 & 9-15. Four numbers like this are usually more than a driver can take in, process, and act on safely, without hesitation. In an effort at completeness, the numbers across the intersection are sometimes included as well, making eight numbers to be absorbed!
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Colliingwood: You have one second to make a decision at this busy main-road intersection. Click on image for LARGER pic. Bellamy: Another busy road. One second. Click on image for LARGER pic. Barons: At least on this quiet street you can park and read. Click on image for LARGER pic.

No driver can take in all this information without stopping.
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Ambiguities arise when a range of numbers is shown. If a sign shows 9-15 from the road, should it show 15-9 from the footpath? If it shows 8-22 and extends left from the pole, which property is closest to the pole, 8 or 22? Anomalies and errors exist all over Sydney.

Harris: Maybe the reverse side of the sign agrees with the building. Click on image for LARGER pic.
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Councils do not use uniform notation. One northside Sydney council displays two sets of numbers but instead of 12-20 and 9-15, they show 12-20 and 22-34, indicating numbers on both sides of the intersection, not both sides of the named street. (Although flawed for ignoring the numbers opposite, this is the method sanctioned by Australian Standard 1742.5.) Another council shows a single tiny number at one end of the sign and another at the other end. Feedback in the Epping trial showed a desire for more uniformity in signs, especially in the display of property numbers.

But wedge notation ignores the number at the other end of the block.

Yes, because it is superfluous. A driver needs only two pieces of information to make a split-second decision about direction: where he is now, and what way the numbers run. Wedge notation gives these essentials in the most economical way possible. The number at the far end of the block is irrelevant and actually muddies the water, even for pedestrians.

In addition to making a display concise enough for a driver to handle, dropping the far number in the block means the number displayed need not be confined to this block, greatly enhancing the power of the scheme. Look here in FAQ-Sign for details.

No one will understand wedge notation.

They soon will. The emergency services will have their own internal education programs. The public will learn through increasing exposure to signs on street corners and to explanations in existing council publications. Roundabouts, clearways and transit lanes once had to be explained, but these have all become part of the public’s knowledge bank.

Won’t drivers confuse wedge notation with existing notation?

No. The two can co-exist because the wedge symbol instantly identifies the new scheme, and never appears on a sign with a hyphen. There will still be appropriate uses for conventional "range" notation, as when indicating that certain addresses are, say, down a laneway, or when a dead-end street is numbered like a cul-de-sac, with 2 next to 1 instead of opposite it. For most signs, wedge notation would gradually replace other schemes. This will take years, but that’s OK. 

Can wedge notation be used on signs other than Lifesavers?

Yes. It can replace conventional property numbers now in use on any existing street name blade, but unless the numerals are at least 70mm in height, the signs cannot be called Lifesavers. It could be used on signs the RTA suspends from traffic light yard arms, or on their green and white directional signs.

Page created 28 September, 2001.  Last updated 19 August, 2003 04:39:34 +1000  Hit Counter

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Last modified: May 08, 2003