AN electronic sign which cost £450,000 and caused weeks of delays while being built displayed only nine messages in its first eight and a half months.

Highways England invested heavily earlier this year in putting up the signs at the two ends of the A590 – one on the Dalton by-pass, and one between the M6 and Brettargh Holt.

Motorists and businesses have regularly criticised the effectiveness of them since they were activated in March, complaining that they rarely display information, even when there has been serious incidents on the A590.

Now, a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Evening Mail has shown that the sign on the Dalton by-pass, which went live on March 18, was activated only nine times up to December 6.

The two “variable message signs” were part of a combined programme of work.

Design and preparation cost £155,842 and construction cost £741,523.

That made a total cost of £897,366, with each costing £448,683.

Businessman Keith Devlin, of Ulverston, who owns Ironwerx Gym in Barrow, has long been annoyed by the inactivity of the sign.

He also took issue with the clarity of the messages, which have included “A590 closed after B5277” on December 6.


Keith Devlin (right) Mr Devlin said: "So, the sign has cost us £56,085 per month so far, for a total of nine messages - what amazing value for money. 

"Obviously this figure doesn't include any ongoing maintenance costs and the cost of somebody inputting the info.

"It was actually in use earlier this month (a period not covered by the FOI request). 

"It said for a few days, 'the A591 is closed just after the A593'. 

"Now, I'm local but didn't have a clue what it was talking about, like most people I suspect, until I Googled it. 

"Basically, the Windermere road was closed due to flooding - why didn't it say that?"

Highways England said that, prior to the beginning of December, the sign had to be updated manually and there were some technical issues. But the system is now automated.

Asked if the figures justified value for taxpayers' money, a spokeswoman for Highways England said: “We are as keen as anyone to see all our signs used as much as possible to warn drivers of congestion and incidents. 

"We have been using the signs on the A590 to alert drivers to local incidents, and a technical update has now been implemented which allows us to link up the signs with the national motorway network through our national control centre in Birmingham.”

Highways England's own policy for using the signs states: "VMS provide the capability to display a wide range of warning messages and other traffic information. 

"The purpose of VMS is to enable Highways England control room operators to meet the agency’s obligations as a network operator. 

"These obligations include incident management, reducing congestion, informing motorists, improving network performance and ensuring the safety of road users and workforce.

"VMS shall only be used for the management of temporary situations. Events which require long term signing in a static location shall always be shown on permanent traffic signs."