Olathe is developing new signs designed to help people find their way and locate unique places and notable features across the city.
Earlier this month, the Olathe City Council gave the greenlight to a project to place new wayfinding signs for parks and trails as well as for the downtown area and places that are unique to Olathe.
The city council also authorized an agreement to start the design process for the new signs. Totaling $100,000 for design and public engagement among other elements, the project is completely financed through the Olathe Park Sales Tax.
Nate Baldwin, city engineer, said the wayfinding and signage project was identified as a top priority in the recent Olathe Parks and Recreation Master Plan process (found on pg. 98).
Olathe already has some wayfinding signs
- For years, signs have helped people navigate to places in the downtown Olathe area specifically.
- Those signs are located primarily around Santa Fe Street, between Kansas Highway 7 and Interstate 35.
- However, that area of the city has changed a lot over the past few years, including some new county buildings and community amenities.
- Additionally, Olathe has some other location signs placed around the city.
Olathe wants “uniform” sign design
In addition to being inconsistent, Baldwin said the city’s existing signs are “extremely outdated.”
The project’s end result will likely bring consistency to the different signs used across the city, though what exactly they will look like and what kind of details each type of sign will include remains unclear.
Baldwin said all of those details will be ironed out over the next few months during the design phase.
The new signs will include “uniform” design for monument signs at parks in Olathe, Baldwin said. The wayfinding signs, also part of this project, would likely replace existing directional signs in the downtown area, as well as near other city landmarks and on Olathe trails.
Next steps:
- The design process will likely last through the rest of 2024.
- Later, Olathe will have some public engagement opportunities to let residents weigh in on possible designs for the new signs.
- Then, in 2025 and 2026, few of the new signs will be rolled out in a pilot program of sorts.
- Finally, after that, the new signs are expected to go out across the city of Olathe, though that might require further city council consideration.
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