CORNWALL – If you’ve travelled along Highway 401 you may have noticed something is missing at the Brookdale Avenue interchange – signs greeting motorists to our fair city.
The municipality is in the midst of replacing the two signs greeting motorists to Cornwall.
Senior Economic Development Officer Bob Peters told Cornwall Newswatch the existing signs had started showing “normal wear and tear” with the elements.
“We were disappointed that they wore out that quickly. To be realistic, they are exposed to the elements all year round (with) no landscape (or building to protect them),” Peters said.
In this case, water had got in between the wood signs and the wooden backboard and, through the freeze-thaw cycle, had started breaking the signs apart. “You can try to treat it and mitigate it, but it does break down,” he said.
The new billboards are on a steel backboard (with a 30 year lifespan) and the logos will be made out of PVC with a “lifetime” guarantee.
Peters said the two projects were separated to allow the city to change the logos down the road without having to replace the backboard.
You will notice one big change with the new signs that are coming – the city’s slogan “a city with a world of possibilities” won’t be on them.
Instead, it will be the “Cornwall” green swoosh logo with a Welcome/Bienvenue.
“At 100 kilometers an hour, you have time to read two or three words…not 10,” Peters said in suggesting the slogan was a possible safety issue and a distraction for Highway 401 motorists.
The backboards are done and the lettering/logo is being manufactured and should be delivered to the city in about a month.
The whole project is expected to be less than $20,000. That doesn’t include landscaping, which will be a yet-to-be planned multi-year project.