Business
New Brunswick Minister Joan MacAlpine.
NB 299
April 4, 2001
FREDERICTON (CNB) - Municipalities and tourism-oriented businesses will now
have more advertising flexibility along New Brunswick highways. New regulations
outlining the placement and format of commercial highway signs were announced
today by Transportation Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney and Business
New Brunswick Minister Joan MacAlpine.
Developed in consultation with industry stakeholders in the fall of 2000, the new regulations allow for increased opportunities for promoting regular tourism attractions and services. They also provide for better exposure for major attraction signage on the provincial arterial highway system. The new regulations go into effect immediately.
Tourism operators will be able to advertise their businesses using a choice of 16 standard formats for highway signs. Under the new regulations, operators will still be responsible for purchasing the new signs.
This
sign is an example of one of the 16 varied formats available to tourism operators.
"These new regulations strike the right balance between keeping our highways safe and uncluttered, and promoting our tourism assets," Blaney said. "During our consultations with industry, several key issues were identified repeatedly. Stakeholders were looking for increased opportunities to advertise, greater fairness and equity on the enforcement side, and industry involvement in future decision-making. (150 dpi image) | (150 dpi image)
"The new regulations have been designed with these concerns in mind," the minister
said. "Further to this, we're committing to meet with tourism industry representatives
two to three times per year to ensure we keep moving forward on this front in
a mutually agreeable direction."
(Click
here for a 150 dpi image.)
"We have carried out considerable research in order to determine how travelers use signage and how much information they can actually absorb in a moving vehicle," MacAlpine said. "The new standard signs for the Province of New Brunswick are a product of this research, and will not detract from the aesthetic quality of the landscape.
"Overall, it is the intent of our government to ensure the highway regulation balances four key factors, safety, economic development, standardization and fairness among stakeholders. We believe we have achieved this balance between highway safety and economic opportunity," MacAlpine added.
The new regulations also give municipalities greater flexibility in designing
their "welcome to" signs, end the "grandfather" clause on signs erected before
the 1997 regulations were put in place and, after existing contracts expire,
discontinue the corporate sponsored signs found throughout the province. 
(Click here to access
a 150 dpi image.)
Information packages are currently being mailed out to the stakeholder groups previously consulted and can be picked up at Department of Transportation offices across the province starting on Friday April 6th. Information sessions for interested groups or organizations will be held upon request by contacting Stephanie Smith at 453-2213. For information on the new regulations contact your local district office of the Department of Transportation.
01/04/04
EDITOR'S NOTE: Fact sheets on the new regulations are attached. MEDIA CONTACTS: Brent Staeben, Transportation, 506-453-5634; Susan Morell, Business New Brunswick, 506-453-5896.
01/04/04
Fact Sheet 1
Improvements under the new Commercial Highway Signage Regulations
1. Major private or public attractions, meeting criteria established by the Department of Business New Brunswick, will be allowed to place signage on the nearest arterial highway.
Previous to these changes, 25 km from the facility was the maximum distance allowed for an advertisement. As some of the province's major attractions are more than 25 km from an arterial highway, they did not have the opportunity for signage along the major tourist routes.
(Click here to
access a 150 dpi image.)
2. Regular tourism attractions/services now have the opportunity to advertise along major highways just outside the highway right-of-way through regulated and formatted private advertisements.
Previous to these changes, tourism operators were not permitted to advertise directly along the major tourist routes in the province - their signs had to be 500 metres outside the right-of-way. While the province does not want to revert to the proliferation of signs that existed prior to the 1997 regulations, it recognizes that the 1997 regulations were restricting economic opportunity.
The new regulations will provide for much greater opportunity for tourism-oriented businesses. Also, studies have shown that it is easier and safer for the motorist to identify, read and react to standardized signs. (See Fact Sheet 2 - What Makes an Effective Sign)
Facility operators will need to obtain a permit to place a standardized sign
outside the right-of-way along the major highway. There is a fee associated
with this and it will be comparable to the current fee for placing a sign on
private land outside the right-of-way.
The following is an example of one of the 16 new formatted signs. (Click here to access a 150 dpi image.)
Additionally, tourist oriented directional (TOD) signs for rural tourism operators
will be phased out in favour of standardized signs outside the right-of-way.
A compensation package has been put together for those operators who will be
affected by these changes.
Note: A rural tourism operator is defined as an operator whose facility is located outside a municipality and cannot be seen from the highway.
3. Municipalities will now have more flexibility in the design of the "Welcome To" signs installed outside the right-of-way. As well, more than one municipality will be permitted on "Welcome To" signs and "Welcome to a Region" signs will also be allowed for the first time.
Previous to these changes, Municipalities were restricted by where they could place their "Welcome To" signs and what could be on the sign.
(Click
here to access a 150 dpi image.)
4. Contracts for existing corporate sponsored signs will be honoured, but once these contracts expire, the signs will be removed.
Previous to these changes, corporate-sponsored signs were meant as an avenue to allow cities and towns exposure on major highways. However, they are restrictive in terms of eligibility in that only national chains qualify to be included on these signs. Smaller New Brunswick tourism operators have perceived these signs as unfair. Additionally, they do not provide clear direction, are expensive to both manufacture and install and are costly to the corporate sponsor as well.
Here
is an example of the current corporate sponsored sign. (Click
here to access a 150 dpi image.)
5. The same controls will be placed on signage on connector highways not bypassed within five years as is currently being placed on two-lane level I and Level II highways.
Previous to these changes, there was a perceived unfairness surrounding advertisements along the connector highways. The largest portions of connector highways are sections of the Trans Canada Highway between St. Leonard and Fredericton. Private advertisements along connector highways installed before 1996 were grand fathered and permitted to remain in place. However, no new advertisements were allowed.
Some operators along other portions of level I and II highways in the province, which had removed their signs to comply with the 1997 regulations, felt they had been treated unfairly because:
-Adjacent businesses that had signs erected on level I or II sections of highway had to remove their signs while their competitor next door who had a sign erected on a connector highway was allowed to keep their sign in place.
-Most of the connector highways are located along the arterial highway system in the western portion of the province, while the eastern portion of the province is comprised mainly of level I and level II highways. Therefore, the majority of grand fathered signs remain along the highway system in the west while very few grand fathered signs are found in the east.
6. There will be a streamlining of the enforcement process so that illegal signs do not remain in place for long periods of time.
Previous to these changes, all studies, discussion papers and reports undertaken by government with respect to highway signage have indicated that the most important issue to operators is fairness and enforcement. In the 1980s and early 1990s there was virtually no enforcement of the regulation. In 1997, when the previous regulation came into force, there were over 1,000 signs within the 500-metre control zone on level I and II highways that had to be removed. By fall of 1997, only about 85 signs remained. Public pressure to allow signs outside the right-of-way coupled with two legal challenges under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms delayed further enforcement until the outcome of the lawsuits was known. However, the government decision to amend the regulation based on input from stakeholders has put the lawsuits on the back burner.
7. Tourist oriented directional (TOD) signage for public facilities will change from burgundy to blue, the same colour as the TOD signage for all private facilities.
Previous to these changes, TOD signage for public facilities was burgundy and
the same signage for private facilities was blue. Tourist related signage across
North America is changing to blue. To be more consistent with other jurisdictions
and recognizing that the burgundy signs are five times the cost of the blue
signs, all public sector tourist related signing programs are changing to blue.
|
Old sign: (Click here to access a 150 dpi image.) |
New sign: (Click here to access a 150 dpi image.) |
01/04/04
Fact Sheet 2
What Makes an Effective Sign
Signage Usability and Effectiveness
Signage must address human behaviour factors. On Level 1 and 2 highways, where speeds exceed 90 kilometres per hour, effective signage considers the following:
Based on research provided during the public consultation process by Allison Smiley, Ph D., CCPE, Human Factors North and an expert in human behaviour.
01/04/04
