City Council has been asked to approve a request for proposal for new entrance signs after the first phase of public feedback gave them an idea of what residents in the city would like to see.
According to survey results, residents would like to see English only, custom designed signs with a landscape feature for the north and west gateway entrances.
For the sign proposed by the downtown association earlier this year, around 3/4 of people would like to see the use of a cityscape design on the new sign. A total of 170 people responded to the survey over a three week period.
Parks Planner Lindsay Juniper says they will now begin work on preparing the RFP’s for distribution, and all will be asked to come up with three usable options based on the public feedback. He adds the plan selected will then be re-submitted to the committee level, but not before another round of public consultation
“We will ask them to provide us with those three options and then have the public vote on option A, B, or C.”
The locations for the two signs are proposed for 140 Avenue and Highway 43 to the north, with Range Road 71 and the eastbound lane of Highway 43 selected for the west sign.
Juniper adds the west entrance feature will have to be moved eventually, but it is a suitable place for a non-permanent sign.
“At the city boundary at that location isn’t suitable for placement of a sign. Once Alberta Transportation ties Highway 40 south of Highway 43 that sign would be more or less in the middle of the roadway. That’ll get changed in the future, whether that’s two to five years, or it could be longer than that.
The total budget for the three signs is $150,000, with the Downtown Association promising a $25,000 contribution to the new downtown sign if approved.