The Municipality of Jasper will install three new wayfinding signs to help visitors navigate the town and find facilities.
On July 2, council awarded the 2024 Wayfinding Project to Burke Group of Companies Ltd. in the amount of $36,802.99.
In 2016, the municipality adopted Wayfinding and Signage Guidelines and completed the first phase of the plan in 2021 with the installation of two entrance signs to the townsite.
The second phase will add three wayfinding signs, with $30,000 allocated toward the project in the 2024 approved budget.
Administration stated that the project funding was 100 per cent grant supported.
The signs would give directions to major community facilities to visitors and primarily use pictograms.
Each sign will be aluminum and have a concrete base cladded with local river rock, with the total installation being over six feet tall.
The installation will be done in the fall outside of the tourist season.
Since the total project cost of $36,802.99 exceeds the approved budget of $30,000, the Burke Group of Companies Ltd. submission was $32,000 less than the other submission received.
The overage of $6,802.99 required council approval but will be funded from Local Government Fiscal Framework grant funds, which is similar to the original source of funding.
Administration noted that the cost could potentially be brought in line with the approved budget if council decreased the number of sign locations from three to two, but council ultimately decided against this.
Traffic Safety Bylaw
A bylaw amendment will allow skateboards, rollerblades and scooters on streets in the Central Business District.
Council gave third and final reading to a Traffic Safety Bylaw amendment, which removed the section of the bylaw restricting these activities.
This comes after the municipality received a resident complaint in support of the use of electric scooters downtown, although the amendment does not contemplate e-scooters, which are considered prohibited vehicles under the provincial Traffic Safety Act.
Administration had reviewed the Banff, Canmore and Edmonton bylaws and determined that skateboards and scooters are allowed to circulate on public roadways in these communities.
It decided to recommend removing this section of the bylaw since users should obey the rules of the road no matter what wheeled device they are on, whether it is a bicycle, scooter or skateboard.
“Administration does not consider skateboards, rollerblades or scooters as being more hazardous than other non-motorized modes of transportation, as long as the operators follow the rules of the road,” administration stated in a June 11 agenda.
“Municipal enforcement practices would continue to reflect this approach should section 16.16 be removed from the bylaw.”
Skateboards, rollerblades and scooters will still not be allowed on sidewalks, except for children 10 and under if accompanied by an adult.
