ANTONELLA ARTUSO | QMI
AGENCY
TORONTO - New $650,000 signs
will light up Ontario highways in full colour/couleur.
Transportation Minister
Steven Del Duca formally unveiled the bilingual energy-efficient highway signs
Tuesday at Ledstar, a factory just north of Toronto where they are
manufactured.
Twenty-one signs have
already been installed around the province.
Del Duca said the signs will
relay safety messages to drivers in easily understood images and symbols and
with less text so people of all languages can comprehend their meaning and
react quickly if necessary.
"This is the first
bilingual, image-based sign plan developed and executed provincewide in
Canada," Del Duca said. "These signs will help improve road safety,
manage congestion on provincial highways and keep people and businesses
moving."
Each sign costs an
eye-popping $650,000 to manufacture and install, but new signs will be added
only as needed to replace existing signage, he said.
The earlier models cost
$450,000.
The signs will provide road
and weather conditions, traffic information and road safety tips like "No
texting or dialing."
Del Duca said he doesn't
believe the new full-colour and extra bright LED signs will be a distraction
for drivers.
"This has gone through
a rigorous process to make sure that we arrive at the final product that will
help traffic on the roads remain safe but also make sure that the information
is conveyed so that traffic flow can be where it needs to be," Del Duca
said.
Progressive Conservative
Transportation Critic Michael Harris said the province already has plenty of
message signs on its highways.
"At a time when this
government is struggling under a $12.5-billion deficit, do we really need to be
spending more on shiny new colour TVs for our roadways?" Harris said in an
e-mail. "Seriously, if the minister wants to have an impact on road
safety, why does he continue to ignore winter road maintenance problems that
have closed down the QEW and led to accidents and transportation headaches
across the province, specifically in northern Ontario?"
Source: Toronto Sun Media
- http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2015/01/20150120-134504.html
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