Tractors are welcome to roam North Gower again after signs banning the farm vehicle popped up in the Ottawa neighbourhood following a coding error.

On Monday a local farmer alerted Rideau-Goulbourn Coun. Scott Moffatt about the signs on Fourth Line Road that said tractors were banned.

The confused councillor, who also chairs the agriculture and rural affairs committee, popped out to find temporary signs posted which showed a bright red line crossing out the silhouette of a tractor.

I knocked down the two on Fourth Line Road, but I am told there are more elsewhere. I've asked that they all be removed. <a href="https://t.co/MLUIoBQALZ">https://t.co/MLUIoBQALZ</a> —@ScottMoffatt21

"I took the weights off them and threw them to the ground," Moffatt told CBC's All in a Day. "It's harvest season. Tractors need to get where they're going."

He then took to Twitter to let his constituents know that tractors are, in fact, allowed in the area.

"They are ridiculous," Moffatt tweeted about the signs.

After some sleuthing Moffatt discovered that due to a coding similarity the City of Ottawa had ordered "no tractor" signs instead of "no truck" signs. There is a 10-day detour in the area for trucks to steer them away from a culvert renewal project.

City not coming after tractors

"It's like a four-digit code. Two letters and two numbers. It's all based on the Highway Traffic Act," Moffatt explained. "I guess there are places in the province that maybe you want to have a 'no tractor' sign on, [like] the Gardiner Expressway."

"I guess the thing that puzzles me is why wouldn't someone have said, 'There is no way the city really wants us to put up no tractor signs?"

Rideau-Goulbourn councillor Scott Moffatt says some people in his rural riding did take offence to the no tractor signs. (CBC)

Moffatt said the story is laughable, but some people in the rural riding did take offence.

"Some people were like, 'The city is coming after us.' Well, no, no. We wouldn't," he said. "It's the kind of story that's made for Twitter."

The councillor said he believes the contractor might incur extra costs but the city likely won't.

Earlier this year another error led to a fire hydrant being placed in the middle of a sidewalk in the centre of the new Booth Street bridge. It was removed at the cost of the contractor.