The signs they are a changin'; But not right away, as host of exceptions for older neighbourhoods means many existing street signs are sticking around: [MET Edition]

Abstract

The exceptions allowing established neighbourhoods to keep their old signs were added at the prompting of Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina).

Carroll noted that even acknowledging neighbourhoods can get tricky. Vaughan's amendment will allow the downtown Chinatown to maintain its Chinese signs, she said. But before the Chinese settled in that area, it was largely Jewish, and before that, Irish.

[Janet Davis] was the only councillor to vote against the new signs, with Vaughan's amendment permitting retention of the older signs in some neighbourhoods.

Coming to streets near you - newly designed Toronto street signs.

Unless you live in a heritage conservation district. Or an "older neighbourhood." Or a "historic community." Or you have multilingual street signs.

In a decision that owed much to William Lyon Mackenzie King's famous political sophistry of "conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription," Toronto city council approved a new design for the city's street-name signs yesterday.

But it added a raft of exceptions that will allow many existing signs to remain - most of them in the old City of Toronto, with its black and white signs featuring the distinctive "acorn."

The exceptions allowing established neighbourhoods to keep their old signs were added at the prompting of Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina).

He argued that in a city whose motto is "Diversity our strength," there's room to recognize tradition.

Scrapping elements like the old street signs strips away the city's heritage and history, he said.

"Let's not throw away the past as we try to embrace a bold new future," Vaughan said. "Because I don't want to live in that city."

Under Vaughan's proposal, approved by council, local councillors will control which neighbourhoods get to retain existing signs.

The signs won't spring up overnight.

Gary Welsh, general manager of transportation services, said the city normally has to replace 2,000 to 2,500 signs a year due to damage or deterioration, and the new signs will go up as the old ones need replacing.

Since the city has as many as 70,000 signs, it could take 30 years to replace all the existing signs.

The new signs, by Kramer Design Associates, come in several versions a large version, 96.5 centimetres (38 inches long) for main roads and a smaller version, 76.2 centimetres long (30 inches) for local streets.

They'll follow the same pattern - a band of dark blue in the middle, bearing the street name in white reflective letters. Top and bottom sections will be unpainted aluminum. The street number closest to the intersection will go on the bottom section.

In Business Improvement Areas and well-known neighbourhoods like Rosedale or Rexdale, the top section can have a distinctive logo and the neighbourhood name.

Main intersections will still carry the existing large, rectangular street-name signs hanging traffic signal arms, or attached to poles on traffic islands. They'll also have new signs on corner poles.

Councillor Janet Davis (Ward 31, Beaches-East York) argued that neighbourhoods should be allowed to retain the names of Toronto's former municipalities, such as East York or Scarborough.

"I'm simply suggesting if a neighbourhood should decide to use a former (municipality's) logo, that they should have the ability to do that," Davis said.

It's inconsistent to allow a neighbourhood to identify itself as "Leaside" but to ban "East York," she said. But her proposal was voted down.

Councillor Shelley Carroll (Ward 33, Don Valley East) said resurrecting the identities of the former municipalities will only reopen the wounds created by the creation of the megacity in 1998.

"We are playing out all our residual resentment of amalgamation," she said.

Carroll noted that even acknowledging neighbourhoods can get tricky. Vaughan's amendment will allow the downtown Chinatown to maintain its Chinese signs, she said. But before the Chinese settled in that area, it was largely Jewish, and before that, Irish.

Davis was the only councillor to vote against the new signs, with Vaughan's amendment permitting retention of the older signs in some neighbourhoods.

Illustration

The new street signs will go up as the old ones need replacing.

Credit: Toronto Star