Wayfinding sign designs stay put

City of Sarasota commissioners remained skeptical about some aspects of a proposed plan to place new wayfinding signs throughout the city after a special workshop yesterday. The board directed staff to move forward with the project overall, and return with another update in 90 days.

Public Works project manager Bill Nichols presented the plan, for which commissioners previously asked staff to pare 40% of expected expenditures and bring down to about $760,000. The project team elected to keep the original design, and allow the competitive bidding process to account for some of the recommended reduction.

The plan calls for six two-sided and six three-sided kiosks for pedestrian wayfinding signs downtown, which could cost $49,000. Commissioners directed staff to consider deleting the latter from the plan or only making all locations two-sided. Nichols said the Florida Department of Transportation approved a cheaper sign base, which saved about $75,000. Overall, staff reduced the project by $179,000, Nichols explained.

Commissioners also considered breaking the plan into three phases, in the first of which contractors would install 170 gateway and vehicle directional signs. Nichols estimated that phase to cost $509,930, but noted that it’s based on old analyses and should fall come bid time.

The second phase includes installation of parking signs, and the third would be for kiosks, pedestrian signs, and two large gateway signs.