Street signs point visitors, residents in the right direction

New signs and pedestrian maps intended to help residents and visitors navigate the downtown area are going up.

Since the Columbia City Council authorized the project two years ago, representatives of the Special Business District talked with college students, business owners and other residents in an effort to find the best designs and locations for the signs, Special Business District Director Carrie Gartner said.

“We wanted to make sure we had a very good sense of what we needed,” she said.

The signs and maps, located off Broadway, Ninth, Elm and other streets, point both drivers and pedestrians to parking garages, colleges, the MKT Trail, the historic columns at the Boone County Courthouse and on MU’s campus and other Columbia landmarks and amenities.

Gartner said the signs are intended to help both visitors and residents get around Columbia more easily.

“Even though people live here, they might not be familiar with where all the parking garages are, for instance,” she said.

Arnie Fagan, a member of the Special Business District and the owner of Cool Stuff, was on the committee that helped develop the sign designs.

“They were designed more for people coming from out of town, ... but I also think it makes the downtown look even cooler,” he said.

Columbia resident Ryan Miller said it’s unlikely anyone would get lost in a town the size of Columbia, but he thinks the signs are a good addition.

“It helps students who come from out of town that don’t normally live here and people coming through visiting,” he said.

Both Fagan and Gartner said feedback about the signs has been positive.

The final bill for the sign project will be about $147,300, which is about $30,000 less than the original estimate. The money came in part from the Special Business District, but the bulk of the cost — for manufacturing and installing the signs — is being covered by the city, Gartner said.

The Special Business District paid Diggit Graphics of Columbia $11,000 for the designs, and the city awarded the installation bid to Columbia Sign Service. The directional signs should be up by this weekend, while installation of the map kiosks will continue through April.

The new signs are part of the larger District Beautification Plan, which also includes new streetlights, benches and trash cans.

Lori Young, manager of Envy clothing store, said the project is worth every penny.

“The whole program is going to continue to class up and beautify Columbia,” she said.