New Highway Signage Policy Proposed

The province is planning public consultation this fall to help develop a new highway advertising signage policy. The consultation will focus on general principles and guidelines outlined in a recently released discussion paper.

The approach proposed in the discussion paper is a move away from the wide-open policy in effect now. It suggests a standardized signage system for provincial trunk and collector highways and uncontrolled access portions of 100 series highways.

"Highway advertising signage has been a long-standing issue in this province," said Economic Development and Tourism Minister Manning MacDonald. "We're prepared to provide leadership on this and to consult with people before making any final policy decisions."

Numerous organizations and associations, municipalities, regional development authorities, tourism businesses, and individual citizens have expressed concern about the proliferation in both the number of signs and the number of unsightly signs in the province.

"Many people believe the proliferation of signs is hurting our reputation as a scenic touring destination," said David Oxner, executive director of Tourism Nova Scotia. "We've also had concerns about the effectiveness of the system in guiding motorists to businesses. And in some cases, there are concerns over safety."

"Signs are tools to help motorists, but sometimes sign clutter is confusing to drivers," said Clifford Huskilson, Minister of Transportation and Public Works. "We have an obligation to provide directional signage for the motoring public, and that won't change. What we hope to establish is some consistency in our overall approach."

The option recommended in the discussion paper is similar to the approach of other jurisdictions; a system which generally reflects tourist oriented directional signs.

"Overall, the proposed system would focus on providing directions to the travelling public without hampering Nova Scotia's natural, scenic vistas," said Mr. Oxner. "Any new system would be phased in over a period of time to give businesses sufficient opportunity to adjust to new regulations."

Staff from Economic Development and Tourism, Transportation and Public Works and Housing and Municipal Affairs developed the principles and guidelines after a review and analysis of signage policies in other Canadian and American jurisdictions. That review, conducted by the Economic Planning Group (EPG), found that many jurisdictions have successfully adopted a comprehensive, integrated signage system based on uniform directional signs and limited advertising signage.

"We're delighted the discussion paper is out," said Susan Bartlett, president of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia. "This is a critical issue for tourism and we look forward to a quick process to allow input."

Tourism Cape Breton's general manager also welcomed the move forward. "Back in 1996 members of our association voted in support of directional signage," said Ken Tutty. "That continues to be our position and we're happy to see a discussion paper has been released. Public consultations in the fall will help to move the process forward."

The proposed concepts in the discussion paper deal with highway and off-premise signage only. No changes in general guide signage or traffic and highway safety signage are planned. On-premise signage would continue to be governed by municipal regulations. Existing signage policies for controlled access portions of 100 series highways would also remain unchanged.

"The province's 55 municipalities will have an opportunity to provide input into this process," said Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Wayne Gaudet. "In this way we can develop a policy that will complement existing municipal signage regulations and achieve our goals."

"The public consultation in the fall will give tourism and business operators, organizations and individual citizens the opportunity to comment on the principles and suggested approach," said Mr. Oxner.

Following consultation and development of a draft policy, the province also intends to embark on a pilot program to determine the policy's effectiveness before instituting the new policy provincewide.

Copies of the discussion paper and the EPG study are available on Economic Development and Tourism's website at http://www.gov.ns.ca/ecor. Copies are also available at local libraries, at regional tourism associations, the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia, regional development authorities and business service centres operated by Economic Development and Tourism throughout the province.

Graphic representations of tourist oriented directional signs are available by calling Communications Nova Scotia collect at xxx-xxx-xxxx.