by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
City Council member Suzanne Jenkins held a meeting Thursday afternoon at City Hall to discuss the proposed overhaul of directional signs in and around downtown. Representatives from Downtown Vision, Inc., the Downtown Development Authority and the Florida Department of Transportation attended.
Topics included:
• Replacing all directional signs downtown and possibly adding more in other nearby locations, including Brooklyn.
• Possibly color-coding the signs based on the 10 districts outlined in the Downtown Master Plan. Proposed districts include the Cathedral District, the Hotel District, LaVilla and the Downtown Central Core.
• Amending all interstate signs with “Riverfront” printed on them to read “Downtown.” Interstate signs are an early priority.
• Get signs printed and in place before Super Bowl visitors make their way to Jacksonville in 2005. A time line and budget should be in place in a few weeks.
• Limiting the amount of verbiage on each sign to keep drivers’ eyes on the road.
• Making the destinations on each sign specific to the district in which it resides. For example, signs in the Downtown Central Core District would only include locations in that district.
The group will reconvene in a few weeks. The planning department will use an outside consulting firm to study what the next step should be in replacing current signs.