A reader’s comment on the signage at the intersection of Lubańska and Śluzowa Streets. A link to the article below was sent to the District Roads Authority in Bolesławiec:
There are many incomprehensible matters in the world. One of them is the reconstruction of the intersection of Śluzowa and Lubańska Streets. There are several streets and intersections in our city that require renovation or reconstruction. When asked, every road user can point to such places without hesitation, and this intersection is one of them. Since the intersection was reconstructed and speed humps were built, it should have been properly signed. The current signage is very dangerous for road users. The speed humps are on both sides. However, the horizontal warning markings were applied on only one side.
The vertical signs are even worse. These signs warn drivers only about the intersection. After leaving the intersection, a driver encounters a speed hump about which there is no information. Driving-school students pass through this intersection every day and can see that the road authority is not complying with the Road Traffic Act or the Regulation of the Ministers of Infrastructure and the Interior and Administration concerning signs. The regulation concerning signs contains a very interesting paragraph, § 32. Regarding signs indicating the end of prohibitions, it clearly states: “if a prohibition expressed by signs B-25, B-26, B-29, B-33, B-35, B-36, B-37 and B-38 has not previously been cancelled by a sign indicating the end of the prohibition, it remains in force until the nearest intersection; this does not apply to an intersection on a dual carriageway where the entrance of the crossroad is located only on the left side and there is no connection to the right carriageway.”
Therefore, every speed limit set by sign B-33 remains in force—and it does not matter that a T-20 supplementary plate was added stating that it applies for 100 m, because reducing the speed limit in this way in a built-up area ends before the nearest intersection. From there, one must drive at 50 km/h until the next B-33 sign limiting the speed to 40 km/h! And then comes the surprise: a speed hump.
The situation is worse on Śluzowa Street, because after leaving the intersection there is neither a horizontal marking nor any vertical B-33 sign; only one has been installed in the direction of the cemetery. There are already problems with these signs in the area—or rather, with the missing signs, especially A6b and A6c. The road authority forgot that small housing developments with their own roads have sprung up near the cemetery. Neither Śluzowa Street nor Lubańska Street provides road users with any information that there are intersections there.
ACT of 20 June 1997, the Road Traffic Act
SECTION I
Art. 2 The terms used in the Act mean:
10) intersection – the crossing at the same level of roads having a carriageway, their connection or branching, including the areas formed by such crossings, connections or branches; this term does not apply to the crossing, connection or branching of a hard-surfaced road with an unpaved road, a road providing access to an object located beside the road, or an internal road;
Journal of Laws 2019, item 2310, Regulation of the Ministers of Infrastructure and the Interior and Administration of 31 July 2002 on road signs and signals
§ 27. Speed limits
1. Sign B-33 “speed limit” means a prohibition on exceeding the speed indicated on the sign in kilometres per hour. The permitted speed indicated on the sign applies, subject to paragraphs 4 and § 32, up to the point where:
1) another permitted speed is indicated by sign B-33 or B-43,
2) sign D-40 indicating the beginning of a residential zone is placed,
3) signs indicating, respectively, the beginning or end of a built-up area, referred to in § 58(3) and § 114(1)(1) and (2), are placed.
2. A supplementary plate placed under sign B-33, as referred to in § 23(2), indicates that the speed limit applies to the driver of the vehicle whose symbol appears on the plate.
3. Sign B-33 specifying a permitted speed greater than 50 km/h, placed in a built-up area, applies to a passenger car, motorcycle and goods vehicle with a maximum permissible gross weight not exceeding 3.5 tonnes, except for:
1) a vehicle transporting dangerous goods,
2) a vehicle with a device protruding more than 1.5 m forward from the driver’s seat, referred to in Art. 20 permitted speeds in road traffic paragraph 6(2) of the Act,
3) a vehicle towing a motor vehicle, referred to in Art. 31 para. 1(1) of the Act,
4) a motorcycle carrying a child under 7 years of age, referred to in Art. 20 permitted speeds in road traffic paragraph 6(3) of the Act,
5) a goods vehicle carrying people outside the driver’s cab, referred to in Art. 63 carriage of people paragraph 2(4) of the Act.
4. Sign B-34 “end of speed limit” means the cancellation of the speed limit introduced by sign B-33.
§ 32. Signs indicating the end of prohibitions
1. Sign B-42 “end of prohibitions” means the cancellation of prohibitions expressed by signs: B-23, B-25, B-26, B-29 and B-33.
2. If a prohibition expressed by signs B-25, B-26, B-29, B-33, B-35, B-36, B-37 and B-38 has not previously been cancelled by a sign indicating the end of the prohibition, it remains in force until the nearest intersection; this does not apply to an intersection on a dual carriageway where the entrance of the crossroad is located only on the left side and there is no connection to the right carriageway.