Odisha To Conduct Signage Audit On 3000 KM Roads

Cuttack: With an aim to make roads in Odisha 100 per cent road signage compliant, the Transport department will conduct an audit on 3000 kms road  in the state in the first phase.

Simple road engineering interventions like provision of appropriate road markings and traffic signs, minor layout changes in the road junctions will significantly reduce road accidents.

Aimed towards this, the Department will identify faulty road signage and markings and rectify the faulty ones. A small sample audit of road signage and marking on SH-10 (Biju Expressway) from Deokaranpur to Keseibahal, 50 km stretch in Sundargarh district was carried out.

The study revealed that there is a need for more signs to warn, inform, guide, control or delineate road users. At some places the pavement markings are not conspicuous and continuous. The study further suggested that lack of signage may cause confusion at intersections and inadequate signage can cause accident, said Joint Commissioner Transport, (Road Safety), Sanjay Biswal.

Stating that the roads signages should be such that they should speak, means the driver should get an idea what lay ahead, Biswal said faulty road signage and signals are often responsible for massive traffic jams, road accidents and pile-ups. Many times road signs are wrongly placed or hidden, he added.

The Indian Road Congress code has set several parameters for three types of road signs—regulatory, warning and informative. The parameters include characteristics, installation, location and visibility for correct application.

As per the findings and recommendations of the sample audit, rectifications are being carried out on the stretch of the highway. As part of the drive, concerned officials will put up proper road signages in place of the faulty ones and repair the damaged ones. They will also install new road signages wherever required.

Based on the findings of the pilot project, the Transport Department has decided to scale up the initiative at state-level.