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Traffex 2013, set to take place from April 16th to 18th at The NEC, Birmingham is set to be one of the largest in the show’s 30-year history and will again be co-located with Parkex. Together, the exhibitions will feature over 500 exhibitors from the world of transport, parking and street design, many of which will be using the show as a launch pad for new products.

In addition, a purpose built seminar theatre will host a programme of over 20 free-to-attend presentations from the industry’s leading experts. Topics include; road safety, signing the way, social media in transport, managed motorways, Building Information Modelling (BIM), traffic infrastructure, intelligent transport systems, extreme weather, and cycling strategy. Informal lunchtime workshops will also be taking place over the three days of the exhibition.

Making a show

For 2013, Traffex will see an increased focus on signage, which will enable visitors to see the very latest products, materials and technology available.

Among those exhibiting will be Clevedon, Somerset-based Lakeside Films, which specialises in the supply of high performance reflective films for use on temporary and permanent traffic signs, emergency and Chapter 8 vehicles, ECE 104 compliance, vehicle numberplates and graphics applications. Lakeside will be showing a new CE marked microprismatic product for use on traffic signs, and a new three year fluorescent vinyl for use on Chapter 8 vehicle livery.

German reflective materials manufacturer, ORAFOL, will also present a full range of reflective films for the sign making industry, its leading brand being ORALITE. The range also includes Reflexite films for temporary markings, and all grades of reflective materials, from economy grade glass bead films to premium grade prismatic materials, and materials that are CE marked in compliance with new regulations.

“On the stand we will also be introducing the new ORALITE® Brilliant Grade 6910, which is a high-end prismatic material, class RA3 design C,” says global marketing manager, Tina Andersen.

Dublin company Rennicks offers fully compliant materials as well as manufacturing and supplying traffic sign technology and intelligent transportation solutions. One of the materials that can be seen on their stand will be the new Nikkalite Flexible Crystal Grade microprismatic sheeting, which the company claims is an improved and more conformable and flexible microprismatic retroflective sheeting, designed for emergency vehicle conspicuity. It complies with Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) High Conspicuity Livery for police vehicles, which recommends the minimum performance for Battenburg liveries.

N Sign of Stockton-on-Tees, a signage and engraving company, offers a wide range of signage and engraving solutions, and has developed its own recycled and recyclable polycarbonate street nameplate, which they have supplied to local authorities across the UK. The N Sign Street Nameplate, which will be on show at Traffex, offers trays in two standard sizes, 1120 x 150mm and 1120 x 285mm. These are fastened to two stainless steel posts, using a vandal proof fixing system; the face panels are reverse lettered on anti-glare polycarbonate. The signs come ready assembled for immediate installation.

Surrey-based Messagemaker Displays, part of the Stocksigns Group of companies, supplies a range of vehicle activated signs, variable message information displays with optimal UTMC compatibility and passenger information display systems. New for Traffex 2013, Messagemaker will be showing its  Messagemanager software for control of messaging systems.

Solar Signs UK, a family run business based in Northumberland, is one of the major UK suppliers of solar powered trailer mounted variable message boards and vehicle activated speed trailers, with a fleet of over 100 signs of various types. The company will be introducing two new products at the show, a solar or mains powered permanent VMS, and a VMS trailer with five colour display.

Offering sign-makers technology support, Buchanan Computing, the west London-based developer of sign design software and supplier of GIS and other traffic and highway computer applications, will be launching its latest software, SignPlot 3 for traffic sign design, which now has the ability to design complete direction signs, all spaced correctly to DfT requirements, from a few basic details.  

“SignPlot is unique in allowing any changes needed to be made in the same way and in allowing you to experiment and see the results immediately in full colour,” explains Buchanan’s Simon Morgan. “It has had many facilities added to make digital printing of complete signs a breeze, and it eliminates or automates several of the stages that would otherwise be needed, saving time and money.”

“SignPlot is the only traffic sign design system not to need the expense and complexity of CAD and the only one to incorporate structural design capabilities approved by BSI for CE marking of signs, which becomes compulsory on 1st July,” adds Morgan.

These sign support and foundation design tools are available separately as SignLoad Professional, which has also been updated to version three.

Stepping up to the mark

From July 2013 CE marking to BSEN 12899-2007 for fixed road traffic signs will become mandatory in the UK. It applies to materials, sign faces and finished signs and relates not only to signs erected on public highways, but also in areas such as public car parks, including service stations, supermarkets and retail outlets. In order to comply with the CE standard sign-makers must be accredited to the BSEN standard.

To help those involved in CE marking, Buchanan Computing has introduced a new training course covering this and all the other innovations in signing.  

“Due to high demand, it is scheduled to run in London and twice in Edinburgh in March, and there will be further sessions at central venues and at individual customers’ premises,” says Morgan.

Horne believes that initially sign-makers and their suppliers will incur quite considerable costs in obtaining CE type approvals: “As a supplier we have had all of our reflective material CE marked (at a significant cost) which will allow sign-makers to submit our material as part of the finished sign and therefore obtain their own CE type approval. The CE regulation comes at an awkward time and ultimately the tax payer will have to foot the bill as overall sign pricing is likely to increase.”

On a more positive note, he adds: “The introduction of CE marking should ensure good quality signs are used on the UK road network.”

The signs they are a-changing

Work continues on a major update to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD). The aim is to make the regulations both simpler and more flexible. For example, highway authorities will be allowed to use a greater range of signs, without needing DfT approval for each non-standard variant.  

“Parking plates and directional signs are expected to benefit particularly from the new flexibility,” explains Morgan.

“To design these, you will be able to select any appropriate symbols and wordings in any sensible combination without having to worry whether it is a ‘permitted variant’.  It will however place more responsibility on highway authorities to get things right, and they will need suitably skilled staff, preferably people who hold the Institute of Highway Engineers’ Professional Certificate in Sign Design.”

In the meantime, authorities in England (but not Wales or Scotland) have been issued with four sets of ‘area wide authorisations’.  These allow around 30 new signs to be used without any further approval and, together with the amendments to TSRGD introduced at the end of 2011, have reduced the number of applications for sign authorisation from about 600 per year to around 200.

In view of the complexity of the Statutory Instrument and the need for it to be consulted on and scrutinised by lawyers, the new version of the TSRGD is not expected before the end of 2014.

In the meantime the DfT’s Traffic Signs Policy paper, ‘Signing the Way’ sets out the policy framework for ensuring that the traffic signing system in Great Britain meets the future needs of all road users, whilst building upon the existing and established traffic sign system.

Guiding lights

Within this framework, the issue of how traffic signs will be illuminated in the future is considered and in response to this Traffex 2013 has created its ‘Lighting the Way’ feature area, which will enable visitors to see for themselves the difference between previous requirements and the proposed way forward for sign lighting. The 4,000sqm darkened indoor display area will present an array of retroreflective and directly illuminated traffic signing and lining products in street-lit and dimmed conditions.

Two very different scenarios will capture the essence of typical urban and rural street scenes. The aim of the feature is to demonstrate the situations where each of the product types displayed really come into their own, helping to save lives by guiding the way ahead.

Traffex exhibition director Bill Butler comments: “Traffex is long established as the UK’s number one event for this industry and ‘Lighting the Way’ is a great opportunity to add a new ‘live’ dimension to the event.”

Hazards and green lights ahead

Clearly a wide array of innovative products and services for sign-makers will be showcased at Traffex 2013. The trick will be to identify what will give you the leading edge whilst containing costs at a sustainable level. It’s still a tough economic climate out there, with local authorities and contractors facing constant cut-backs.

Horne summarises the situation: “Shrinking budgets are leading to extreme pricing pressure. However, there are still some good schemes on the Highways Agency network and we have been fortunate enough to have been involved in a number of these.”

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