Signs of the times“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mindDo this, don't do that, can't you read the sign”?

Five Man Electrical Band

It may not bother some people and it certainly doesn’t rank up there with carbon emissions and global warming but, for me, the ever increasing number of signs here, there, and everywhere, all telling us to do this or don’t do that, is becoming a pain in the butt …..and the eyes.

By example, let’s look at our beloved Lions Bay. While walking the streets I’ve counted over 300 signs that have been placed throughout the village over the years, including Kelvin Grove and Brunswick Beach. That number does not include street signs, or those on the highway within the village, or around the highway on/off ramps. That seems a lot for a village of 1500…..one sign for every 5 people.

If you extended that ratio to Greater Vancouver at 2.5m population, they would have 500,000 signs (I’m not counting those); and throughout the Province at 4.5m that’s just under a million signs, not including those along the roadways that connect us. At, let’s say, $400 per sign to make and install, you can do the math. Just saying it makes you wonder why….are we all that bad?

Of the 300 in Lions Bay, 125 are no parking signs and another 30 are resident parking only. That’s over half and the number is growing. The latest additions are more of those advertising a towing company poised to take your car if you don’t obey, not very welcoming to visitors vying for such a few spots. I’m told there are only 2 significant part of the year parking issues in Lions Bay……around the beaches and along the access to the Lions Trail, both of which, in my view, are easily remedied. The rest is minor stuff. We don’t need all these parking signs, 10% maybe.

Of the balance of some 150 signs, 35 are necessary stop and yield signs and the rest cover some 20 additional categories including, school crossing, narrowing, no exit, etc. A quarter of these would be more than enough.

I found little consistency in the placement of these signs......some streets seem overloaded while others have very few….. some cul-de-sacs have 3 no parking signs and others none….some no parking signs are placed where there is no likelihood of parking….and some signs just make you scratch your head. My favourites of those follow. You should check them out.

There is a sign at Kelvin Grove Beach that reads “This safety equipment is for emergency use only. Violators will be prosecuted”. It’s been there for decades, and for about as long there has been no safety equipment in sight.

 In the school bus turnaround next to the school field there are 6 combinedno dumping/parking signs about 10 metres apart, not one but 6, and there is another “No Dumping” sign at the entrance. Someone was trying to make a point.

In the parking lot, above the tracks and Kelvin Grove beach there are several signs mostly distinguishing resident from visitor parking, a small section at the

end where there are 3 signs which, for whatever reason, show 3 different times to identify when no parking ends….7.50am, 6.30am, and 8.00am. Weird!

Then there is Ann’s favourite, the ugly, rusting school crossing sign at the junction of Upper Bayview and Bayview roads, just above the fire hall. I’m not sure why it’s there, well away from the school, when there is a well-marked crosswalk there for everyone’s use. Besides, I’ve never once seen a school cross there and can’t imagine it.

I’m not dumping on my favourite place. This is happening everywhere, and growing. It just seems to me, like with many issues around the world, we’re past the tipping point on signs. It’s time to back up a bit and embrace some common sense, and there is money to be saved in the process.

By the way, when you venture into town next time you might note that, while driving the Sea to Sky between Lions Bay and Horseshoe Bay, a distance of 10km, you will encounter another 300 road signs….168 southbound and 134 northbound. Did you know that? They are “blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind” and one creative “Welcome to the Sea to Sky” information sign at the entrance could replace most of them.

My favourite is the big yellow leaping stag sign (with the tag “for 3km”) that you see just before the Kelvin Grove exit coming north, suggesting that, all through Lions Bay, drivers may well encounter stags leaping across the road……so beware, although I have never seen one. Have you? Maybe it’s meant to be a crosswalk for animals but how would they know? And, what do stags from outside the 3km zone do if they want to leap across the road? Do they all have to come to Lions Bay? Why is it there in particular?

Maybe we should form an anti-sign protest group. We could make some signs.

Mike Hurst