Business operators along a rural Nova Scotia highway want better signage to direct motorists their way this summer since construction has forced the partial closure of an exit that leads to them.
The recent closure of a connector bridge at Sutherlands River for replacement has also caused the closure of Exit 27 for motorists travelling west towards Antigonish.
Thomas Steinhart, owner of Steinhart Distillery in Arisaig, just a short drive over the Pictou County line into Antigonish County, said the government has placed signs before Exit 26, letting motorists know they have to take this exit to access Highway 245, but this isn’t good enough.
He said if motorist passes Exit 26 because there weren’t paying attention to the signs and do still take Exit 27, there is no signage there telling them to keep motoring on to Exit 29 to access highway 245.
“Every publication tells you to take Exit 27 so you put that in your GPS and you don’t pay attention until you get to Exit 27,” he said, adding that signs need to be placed at Exit 27 telling motorists they can access the rural highway taking Exit 29. He said signage also needs to be placed at Exit 29 so motorists know where to turn off TCH 104.
Come the long weekend in May, Steinhart will be open seven days a week until October. He is expanding his business to include a schnitzel shack and will be obtaining a beer licence in addition to his distillery that features spirits such as gin and vodka made from Maritime-grown winter wheat.
A few weeks before the construction work began, he was seeing about four or five tourists a day which indicated a good start to the local tourism season, but now business has dropped off dramatically.
Some customers who took Exit 27, despite the signage, have called him and were at a loss as to how to reach his business.
“They are basically taking away our business,” he said, adding that if new signage is not erected near Exit 27 or Exit 29, he will have to invest in his own so people will know how to reach him.
Janet Wilkinson, owner of the Cranberry Campground in Merigomish, said her business relies on transient customers and she is changing all of her directional marketing this season to Exit 26 for motorists travelling east in hopes of lessening the possibility of confusion for the tourists.
“As an operator of a rural seasonal business, this issue is very concerning to me. Two signs erected minutes before the detour exit is not adequate notice in my opinion. The directional and attraction signage located at Exit 27 is of no use to the tourists and does not benefit business operators when the exit is closed.”
Frazer Hunter, owner of Knoydart Farm Cheese in Arisaig, expressed the same concerns over the signage.
“It’s about the lack of signage,” said Hunter. “The work has to be done and it has to be fixed, but if a tourist takes Exit 27, there is no further signage.”
He says he is the only organic cheese farmer east of Quebec and has a retail store on his property. He also sells to local grocery chains, restaurants, and businesses as well as farmers markets.
“We get quite a lot of traffic in the summer with tourists, bikers and campers,” he said. “Quite a lot of people stay overnight somewhere at a bread and breakfast or we have we have a website that says Exit 27.”
Hunter recently brought his concerns Pictou County Councillor Don Butler who brought it to a recent county council meeting in hopes of getting the signage improved along the highway, so motorists know how to reach the scenic shore road.
“More signs need to be at Exit 29,” said Butler to council. “We also need signs for motorists travelling west through Marshy Hope directing them to Highway 245.”
He said there are bed and breakfasts as well as restaurants, parks, trails, a cheese factory, distillery, lighthouse, campgrounds, beaches and seasonal events that all rely on seasonal traffic.
Council agreed to send a letter off to the province’s transportation department as well as local the local MLAS.
Hunter said he is also waiting on a response from Antigonish county council to see if a similar letter will be sent to government on their behalf.
“If you are from away, you are not going to know where you are going,” Hunter said.
