Yesterday Shanghai municipal government released candidate designs for new street signage and will allow the public to vote on which version of the signs they feel should be used on city roads.

The new signs are bigger than those currently in use and carry a range of information covering the area around where they are erected.

City residents can vote on the signs up to February 15 at the Website (www.shsz.gov.cn) or by calling 6280-2014 from 8:30 AM to 5 PM seven days a week.

"We’ll respect residents' choice," said Wang Rong, an official with the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau. "We'll consider both residents' preferences and experts' opinions." He didn't say when the final vote tally would be made public.

The first candidate has white words on a rectangular blue background. The second has white words on a blue background for streets running east to west and on a green background for those going north to south. The third design is similar to the second but the sign is shaped like an inverted trapezoid.

The government hopes to gradually replace more than 20,000 street signs in the city before the World Expo in 2010.

Residents can view the new signs at the intersections of Luban Road and Jianguo Road W., Luban Road and Xujiahui Road and Luban Road and Liyuan Road.

The signs would be positioned on every corner of an intersection unlike the current system where they're set up more randomly, according to Wang. He didn't say how much the project was costing.

(Shanghai Daily January 22, 2007)