Alliance for Dade Works With UGA on Custom Wayfinding Signage

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Popular in tourist areas, wayfinding signage is an eye-catching, aesthetic way to direct travelers or share information about the local community. Dade County is getting its own uniquely designed wayfinding signs. The Alliance for Dade hired the Carl Vinson Institute for Government at the University of Georgia to design a set of signs for the county.

In addition to a variety of government-related work, the institute works specifically with communities on wayfinding signage and town design that includes trees, planters, and generally pleasing spaces. Sandy White (Alliance for Dade president and CEO) has worked with the institute before and said that the team does excellent work.

She said, “UGA’s design team is booked up three years out, but they’re working us in. They really like this community. To my knowledge, the only other way to get design work like this is through a sign company that does wayfinding signage. Although there are some nice signs out there, I’m envisioning ours will be a little different from what I’m seeing from these companies.” 

White explained that the design elements for the signs will complement the round Trenton gateway signs that Scenic Dade installed several years ago. They will also complement the visitor’s guide which splits the county into three areas and uses colors to represent each area: green for Dade Valley, blue for Lookout Mountain, and orange for Sand Mountain. The signs will incorporate these colors.

White said, “It will bring together a cohesive look, giving a unique identity and cute small town feel. This signage is usually very distinctive to each community, and I think it will enhance our look and feel for visitors who enter the county.”

The project’s funding comes from the Hotel-Motel Tax, with $20,000 from the 2023 budget going to UGA and $100,000 budgeted for 2024 to pay for the signs. White said, “We are budgeting phase-by-phase based on estimates.”

The project is split into three phases, with the first phase covering downtown Trenton, the second phase adding attraction signs throughout the county, and phase three handling all signs on Department of Transportation (DOT) right-of-ways.

White said that in the first phase, a sign will be placed in Veterans Park and likely somewhere else near downtown. These will feature an interchangeable map so that as the area changes, the Alliance can update the map.

This phase will also place about five markers along the downtown sidewalk that tell about local history. Chattanooga has six markers like this in its “Tennessee Music Pathways” series.

Lastly, phase one will include directional signage at the edge of downtown pointing to attractions outside of downtown.

The attraction signs in phase two will be placed in front of attractions such as Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm and the American Legion War Memorial Museum, keeping the same aesthetic as the directional signage.

All signs placed along DOT right-of-ways will be handled in phase three. White has worked with DOTs before and reported that the process can take a long time. The Alliance is seeking approval from the appropriate landowners to place the other signs, whether that’s private, city, or county property.

Mini “gateway signs” (not as large as the round Trenton ones) are also in the works for each community: New Salem, West Brow, Rising Fawn, Wildwood, New England, Slygo, Davis, and New Home. White added, “For any communities that have community centers, we’ll offer to add a community center sign or update their current one.”

Once UGA completes the designs (tentatively by summer 2024), the Alliance will find a company to make the signs, depending on what materials (wood, aluminum, etc.) are needed. White hopes to have the first phase installed by the end of 2024.