Ontario brings in new bilingual, full-colour electronic highway signs

New full-colour electronic highway signs are seen in these images provided by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

TORONTO -- Ontario drivers are getting an eyeful as the province brings in bilingual, full-colour electronic highway signs.

The new signs feature internationally recognized images and symbols with less text to read, which the province says will allow drivers to easily see important road safety information and react to traffic conditions or choose alternate routes.

Twenty-one signs have already been introduced in southern Ontario, including on Highway 401 near Toronto and Pickering, and the QEW near Niagara, Burlington and Mississauga.

There are also seven signs in northeastern Ontario on Highway 11 and Highway 17.

The provincial government says the signs and their colourful images will help keep drivers safe and manage traffic conditions.

And it says the bilingual signs in French-designated areas meet the requirements of the French Language Services Act.

The signs are manufactured at Ledstar in Vaughan, Ont.

Madeleine Meilleur, Ontario's attorney general and minister responsible for Francophone affairs, says this is the first bilingual, image-based signage plan to be delivered throughout a province in Canada.

"Ontario is committed to making important road safety information accessible to all residents, regardless of their spoken language," she said Tuesday.