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Sarah Mills says parents are probably breathing a sigh of relief as kids head back to school after the Easter break.
Don’t be surprised if you spot damaged signs next to Saskatchewan highways this spring.
As the snow melts and the April showers turn into May flowers, more and more broken or damaged highway signs are becoming visible on Saskatchewan roads.
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Dan Palmer, with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways, said spotting road signs that are broken after the winter isn’t anything unusual.
“We replace about 10,000 damaged signs annually, and that’s part of a network that’s got 126,000 signs across a highway network of 26,000 kilometers,” Palmer explained.
About 6,000 of the damaged signs the ministry repairs each year require structural repairs.
How are signs typically damaged?
Palmer said there are a number of reasons how highway signs can get damaged.
“Vehicle collisions, vandalism, high winds, floods, heavy snow, and it is possible that with wet, heavy snow, when a snow plow is going by, when it’s coming off the wing, it is possible that can also damage the sign,” Palmer explained.
How are damaged signs repaired?
Palmer said the damaged signs are fixed by crews of workers hired by the Ministry of Highways.
“They do a lot of work throughout the summer, and they schedule the work so that they can target specific areas and do as many as they can in a specific area during a set period of time,” Palmer explained.
“Signs are across this 26,000-kilometer network, so they try very hard to get to them as soon as they can.”
How much money does it cost to fix damaged signs?
The ministry said that there is $3.5 million allocated annually in Saskatchewan’s provincial budget dedicated for sign repairs.
Which signs are most frequently damaged in Saskatchewan?
In 2024, the most-frequently damaged signs across Saskatchewan’s highway network were stop signs. Overall, 214 stop signs out of 12,973 were downed or damaged on highways last year.
The next most-frequently damaged signs on Saskatchewan highways were signs indicating turns ahead, with 110 left curve signs and 102 right curve signs damaged across the province in 2024.
Information board signs that advertise parks and tourism were damaged a total of 96 times in 2024.
