英国呼吁减少路标 美化市容

The British government has declared war on the profusion of unnecessary road traffic signs, railings and advertising boards, saying they blight towns' English character.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has written to local council leaders in England, calling on them to cut the number of unsightly signs and other "street clutter."

Even traffic lights are in the firing line.

Ministers want the public to inform local authorities of particularly bad examples of excess signage, to clean up the national landscape.

"Our streets are losing their English character," Pickles said. "We are being overrun by scruffy signs, bossy bollards, patchwork paving and railed-off roads -- wasting taxpayers' money that could be better spent on fixing potholes."

The government says that in some cases traffic signs are installed by councils in the mistaken belief they are legally required, when they are not.

Hammond said the abundance of so-called street furniture often makes towns resemble "scrapyards," confusing motorists and obstructing pedestrians.

For signs to be most effective, ministers say, they should be kept to a minimum.

When busy Kensington High Street in central London was stripped of excess road furniture, for example, it helped reduce accidents by 47 percent.

The Department for Transport is reviewing traffic signs policy and new advice on how to reduce clutter will be published later this year.

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日前，英国政府呼吁拆除过多的路标、栏杆和广告牌，称这些街道设施破坏了英国城镇的景观。

英国社区事务大臣埃里克•皮科尔斯和交通事务大臣菲利普•哈蒙德日前致信英格兰地方市政官员，要求展开整治市容工作，清除街道上的一些煞风景的标识和其它“多余的路面设施”。

甚至交通信号灯也在被拆范围之列。

两位大臣希望民众能将特别多余的路标告知地方政府，帮助整治英国的城镇景观。

皮科尔斯说：“我们的街道正逐渐失去英国风范。到处是零乱的路标、碍事的护栏、拼铺的小路和被栏杆围起来的马路，本可以用于修补坑穴的纳税人的钱都被浪费在了这些方面。”

英国政府称，有时地方政府错误地认为设立某些路标是应法律法规的要求，但实际上这些路标并不需要。

哈蒙德说，过多的街道设施常常把城镇变得像个“废品堆放场”，不仅会绕晕司机，还会给行人带来不便。

两位大臣称，街道路标的设立应有个度，才能起到指引作用。

比如，伦敦中部繁忙的肯辛顿大街拆掉了多余的道路设施后，交通事故数量减少了47%。

目前英国交通部正在审核交通路标的相关政策，有关如何减少道路设施数量的新建议将于今年晚些时候公布。

Vocabulary:

profusion: the property of being extremely abundant（丰富；大量）

unsightly:unpleasant to look（难看的）

overrun: invade in great numbers（蔓延；占领）

scruffy:shabby and untidy（肮脏的；不整洁的）