Motorway (typeface)

Motorway is a sans-serif typeface designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert for use on the motorway network of the United Kingdom. Motorway was first used on the M6 Preston bypass in 1958 and has been in use on the UK's motorways ever since. The typeface is also used in some other countries, most notably Ireland and Portugal.



Motorway comes in two weights, "Motorway Permanent" and "Motorway Temporary". Motorway Permanent is the standard weight, and is used for pale text on a dark background (for example, on white-on-blue permanent motorway signs) while Motorway Temporary is heavier, and is used for dark text on a pale background (for example, black-on-yellow temporary motorway signs). The typeface have a limited character set, only containing the numbers 0 to 9; the letters "A", "B", "E", "M", "N", "S", "W"; parentheses ("(", ")"); a comma (","); an ampersand ("&"); and the word "Toll" (treated as a single character). The character "Toll" was added to the font set in summer 2007, in order to be added to any following new M6 Toll road signs on the motorway. Previously the word "Toll" was written in Transport Medium adjacent to "M6" written in Motorway Permanent.

A full character set of the Motorway typeface was completed by the K-Type foundry in 2015, almost sixty years after its inception. The family includes the Bold (Temporary) weight, the SemiBold (Permanent) weight, and a previously unconsidered Regular (book) weight. There are also true italics for each weight.

Use in the UK
The Motorway alphabet appears on road signs on motorways in the United Kingdom, and is used for route numbers. On non-motorway roads at interchanges, the Motorway typeface may only be used on signs pointing in a direction where a driver would become immediately subject to motorway regulations. All other text on UK road signs appears in Transport.

Use in Ireland
The Motorway font is also used in Ireland. Its use is slightly different from that in the UK - in the Republic, motorway route numbers are always in Motorway font, whether the sign is on a motorway or not. In addition, on signs erected before 2009, route numbers for all-purpose roads on motorway signs were in Transport font. On signs erected since 2009, all route numbers on motorways are now in motorway font, bringing Ireland closer to the UK practice (however, as Motorway font has not previously featured the letters "R" and "L", these letters still appear in Transport). As in the UK, all other text on road signs appears in Transport font.