Articles in Rye News on November 4, 2021 and last week, highlighted repeat occurrences of large lorries trying to turn through the Landgate.
Jim Wood’s article last week flagged-up anomalies in the road signage and that lead to the conclusion that something is clearly wrong with the signs or the designation of the roads.
The approach to Rye Station has a clear sign with no mention of width or height restrictions:
The sign at the top of Station Approach is also clear. It refers to Town Centre (via a narrow arch) with height and width restrictions, 300 yards away.
Circular signs give orders – they must be followed to stay within the law. Circles with red borders tell drivers what they must not do.
There is a traffic sign at the bottom of Conduit Hill, which is clear and informs drivers approaching from Rope Walk that there is a narrow arch and width limit to the left:
This sign and the sign at the top of Station Approach both refer to a “narrow arch”, the inference being that the width restriction would be the narrow arch. Both show the width restriction and height restriction in red circles.
After turning left, drivers can see a sign on the side of the Art Shop beside Devonport House, which is where the confusion starts. It indicates that the width restriction applies to turning left away from the Landgate (which isn’t the case – see below). The Town Centre to the right is shown with an advisory height restriction in the triangle (which isn’t the case – see below).
Further along Tower Street, there is a sign above the Lemongrass Restaurant. It “applies” the width restriction. By law, no vehicle more than 2M (6’-6”) should pass, except for access to the left. It isn’t very clear that this is the case.
We don’t know what the highway designations are but maybe they are wrong.
We know from the Rye News articles, photographs of large lorries trying to turn right, and damage to bollards, that large lorries cannot turn right through the narrow and low arch of the Landgate. It is the sign on the side of the Art Shop that causes confusion (we hope that the highway designations are not in accordance with this sign).
We know that wide vehicles can turn left at the end of Tower Street. That is how the lorries photographed for Rye News eventually “escaped”. Also, buses and other wide vehicles travel the route regularly, so there is no need for confusion. The signage needs to be corrected so that it is clear and consistent that the height and width restrictions apply to the narrow arch at the Landgate.
