Traffic

Traffic control signage for private roads and car parks

These are the signs that direct vehicles once they have left the public road — through a car park, around a loading dock, along an access road on a private site. Stop and give way, one way, keep left and keep right, no entry, exit only, speed humps ahead, and the directional arrows that tie a circulation route together.

The range runs to sixty-odd legends, priced from $10.45, in three substrates: polypropylene, composite ACM in white, and 1.6mm aluminium. Standard formats are 300 × 225mm landscape and 225 × 225mm square.

Which standard applies on private land

On a public road, traffic signage is the road authority's business and follows the AS 1742 series, the manual of uniform traffic control devices. A private car park sits outside that approval process — but the shapes, colours and wording in AS 1742 are what every driver has been trained to read, and development consents commonly require signage on a site to match them. Off-street parking layout is governed by AS 2890.1, and where accessible bays are involved AS 2890.6 sets the signage and marking that goes with them.

The practical consequence is that a stop sign in a car park should look exactly like a stop sign on the road. A non-standard shape or colour is not a minor aesthetic choice; it is the difference between a driver reacting instinctively and a driver reading.

Choosing the substrate

• Polypropylene — the entry option, suited to sheltered positions and short-term site use where the sign may be replaced or moved.
• Composite ACM, white — a rigid aluminium-faced panel that will not rust or warp. The usual choice for permanent wall and fence fixing outdoors.
• Aluminium 1.6mm — the heaviest of the three and the one to specify for post mounting, where the sign is unsupported across its width and exposed on both faces.

Before you order

Work out the mounting first, because it decides the substrate more than the legend does. A sign fixed flat to a masonry wall can be the lighter material; the same legend on a free-standing post in a wind-exposed yard should not be. Check the viewing distance too — 300 × 225mm reads comfortably at walking pace and at a car park crawl, but an approach road where vehicles are travelling at speed wants a larger format.

Where a bay is reserved for a particular unit, tenant or permit holder, the legend usually needs to carry that detail. Those are made to order rather than picked off a shelf, so send the wording through with your order.