"jim" k wrote in message
...
Mike Humphrey Wrote in message:
Murmansk wrote:
On the A55 in North Wales near LLandudno and Colwyn Bay there are
stretches where it has a 50mph speed limit and that's shown by a
conventional circular sign with 50 written on it in a red circle with a
white background.

What puzzles me is that when the 50 limit ends instead of there being a
National Speed Limit Applies sign (white circle with a black sloping bar
through it) they have a 70 sign in the same style as the 50 sign.

Is there any specific reason for this? It occurred to me that it MIGHT
have something to do with that road being used by foreign lorry drivers
coming from Holyhead?

Yes, there's a reason. And it's a bit convoluted, so feel free to give
up part way :-)

That part of the A55 is a "Special Road". What's one of them? It's a
road that's not a highway - created by the Special Roads Act,
unsurprisingly. There's no general right to use it, utilities can't dig
it up, etc. Traffic is allowed to use it by an order which specfies what
types of traffic are allowed (unlike highways, which everyone can use
unless there's an order saying what traffic is *not* allowed). Most
Special Roads are Motorways, but some (like the A55) aren't.

Now, when the Act was created, it specified the speed limits for
Motorways, but failed to specify any default limit for other Special
Roads. The normal limits don't apply, since they only apply to highways.
So a specific limit has to be imposed and the correct sign displayed -
70, not NSL (which would mean "no limit" in this case).

If you want all the details, see
http://pathetic.org.uk/features/special_roads/

Mike


How wonderfully blitish :-D

Yeah, that was my reaction too. Wota packa ****wits
for not fixing the problem the only sensible way.