Italian here: What do the big brackets on these signs mean? I’ve seen them everywhere but not even the bus driver is able to tell me… (these signs come also in green and blue background)

30 comments

  1. It’s where the route (road) ends. The one above it is the nearest town or village.

    Your bus driver shouldn’t be a bus driver

  2. You are on the way to longford.

    However this road the R400 terminates in Mullingar.

    Basically to continue to the eventual destination you’ll need a new road number. But don’t worry you are going in the right direction.

  3. The parentheses are there to indicate that town is in the general direction you’re heading but not on the direct road you’re on. Sometimes this is due to new road construction when the road you’re on MAY have gone to that town.

  4. I always thought it meant you are on your way to Longford but you will need to turn off the road you are on. The brackets mean it’s not directly on this road.

  7. Longford’s not real. They’re kind of like scare quotes, if you know the term. 56k to “Longford”. There’s no Longford. Ever seen it? Ever been there? Exactly.

  11. I’m sorry, my friend, but if you’ve seen that on a road sign, it’s because you’ve come too close to Longford. There is no escape for you now. Everywhere you go, in any direction you drive, on every sign you pass, you’ll see it…but the distance to Longford will be shorter each time. And as you get closer, time will slow down, the hours and the minutes and the seconds stretching away to infinity, and soon the memories of you will begin to fade from the minds of your friends and loved ones. There never was a /u/nicosecci, you see. There is only Longford, and you are in Longford, and you have always been in Longford, and you will always be in Longford, and you will always be Longford, and there is nothing but Longford, and there is no Longford, and there is nothing. Longford.

  13. It means that you’re on a road that connects to Longford, but not directly i.e. it’s a branch off the R400, which runs directly to Mullingar.

  14. There is a junction on the way to Mullingar to bring you to Longford.
    As for this colour blue when on motorways, green on national roads, and white with black symbols on all other roads. Brown signs denote points of interest

  15. If the place is in brackets in the sign above. It basically means the R400 won’t bring you to Longford you may have to take a different route along the R400. It basically means you are on the correct way but you may have to take a different route along the R400

  16. The colour of the sign denotes the type of road. Green is a national route, primary or secondary. Blue is motorway. Back on white is regional road or local road.

  20. Black writing on White background sign = Regional Road = Potential Regional Speed Limit (80km)

    Green Signs = National Road = (Potential) National Speed Limit (100km)

    Blue = Motorway

  22. In Medieval Times, Longford was the capital, as a show of respect, we include the distance from Longford on all road signs.

  23. M7 Dublin – Cork gives you directions to Waterford/Kilkenny but you need turn off onto M9 20 km down way.

    Cork 220
    (Kilkenny 120
    Waterford 160)

  25. The Brackets basically mean that while this is the way to go to get to Longford, you’ll have to change road at some point to get there. That too will be signposted.

  26. If a place is in (brackets) it doesn’t really exist outside the imagination. Longford is a city of faeries and leprechauns.

  27. Exactly, it means that the R400 goes to Mullingar, but that you’ll need to change onto another road to reach Longford, but stay on the R400 for now.

  29. It means the road to mullingar will eventually provide access to a road to Longford. It may be that the R400 will simply end and become the Longford Road or that there will be a signposted turn to get on the Longford road.

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