Winnipeg's Wrong Direction Facing Signs

One prominent problem with Winnipeg's signing is the installation of signs facing the wrong direction. When Manitoba Hydro changes light standards (posts) or the City Signals Dept changes traffic signal standards, signs are removed and tied to the base of the new pole. A sign crew will later reinstall the signs on the new standards. These crews will place the signs on the correct pole but often facing the wrong direction with the sign now visible to opposing traffic or cross-street traffic. These errors can be dangerous for many reasons. Drivers facing the sign will be given an incorrect and possibly dangerous message while traffic that the signs should be facing is deprived of an essential sign. Dependent on what kind of sign is involved this can fail to give warning of an upcoming hazard such as a crosswalk, a prohibited movement such as a no left turn or guidance such as that provided by route markers. This problem involves signs of all types an also poses as a major distraction to drivers. Below are some of the many examples of this problem that involve a wide variety of signs.

Example 1 (School Zones) Example 2 (Truck Routes) - Moray at Portage Example 3 (No Right on Red) - Archibald at Gareau Example 4 (Pedestrian Crossing) - Ness east of Moray Example 5 (City Routes) - Main at Redwood Example 6 (Turn Control) - Graham and Donald

Example 1 (School Zones) - Flora at Charles

When school zone signs are knocked down, crews will sometimes not look for the school that they are signing for and will reinstall the sign facing traffic that is leaving the school zone rather than entering. A school zone sign was posted on Flora Ave eastbound at Charles for traffic approaching David Livingston School. The problem is that this sign was posted on the wrong side of the road facing westbound traffic that is leaving the school zone rather than entering.

Example 2 (Truck Routes) - Moray at Portage

Moray northbound at Portage is the termination of a truck route. Trucks are not allowed to proceed on Moray across Portage and must turn right or left. To indicate this, a sign was posted at Portage facing approaching northbound traffic that showed a truck route sign and an arrow pointing right and left. When the signal standard was replaced, the sign was put back facing southbound instead of northbound traffic. There is no median sign for the northbound direction that needs a sign and a redundant sign for the southbound direction. It is now facing traffic coming from a road that is not a truck route.

Example 3 (No Right on Red) - Archibald and Gareau

The signalized intersection of Gareau and Archibald falls within an elementary school zone and therefore requires a no right turn on red restriction Mon-Fri 07:00-17:30 for all approaches.

The diagram to the left shows how the signs were originally installed at this intersection. The picture to the right faces the intersection from Gareau Ave showing the proper placement of the no right turn on red sign. The signal standard holding the sign facing Gareau (pictured above) was changed. When the sign was reinstalled, it was facing Archibald. Traffic on Gareau no longer had any sign and Archibald had a redundant sign on the far left corner.

The diagram to the left shows the sign that was supposed to face Gareau traffic incorrectly installed facing Archibald southbound traffic. The picture on the right shows that both signs face southbound Archibald traffic.

Example 4 (Pedestrian Crossing) - Ness east of Moray

In 60 km/h zones, pedestrian crossing warning signs are required to be posted in advance of all cross walks and if the road is divided, a sign is placed both the right and on the median. The median sign on Ness Ave eastbound approaching the crosswalk at Braintree was knocked over. When it was reinstalled, it was put in facing westbound traffic that has already left the crosswalk.

The left picture shows the median sign facing westbound traffic that has already left the crosswalk. The right picture shows that traffic approaching the crosswalk has a sign on the right, but can only see the back of the median sign that is facing the wrong direction. What is most disturbing is how long these mistakes go unnoticed by city workers. The picture to the above right was taken in May of 2011 and as of Jan 2013, this sign is still facing the wrong direction. It should seem reasonable that during that time, enough work crews would have driven down Ness Ave that somebody should have noticed this.

Example 5 (City Routes) - Main at Redwood

The signal standard on the median of Main Street at the north side of Main and Redwood held a city route marker for southbound Main traffic that was making the left turn onto Redwood westbound.

The left diagram shows how the signing was originally installed on Main Street at Redwood. The picture to the right shows the back of the route 37 east marker that was installed facing the southbound direction. The signal standard on that held the route 37 east marker for southbound Main was changed. When the signs were reinstalled on the new standard, the route marker was put in facing northbound instead of southbound traffic.

The left diagram shows that the marker now faces northbound traffic. This sign is now a redundancy on the northbound direction and the southbound direction has no sign. The picture on the right shows the sign now on the wrong side of the signal standard.

Example 6 (Turn Control) - Graham and Donald

The signal standards at Donald and Graham were all changed which caused almost all signs to require reinstallation.

The diagram to the top left shows the proper signing that was at Graham and Donald. Two signs were posted on Donald to indicate that Graham is only for buses and that all other traffic has to proceed straight through the intersection. One-way signs were posted for the traffic on Graham indicating that Donald is a one-way street. The top right picture shows the signs as viewed from Donald southbound and the picture to the left shows the signs facing Graham Ave westbound.

When the signal standards were changed at this intersection the signs were not properly reinstalled which creates a very confusing and hazardous situation.

The top left shows how the signing was reinstalled. One of the straight only signs that faced Donald now faces Graham westbound which gives an opposite message to the sign on the right. There are no longer any signs facing Donald to indicate that turns onto Graham are prohibited. All of the one-way signs that were on Graham to indicate that Donald is a one-way street are now gone. The top right shows the lack of signs on Donald and the lower left shows the wrong sign on Graham and the missing one-way signs.