Signs of things to come: Series of meetings to determine wayfinding plan for Danville

Published 2:16 pm Friday, October 13, 2017

From U.S. 127, approaching Danville and the turn for Stanford Road, should a sign point to Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, the Constitution Square State Historic Site or some other point of interest in Danville?
That’s the kind of question John Carman, with the consulting company Carman, asked of the handful of community members gathered Tuesday night for a wayfinding meeting to help determine signage throughout the city.
Carman called the meeting “the third in the series of a process.”
“The process can seem to be slow and tedious, but, there again, it’s a process. I think it’s important that we take these steps,” he said. “The last meeting, I know, there were some frustrations about how slow we are moving. I ask that we all be patient — none of us are going to get left out … it’s very much an inclusive process.”
Participants were given map handouts denoting potential sign locations, and ink pens. They were asked to look at the potential locations and write down what they felt would be most important to include on those signs, either from a provided list or adding their own.
“It’s very relevant to understand what is important to you all,” said Carman. “Your voices are very important.”
The city is divided into two sectors, he said, with the outlying area being sector one and the central business district in the downtown area being sector two.
“It has nothing to do with importance, priority or hierarchy. It is just a geographic term,” Carman said.
Information on the signs on the bypass, for example, will be a little more generalized, such as saying “Downtown Danville,” whereas signs closer to the center of town will be more specific, saying things like, “Dollhouse Museum.”
Signs along nonlocal roads can only point to three locations, according to federal regulations. Carman pointed out that road speed could also have an impact on what is placed on signs, and he believed signs could not be closer than 300 feet together.
Carman said they will also not remove the city’s larger monument signs, and don’t plan to compete with those.
Archives of The Advocate-Messenger show that the wayfinding master plan is going to cost the city $27,000, and will be a state-approved plan. The signs will point people to places of interest in Danville and Boyle County, from intersections that Carman referred to as “decision points.”
The last meeting helped narrow down preferences of the types of signs — black post and side-mounted signs — and sign colors and size of letters.
“We are making progress,” he said.

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