Jump to content

Downtown wayfinding signage

Veloise

By Veloise
in Grand Rapids

Recommended Posts

Veloise City

Veloise

Posted
Posted

Coming soon to a sidewalk near you!

Today I noticed that tall black columns have been mounted on December's concrete bases. Many of these are wearing their traffic cones on top, but they will look much nicer once the map panels are installed. The posts match the antiquey black street lights; nice touch.

There will be 25 of these all around downtown; you won't be able to miss them. And our lost visitors will appreciate them a lot.

--Veloise

who walked from City Hall to the back door of Four Friends every day, and several times a week would get asked for directions to a building within softball distance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 23
  • Created
  • Last Reply
joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
Posted

I think the wayfinding signs will be nice for out-of-towners and suburbanites who don't venture downtown often. I read Woz' article in the last issue of GR Magazine and they look great. It should be interesting to see if people start using the terminology they use for the different areas (like Hillside instead of Heritage Hill).

Joe

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRCentro Hamlet

GRCentro

Posted
Posted

I remember hearing some noise about this before I left. It sounds promising and will hopefully give a sense of a unified downtown character. What types of things will the signs display? Points of interest? Privately and/or publically-owned sites? What adaptation for future additions will they have?

I'm only assuming the signs themselves will be of some quality and class - not metallic green street-sign style, right? B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
daniel nudnik Whistle-Stop

daniel nudnik

Posted
Posted

definitely great stuff. I would like to see them all over town eventually. we'll see how that goes with community development block grants facing the ax in the bush budget.

Coming soon to a sidewalk near you!

Today I noticed that tall black columns have been mounted on December's concrete bases. Many of these are wearing their traffic cones on top, but they will look much nicer once the map panels are installed. The posts match the antiquey black street lights; nice touch.

There will be 25 of these all around downtown; you won't be able to miss them. And our lost visitors will appreciate them a lot.

--Veloise

who walked from City Hall to the back door of Four Friends every day, and several times a week would get asked for directions to a building within softball distance

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Link to comment
Share on other sites
woz Whistle-Stop

woz

Posted
Posted

POINT AND SCOOT

A funny thing is about to happen on the way to the arena. First-time GR visitors will be able to find it quickly, easily and without stopping for directions.

The shortest path between two points is always a straight line. When that path crosses an unfamiliar urban environment, however, finding it can be as difficult as fishing out a single thread from a swimming pool of yarn.

For many Grand Rapidians, connecting this city

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
Posted

What also would be great are large colorful trail markers connecting the White Pine Trail, the riverwalk, and Kent trails out to Millenium Park, Wyoming and Grandville. The Paul Henry Rail Trail on the Southeast side is being expanded to go all the way out to Middleville and Hastings as well. These should be identified and marketed better, similar to what East GR did with the Reeds Lake Trail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
Posted

I agree GRDad. Heck, I'd be happy to see some signs that actually gave directions to Millenium Park. Millenium Park is a wonderful addition to GR, but even as a life long resident, I have a hard time finding the place! :)

Joe

What also would be great are large colorful trail markers connecting the White Pine Trail, the riverwalk, and Kent trails out to Millenium Park, Wyoming and Grandville.  The Paul Henry Rail Trail on the Southeast side is being expanded to go all the way out to Middleville and Hastings as well.  These should be identified and marketed better, similar to what East GR did with the Reeds Lake Trail.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Link to comment
Share on other sites
daniel nudnik Whistle-Stop

daniel nudnik

Posted
Posted

I agree with that. I think that creating a comprehensive wayfinding system to help residents and visitors get around (and to) the parks and trails of the city would raise consciousness of recreation accessibility by creating linkages between different places. The master plan calls for expanding recreation accessibility by indicating possible greenways around the city. While the money isn't presently on hand to embark on a project like that, tying the parks together through wayfinding signs and bike/walking route indicators could serve a similar purpose.

I agree GRDad. Heck, I'd be happy to see some signs that actually gave directions to Millenium Park. Millenium Park is a wonderful addition to GR, but even as a life long resident, I have a hard time finding the place! :)

Joe

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Link to comment
Share on other sites
joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
Posted

Josh,

Where did you see them (what street)? I'll have to check them out this weekend.

I also just saw the signs, and they look nice. They seem simple with all the necessary info for finding things around downtown. They also have a style that fits in well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PBJ Burg

PBJ

Posted
Posted

Josh,

Where did you see them (what street)? I'll have to check them out this weekend.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's one on monroe and fulton, theres another on fulton and Ionia, and i've seen the pillars elsewhere without the signs yet. They do look nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Josh Whistle-Stop

Josh

Posted
Posted

Joe,

I saw several, including the ones at Monroe-Fulton and Fulton-Ionia. There was also one on Monroe next to DeVos Place. There is an article in today's Press about them. It explains a lot; someone should post it here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GRCentro Hamlet

GRCentro

Posted
Posted

Mlive doesn't have today's Press article about the signs. In summary, the 135 custom-made signs cost $827,000 and will go up at a rate of about 15 per day. The only complaint is that in the aluminum bases is cast what is supposed to be the city seal, but the image lacks definition and it difficult to make out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Veloise City

Veloise

Posted
  • Author
Posted

GRDadof3 wrote:

What also would be great are large colorful trail markers connecting the White Pine Trail, the riverwalk, and Kent trails out to Millenium Park, Wyoming and Grandville. The Paul Henry Rail Trail on the Southeast side is being expanded to go all the way out to Middleville and Hastings as well. These should be identified and marketed better, similar to what East GR did with the Reeds Lake Trail.

Full disclosure time: I was working for the City writing the bicycle plan, and coming up with lots of needed fixes related to cycling. And I'm on the board of the Rapid Wheelmen bicycle club.

That's one of the suggestions I brought up to the City and Kent Cty Parks departments. City likes it. County has yet to respond. Rapid Wheelmen are behind the idea and we'd like to make it happen.

FWIW, the city of Grandville has stepped forward with signage on the Kent trails, out on Indian Mounds where the trail goes south towards the scenic and aromatic G'ville treatment plant.

--Veloise

who proofread the pedestrian version of the wayfinding signs

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 years later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.