The city revised its previous plan to reduce the number of tourist attraction signage around Kelowna.
(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)
November 11, 2014 - 2:25 PM
KELOWNA - Too many tourist attraction signs are confusing and a danger to public safety; too few will have a negative impact on the tourism industry, so Kelowna city councillors have reached a compromise.
The city had originally drafted and passed a policy intending to replace the numerous attraction signs with one single sign alerting travellers to the nearyby attractions. The signs would not have listed each attraction individually but public works manager Darryl Astofooroff says after receiving feedback from local wineries, the city has revised their approach.
“Numerous winery operators realized that that implementation of the policy would see business names removed from some of the signs in an effort to reduce the clutter and make the signs more legible,” Astofooroff says. "They believe those changes would have negatively impacted their business."
One of the locations singled out to be de-cluttered was the corner of Benvoulin and KLO Road. Instead of 17 signs listing each attraction individually, the city wanted a single sign notifying tourists attractions are in the area with more detailed signage on the side streets.
The latest proposal approved by council will see those 17 signs on Benvoulin reduced to three, with similar reductions at other busy roadways around the city. The new signs will have larger fonts than they do now but will also list attractions by name. The number of signs in any one location will be limited to six on main streets, and four on side roads.
Astofooroff says the change will make it easier for tourists to find the attractions they are looking for without compromising safety.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will begin installing the new signs on the sides of provincial highways and main streets in time for the start of the 2015 tourist season at no cost to the businesses.
The new version of the signs that will direct tourists to popular attractions in Kelowna.
Image Credit: Contributed
To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014