City councillors gave local businesses a big thumbs-up to build two bigger botanical digital signs on St. Albert Trail this week.
Council voted in favour of the installation of two digital signs on St. Albert Trail by the St. Albert Chamber of Commerce at this week's meeting. The approval came despite the fact that the signs were bigger than previously proposed and in a different location.
Councillors gave the chamber the go-ahead to build the signs on Sept. 27, 2010. The signs were meant to replace the two existing chamber signs on the trail — the wooden one near Villeneuve Road and the light-bulb one near Hebert Road, and were to be the first digital signs in the city.
Based on a presentation to council, the chamber was authorized to build two digital signs that were up to six metres tall, with the northside sign being built on the west side of the trail.
But the person who gave that presentation didn't have accurate information, said chamber president Lynda Moffat. "It was nobody's fault. It just happened that way."
The actual height of the signs was 7.62 metres, Moffat said, and the northern sign would actually be on the median at the trail and Villeneuve Road, facing north. These changes meant it had to be re-approved by council.
New design too
Moffat also presented the final design for the signs.
The original mock-up for the sign portrayed a blue wavy object on a brick base. The new design more closely resembles St. Albert Place (a wave with a notch in it), and features a brown, green, blue, grey and white colour scheme similar to the city's new entrance signs. It also has decorative metal leaves in the bottom right corner.
The chamber redesigned the sign so it would fit in with the city's botanical arts brand, Moffat said.
"It's a very beautiful design," she said. "It looks like something we will all be proud of."
While the southern sign will replace the light-bulb one on Hebert, Moffat said, the northern one will go on the median south of the Villeneuve Road-St. Albert Trail intersection — a spot currently occupied by a "Don't Drink and Drive" sign.
"I think it's a perfect spot," Moffat said, adding that there's a lot of room there — the median is about 30 metres wide at that spot, according to a council report — and it's visible to cars on both the trail and Villeneuve Road.
The old wooden sign will be scrapped.
As previously approved by council, the signs will present static images of local businesses and community groups, changing every six seconds without transitions. "There will be no video," Moffat said, although the signs will have video capabilities. The size of the display area is still 4.3 metres by 2.7 metres.
The signs will automatically adjust their brightness when it gets dark so they don't blind people. "There's nothing more annoying to me than going by a sign that's too bright," Moffat said. "Ours will not be like that."
The chamber sent notices about the sign to everyone with 100 metres of both locations, Moffat said, but received no comments on them.
Green light from council
Councillors interviewed prior to the meeting approved of the changes.
The screens aren't that big, said Coun. Cathy Heron, won't display distracting videos, and could also reduce the need for those ugly temporary signs along the trail. "I think it will blend in."
It could also give council a new way to advertise city services, said Coun. Cam MacKay. "I don't see a problem with it as long as it doesn't distract drivers too much."
The chamber planned to have the new signs up by the end of October, Moffat said.
