Active travel infrastructure is embracing the rainbow, but what are the five must-knows when it comes to selecting a safe colour palette for all users? By Eric Hill, principal engineer, Swerco and SoRSA vice-chair.
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Colour has had a positive effect on safety with active travel – particularly during the pandemic where new cycling infrastructure was introduced to existing layouts. Adding colour to the new surfaces helped to distinguish them from the existing layout.
Today’s use of brighter colours is in contrast – no pun intended – to the beige shades that were more popular in the 1980s. The greater contrast makes it easier for people to see what the routes are designed for and whether they should use them, depending on their mode of transport.
There isn’t prescribed guidance on what colours to use, the important thing is that it differs from the adjacent surfaces. There are a lot of reds and blues on and around roads, which are good because they stand out among the predominantly grey or dark concrete that surround them. However, it’s important to think about the surrounding infrastructure beyond the road to ensure you don’t create a camouflage effect.
The CIHT’s Creating Better Streets review from 2018 highlighted the importance of colour contrast. Where it may have room to improve is considering ease of navigation not just from using colour to denote corridors such as bike lanes, but how easy it is to identify them. A major issue with road signing is clarity of information, so the user can identify where they wish to go and how to get there. The same should be considered when using coloured surfacing.
I suspect, unless specific products are used that can help stop degradation, the issue of paint fading after time is always going to be there. There is obviously a budget for these materials within a project, but there is rarely the corresponding rise in our revenue budgets to maintain features such as a different colour surfacing. That might be a consideration when local authorities are looking at the maintenance budgets for a project.
Another issue arises when you have to make repairs. With only parts of the road being changed, the surface can end up looking a bit like a patchwork quilt, often with different colours – or shades of the same colour. Then, the brighter colours lose their impact and could impact on the overall safety levels on the road.
When I was working in road safety, I proposed a colour scheme for one town that turned out to be the same as those used by a rival town’s rugby team, which didn’t go down too well!
In terms of the appearance, I think designers, engineers and planners have to think like an artist would when they interact with their subjects to get a good feel for what they are creating and why. It’s important that there are no cultural issues – for example, some areas of Northern Ireland or the West of Scotland would prefer neutral colours to be used because you need to be sympathetic to the feelings of people in the area.
On a different subject, I’ve seen presentations on people suffering with dementia and how colours can affect human conditions, so that’s something to be considered in the road network.
Regardless of whatever colour is used, it’s essential that everyone understands why there is a different colour there. That means installing the additional infrastructure in sensible positions so that any issues with the changes are minimal.
The use of colour at night is an increasingly important consideration, which is helped by improved lighting. If you’ve got a monochromatic light source, it’s typically going to be orange, which means a red surface isn't going to stand out very well. With today’s brighter, whiter lights, this is less of an issue, and, in fact, the contrast will be greater, which means it creates a safer environment. Road safety planners and engineers need to look at specific lighting that is in place, as well as considering what colours or shades road users would see best in nighttime conditions.
Eric Hill was in conversation with John Challen
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