Callander’s request for new highway signage has been approved by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), and coming this spring, new entrance signs will be installed at all municipal boundary points.
The ministry has approved the new signs which include the Callander logo for installation at all provincial highway entrance points, and the Nosbonsing Road boundary with East Ferris. The MTO is covering the cost of manufacturing and installing the signs.
Callander is also working with the MTO to find a new location for the ‘Welcome to Callander’ sign on Highway 11 North, before the Lake Nosbonsing / Highway 654 turn-off. “Easements are necessary,” explained Timothy McKenna, Callander’s manager of operations, “and this will take some time to process.”
However, “it is anticipated that this should be completed by spring, 2023,” McKenna added.
Municipal staff have also been working with TWG Communications to finalize the design of the entrance sign at Cranberry Drive. This new sign will replace the existing sign, “which is currently within the City of North Bay limits,” McKenna explained. The new sign will be installed in late spring or early summer.
Callander allocated $40,000 in their 2022 budget for improving the signage within the municipality. That amount included a $5,000 grant from Frank Cowan Insurance.
Municipal staff anticipate the total costs of the new sign at Cranberry Drive will be $37,149.33, taxes in. This includes the design fees for TWG, shipping, and installation. A solar lighting system will be installed, which is estimated to cost $2,500.
Staff admitted that “the replacement of the key gateway entrance sign at Cranberry Drive has been a longer than anticipated project,” but “will finally be completed in the summer of 2022.”
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
