Dear Editor,
I want to voice my opinion on your story regarding road signs in English (Algarve Resident, January 27 edition).
I believe these are not necessary for various reasons, not forgetting the investment required more so, given the current state of affairs!
An increase in safety could be more easily achieved and more effective just by simply painting additional road markings, such as arrows indicating direction, say, following a junction, to help guide all drivers into positioning themselves correctly on the road; as well as include zebra crossings in good condition and erase old markings properly, correcting others that have been painted incorrectly.
For example, the ones guiding drivers to the entrance of Intermarché car park in Lagoa when it first opened – I think these are still visible.
Also, some additional road signs are needed in certain areas, placing these early affording an increased warning to the driver, for example coming from Silves on EN124 driving towards Lagoa.
There are no signs for Carvoeiro until it’s too late in my opinion. There are signs for Lagoa Sul and the Carvoeiro sign is placed directly on top of the turning point and it’s too small in size.
Unless the driver knows that in order to go into Carvoeiro one needs to move early to the left-hand lane, the driver will most probably be forced to make a quick move and cross the solid line or find him/ herself travelling towards Portimão.
Let’s first concentrate on fixing our political issues; these are more important than English road signs. Failing all these, buy a good map or get a GPS, they are cheap enough these days.
SÍLVIO CONCEIÇÃO, by email
