MORRISBURG – Members of the public works department will have a busy winter replacing hundreds of signs across South Dundas.
“A lot of them (signs) are out of compliance,” Public Works Manager Chris Bazinet told South Dundas council Tuesday night.
The township has to replace 354 signs while adding another 180 new signs at uncontrolled intersections.
Advantage Data Collection was contracted in August to review the township’s signs at a cost of roughly $8,500.
It found over a third of the 1,079 signs in the municipality failed to meet new government regulations for being reflective to vehicle headlamps (retroreflectivity).
Many of the culprits were non-reflective chevrons, warning signs about sharp curves and NO EXIT signs. Others marking roads that have no winter maintenance also failed.
Another 94 signs were identified as being worn out and in need of replacement.
While Bazinet wanted to contract out the work saying his department is busy, the notion didn’t go over well with Coun. Bill Ewing.
“People (public works employees) are driving the roads every day, (they can) change out a signs,” Ewing said.
Installing new signs is a different story since it involves careful measuring and surveying, while will likely be done by contractors.
The township is trying to push ahead with fixing up its sign problems as courts are awarding larger liability settlements, states a township report.
In one case in the neighbouring district municipality of Prescott-Russell, it was found 50 per cent liable in a $9.6 million suit over an accident where road maintenance was cited as the cause.
Council gave pre-budget approval Tuesday night to have the sign replacements go ahead.
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