Wrong directional sign.
The curve in the road goes left, but the sign says otherwise. This sign on County Road 508 (aka Calabogie Road) may have been in place for years, until the Renfrew Mercury EMC notified the county’s public works department.
Ian MacPherson
The sign on County Road 508 was a landmark of sorts for Ian MacPherson, but he knew it also represented a potential highway hazard.
He first noticed the road sign maybe six months ago. The sign’s signal told drivers of the upcoming curve in the road, about two kilometres west of Burnstown, before the turnoff to his own place.
The only trouble was the sign showed the road curving left to right, when the road actually curves right to left.
So MacPherson sent the Renfrew Mercury EMC a photograph and note about his concerns.
The Mercury notified Renfrew County public works director Dave Darch on Monday, Nov. 27. The next day, the county’s road crew replaced the sign — one of an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 directional signs located across the county’s road network of more than 800 kilometres.
Darch, who joined the county staff as public works director in 2007, was mystified by the situation.
“In all my years, I’ve never seen that,” said Darch.
“I don’t know (how the wrong sign got put up). I guess I’d view it as an honest mistake.”
At the same time, he said it was important to replace the sign as quickly as possible.
Darch speculated that a roads crew, recently or years ago, simply erected the sign without noticing the error. MacPherson said the sign might have been up for years, following the last major paving of the road in the late 1990s.