Mayor Cal Huntley doesn’t worry that roadside advertising signs are a dangerous distraction, but he does take issue with how stop signs at a rail crossing recently impeded traffic flow.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, concerned citizen Bill Fulford asked council to review its policy around the promotional signs that line multiple Flin Flon streets.
“In this day where distracted driving has become such a major issue, we need to be looking at this issue within our towns and cities for ways to minimize putting people at risk,” wrote Fulford in a letter.
The signs require drivers “to take their focus off their driving,” he wrote.
Fulford singled out signs at the railway crossing by Gas Bar and in other locations where corners exist. He further cited the increasing number of signs along the Perimetre Highway.
Huntley said he doesn’t see the signs as a distraction for drivers, with Coun. Bill Hanson adding: “I don’t even see them anymore.”
Huntley said council believes most signs within Flin Flon comply with city bylaws.
“If people see something that’s worrisome with regards to positioning, let us know,” he said.
Huntley was concerned, however, with the recent placement of stop signs at the rail crossing by Gas Bar.
The signs were in place for more than a week as the result of an apparent malfunction of the crossing lights.
Hudson Bay Railway, which operates on that section of rail, had the federal authority to erect the stop signs.
But Huntley felt the move was “very unreasonable.”
The signs “really interrupted a major traffic pattern within the city of Flin Flon…that didn’t need to be that disrupted,” he said. “I mean, two trains in a week [come to Flin Flon] and we have for seven days, 24 hours a day, stop signs out. I’m sure there’s a better solution.”
Huntley said Hudson Bay Railway has agreed to let the city know in the future if stop signs are required. That didn’t happen when the signs went up around Nov. 18.
