Are You Ready for a Paradigm Shift in Sign Mounting Heights?
Research from Garvey and Associates suggests that
regulators, municipalities and the sign industry could benefit from an entirely
different approach to regulating freestanding sign height. Freestanding signs
are those that don’t attach to buildings, such as ground-mounted, monument,
pylon, and pole signs.
The study drew on practices related to traffic signs, as well as information derived from previous industry research plus new design research, to propose a fresh way of looking at regulating the mounting heights for on-premise freestanding signs.
A Traffic Signs Perspective
From the very first edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic
Control Devices (MUTCD) in 1935 [link to https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ghawkins/MUTCD-History_files/1935MUTCD.pdf],
sign heights standards took into account the possibility of another vehicle
positioned between drivers and signs. The MUTCD sets a minimum height between the ground or curb and the bottom of the sign, in order to reduce the
likelihood that signs are blocked from view.
According to the Garvey study, the Federal Highway Department is unaware of any specific research that supports the sign height requirements, but the minimums have proven to be adequate.
A Commercial Signs Perspective
The local governments who control commercial freestanding
signage have also typically lacked solid data on appropriate mounting heights
from a sign visibility or traffic safety perspective, the study reports. The
result: Regulations are made from the standpoint of aesthetics, typically based
on a maximum height between the
ground or curb and the top of the
sign, often limited to six feet.
The Garvey study took special interest in a previous line-of-sight study, which concluded that elevating sign copy was the most direct solution to reducing sign blockage. Garvey points out that several studies, and even the 1935 MUTCD manual, indicate that low sign mounting heights may have a negative impact on traffic safety – another important factor to consider.
The Garvey Study
With both visibility and traffic safety mind, the Garvey
study set out to measure just how high a sign should be mounted, based on
different ways roadways are configured, height and position of drivers in
vehicles, how vehicles might block signs from what angles, etc.
The truly different element in the Garvey study approach – the paradigm shift – is “the philosophical difference in the very definition of sign mounting height.” Instead of the traditional maximum mounting height used for commercial signage, Garvey’s recommendations are based on the minimum mounting height used today for traffic signs. They even created an online calculator [link to https://www.garveyandassociates.com/calculator] to help identify the right height for individual situations based on just eight questions.
“While no one would try to argue for less attractive
on-premise signs, their primary purpose is to be seen and read in a timely
fashion by the motoring public,” the study concludes. “For this to occur, the
signs must be mounted high enough to avoid being blocked by other vehicles on
the roadway.”
For anybody who’s tried to spot a particular business from a
busy roadway and execute a safe turn onto the premises, the approach makes
sense. The Garvey study makes an evidence-based case for optimal sign
placements based on both visibility and traffic safety, and provides a tool
that utilizes that evidence.
This article is based
on Recommended Mounting Heights for Freestanding On-Premise Signs, [link
to https://usscfoundation.org/ussc-foundation-releases-new-sign-height-study-standards/] which was
funded by The USSC Foundation Inc. and The Foundation for the Advancement of
the Sign Industry. The project was authored by Philip M. Garvey and M. Jennifer
Klena of Garvey and Associates, and published by the USSC Foundation.