A $120,000 landmark Sylvan Lake sign that was months in the making took only seconds to wipe out.

In what was described as a Dukes of Hazzard move, a suspected drunk driver in an air-borne pickup truck smashed through the decorative sign early on Tuesday. The sign had only been installed one and a half weeks ago in the centre island of a roundabout at Hwy 11A and Hwy 20.

“It’s tough to take,” said Town of Sylvan Lake assistant chief administrative officer Myron Thompson, who considered the image-making sign for Sylvan Lake “kind of like my baby.” Months were spent discussing the sign’s design details and it was installed in stages.

Thompson said the nine-metre-high sign, which consisted of a sculpted concrete base and eight masts holding up an aluminum blue wave emblazoned with the town’s name, wasn’t even completed when it was demolished at about 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

“We still had to do some landscaping and put in some cascade lighting.”

But Thompson maintains the provincial intersection is already well lit. The pot lights were going to be installed to shine upwards on the sign.

Town officials are now assessing the damage. The top of the sign’s concrete base is ruined and four out of eight masts are completely gone, said Thompson.

“How do you guard against this kind of thing?”

Police told Thompson the pickup that hit the landmark sign was going straight through the roundabout at highway speed.

The truck suffered “massive, massive damage,” and is a complete writeoff, said Sylvan Lake RCMP Const. Ernie Horne. It’s “miraculous” the driver wasn’t killed, he added.

The suspect, who allegedly left the scene of the accident, was easy to locate at his Sylvan Lake residence, added Horne. The motorist, who had minor injuries, was driving a marked company truck.

The suspect was arrested by police but no charges were laid as of Wednesday afternoon. RCMP continue to investigate.

Thompson believes the driver escaped more serious injuries because his pickup became air-borne after hitting the curb. This means the vehicle only made contact with the top of the sign’s concrete base instead of hitting it full-on. “The truck must have gotten four or five feet off the ground when it hit the sign,” he said.

Experts are trying to determine if and how the sign’s concrete base can be salvaged.

Thompson believes either the driver’s insurance will play for repairs. Town staff will work this fall to replace the sign.

In the meantime, the town sent the province an accident report. Thompson said it’s up to Alberta Highways to determine if any safety features, like rumble strips, are needed leading to the roundabout.

Contact Lana Michelin

at lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com