New traffic signs to be introduced from June

The new Road Traffic Act will enter into force on 1 June 2020 and, as a result, approximately fifty new traffic signs will be introduced in Finland.

The appearance of numerous old signs will also be updated, and changes will be made to road markings, said a press release issued by the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency.

The release said from June, new traffic signs may be visible on Finnish roads. The reason for this is the new Road Traffic Act. The purpose of the changes is to improve the clarity and visibility of the signs. The updated and new signs will also better meet the needs of current traffic.

Around 50 completely new signs will be introduced, it added.

Jukka Hopeavuori, an expert on road signs and markings at the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency believes that, initially, there will be very few completely new signs visible in traffic. He said, “We will be testing the sign for merging lanes in locations where it is most logical from a traffic perspective to maintain use of the existing lanes for their entire service life as effectively as possible.”

Moreover, the release said the appearance of many traffic signs are going to be slightly altered. In addition to completely new traffic signs, the appearance of many old traffic signs will be updated.