diy road sign maintenance

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simonineaston
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diy road sign maintenance

Post by simonineaston »

On Twix, or whatever it's called now, there's the smallest sign of A Thing, that is people cleaning street signs and bigger items such as roadside direction signs, themselves having presumably despaired of them being looked after by budget starved local authorities or other sundry agencies. 'cyclingmikey' posted before & after pictures of a local street sign he'd done, removing graffiti and stickers with a suitable cleaning product and some elbow grease. What do you, dear reader, think of such independant and civic-minded action? Were you to think as I did just now, that this seemed like quite a cool idea, what would you put in the pack of items to take with you, if you decided to give diy street sign cleaning a go?
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
VinceLedge
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by VinceLedge »

We live just off a blind corner and I make sure the 40mph signs are visible by cutting back vegetation and cleaning them occasionally, so why not do it for cycle routes?
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simonineaston
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by simonineaston »

Got his name wrong but hey ho...
before / after...
before / after...
S
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rjb
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by rjb »

It's the thin end of the wedge so cash strapped councils can make workers redundant. If they managed their finances prudently they could fund the services needed. I've seen this before. Bridgwater College took over the local agricultural college in Cannington. It came with a renowned walled garden. There was a plea send around the village for volunteer gardeners, followed swiftley by wholesale redundancies for the existing gardeners. :shock:
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
Biospace
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by Biospace »

rjb wrote: 12 Aug 2024, 11:09am It's the thin end of the wedge so cash strapped councils can make workers redundant. If they managed their finances prudently they could fund the services needed. I've seen this before. Bridgwater College took over the local agricultural college in Cannington. It came with a renowned walled garden. There was a plea send around the village for volunteer gardeners, followed swiftley by wholesale redundancies for the existing gardeners. :shock:
This is true, but does it include litter-picking by local residents? Shouldn't that be the concern of the local authority also, since it might encourage them to put in place bins where needed?
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simonineaston
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by simonineaston »

It's interesting how there's always a split between 'not our job' and 'don't mind doing that'! Not quite sure yet where I sit on that one, tbh...
I recall going climbing with a bloke whose habit was to take a bin bag with him and try to fill it with as much refuse as he could, while at whatever remote and pleasant countryside we were at. That bloke and his egalitarian action has always stuck in my mind as admirable.
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rjb
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by rjb »

Most people would pick up litter if there's a bin nearby. Were I draw the line is if the council shirk on their responsibilities. If road signs have been graffitied I would help cleaning them up but I would not be happy to cut vegetation down where signs have disappeared into the undergrowth. First port of call should be to inform those who are responsible before taking action on your own account.
County councils have pushed a lot of services onto Parish councils to administer. Our village has an annual litter pick which I volunteer for as do most able residents. I'm happy to do minor undertakings with parish councillors, but draw the line at something which affects someone's livlyhood.
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
axel_knutt
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by axel_knutt »

I'm sure I've seen news stories about this sort of thing in which people were stopped from doing it because they "weren't insured".
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
briansnail
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by briansnail »

There was a Welsh gentlemen who undertook to paint "English" road sign names to "Welsh" The Judge said the law must be upheld.Fined him and later paid the fine on the gentleman's behalf.The local constabulary saw the funny side of it as well.
Biospace
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by Biospace »

rjb wrote: 12 Aug 2024, 1:08pm Most people would pick up litter if there's a bin nearby. Were I draw the line is if the council shirk on their responsibilities. If road signs have been graffitied I would help cleaning them up but I would not be happy to cut vegetation down where signs have disappeared into the undergrowth. First port of call should be to inform those who are responsible before taking action on your own account.
County councils have pushed a lot of services onto Parish councils to administer. Our village has an annual litter pick which I volunteer for as do most able residents. I'm happy to do minor undertakings with parish councillors, but draw the line at something which affects someone's livlyhood.
Me too, but it's not always clear whether or not "helping out" is going to affect someone's livelihood. I suspect that cleaning roadsigns wouldn't, but perhaps if this sort of thing took off I suspect there could be a tendency for a council to try to cut costs on the back of this, rather than deploy the manpower to speed up other work.
gbnz
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by gbnz »

Biospace wrote: 12 Aug 2024, 2:22pm could be a tendency for a council to try to cut costs on the back of this, rather than deploy the manpower to speed up other work.
I doubt it. Have managed operational work's, public works, most of working life. Critical difference between commercial mgt of public works and directly managed public works, relates to the reality that costs of public sector works, are invariably determined by the budget set.

I.e. If one has £250,000 of works to do, but a £750,000 budget, £750,000 will be spent, rather than the £25000 it'd cost

If one doesn't spend the £750000, next year's budget will be smaller, whereas commercially one'd incur £250000 of costs, give the authority a huge saving and perhaps make a 100% margin.
tim-b
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by tim-b »

I wouldn't have a problem if the maintenance isn't done

Our local council doesn't spray weeds or sweep pavements anymore, despite buying brand-new pavement width machines not so long ago. If I didn't hoe the pavement and the gutter a couple of times a year then rain wouldn't run into the drains easily and the surface would be ruined

I also sweep "my" bit of pavement when I cut the hedge to clear the whole lot rather than just my mess, we'd be ankle-deep otherwise. Our neighbours do the same
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ANTONISH
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by ANTONISH »

rjb wrote: 12 Aug 2024, 1:08pm Most people would pick up litter if there's a bin nearby. Were I draw the line is if the council shirk on their responsibilities. If road signs have been graffitied I would help cleaning them up but I would not be happy to cut vegetation down where signs have disappeared into the undergrowth. First port of call should be to inform those who are responsible before taking action on your own account.
County councils have pushed a lot of services onto Parish councils to administer. Our village has an annual litter pick which I volunteer for as do most able residents. I'm happy to do minor undertakings with parish councillors, but draw the line at something which affects someone's livlyhood.
The signs in the undergrowth were a problem when I was organising audax rides.
Usually visible early in the year the signs could be obscured by later growth.
I used to drive the route and use secateurs on the most obscured signs.
On litter I frequently see a lady litter picking when I'm going out for a ride - despite her efforts there is inevitably more litter - fast food containers, beer cans plastic bottles etc to replace that she has cleared.
reohn2
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by reohn2 »

I frequently see or don't see speed limit roundels,and road direction signs obscured trees and bushes and covered in green moss,due to government cutting council funding to the bone.Short of carrying a loonnngggg handled brush and bucket of soapy water along with pruning shears I can't see another answer,but if I did so I'd never get anywhere for tidying the place up :?

Litter:-
We occasionally drive to an overlook above the Rivington reservoirs,it's a grand view,on nice clear day we can see as far Blackpool tower and The Berwyn hills,only snag is it's knee deep in litter so I took rubble bags and cleaned the place up,I got fed up after the third time :?
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rjb
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Re: diy road sign maintenance

Post by rjb »

There's a visability splay at the front of my house. Owned by the council. When we first moved here they cut it regularly. Then moved to monthly then quarterly. I made the mistake of mowing it myself to keep it neat and tidy. Now the council just leave it for me to cut and I have to pay them for the privilege to take it away as green waste. :(
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
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