Gateway, Marquee, Wayfinding, Building and Street Signs
Gateway and Marquee Signs
The Gateway and Marquee Signs were a project that came from the 2016 Comprehensive Plan. In 2018 the City Council adopted the Gateways and Wayfinding Master Plan. The plan also included new street signs that incorporated the city logo.
For FY 2019 and FY 2020 the City Council allocated $1 million each year (for $2 million total) for the project. For budgetary reasons the project was split in two phases. After several discussions with Harris County and no movement towards approval, some gateways originally planned to be in Phase 1 were moved to Phase 2.
The types of signs, locations for them, and the phase for each are as follows.
|
Sign Location |
Sign Type |
Project Phase |
1 |
North Eldridge Pkwy and US 290 |
Large Gateway |
Phase 2 |
2 |
Philippine and Beltway 8 |
Large Gateway |
Phase 2 |
3 |
Jones Road near FM 529 |
Large Gateway |
TBD |
4 |
Jones Road south of US 290 |
Large Gateway |
TBD |
5 |
Jersey Drive at Lakeview near Fire Station |
Marquee Sign |
Phase 1 |
6 |
Senate Ave and Seattle St |
Marquee Sign |
Phase 2 |
7 |
Philippine Street and Equador Street |
Marquee Sign |
Phase 1 |
8 |
Village Drive and Rio Grande |
Marquee Sign |
Phase 1 |
9 |
Jones Road at Jersey Meadow |
Marquee Sign |
Phase 1 |
10 |
Jones Road near Wyndham Lake Blvd |
Small Gateway |
Phase 2 |
11 |
Senate Ave at US 290 |
Small Gateway |
Phase 2 |
12 |
Jersey Drive at US 290 |
Small Gateway |
Phase 1 |
13 |
Jones Road north of US 290 |
Small Gateway |
Phase 2 |
14 |
Steeple Way and US 290 |
Small Gateway |
Phase 2 |
15 |
West Road and US 290 |
Small Gateway |
Phase 2 |
Phase 1 Status
The contract to work with Clark Condon for the design of the Phase 1 project was approved by City Council in October 2018. As noted earlier Phase 1 was modified to remove signs in the Harris County Right Of Way and the full contract amount will not be spent. The Phase 2 contract contains the rest of these signs.
In October 2019 the City Council awarded the contract for Phase 1 of the signs to be completed. The original contract amount was $278,241.39.
The marquee sign on Philippine near Equador was modified from the original design to ensure the electrical components were adequately the base flood elevation as required by local ordinances.
As of November 17, 2020 the project is substantially complete. There are a few punch list items that need to be completed before Phase 1 is finalized. Those items should be completed by November 20.
As of November 30 the project is complete. With two change orders for the project the final cost for Phase 1 construction came to $294,478.51.
One marquee screen at the Fire Station has been sent to the manufacturer for warranty work. As of August 9 the manufacturer is evaluating the work that needs to be done.
Phase 2
In November 2019 the City Council authorized a contract with Clark Condon for Phase 2 of the design and construction management
of the gateway and wayfinding signs project.
As of mid-October 2020 Phase 2 is under design. A traffic engineer is assisting Clark Condon and the City to study traffic patterns, at the request of Harris County, around the areas where the gateways and signs will be installed. The initial study has been completed and is waiting for feedback from Harris County. Design and permitting work should be completed by early 2021, with this portion of the project out to bid in the spring of 2021.
As of the week of January 18, 2021 the project has been submitted to permitting at TXDOT, Harris County, and the City. Each jurisdiction is reviewing the permits. As of April 2021 we are still waiting for permit approval from Harris County.
The project is out to bid as of May 19. The City Council is scheduled to award a bid at their June Council meeting and work should commence in July 2021.
On June 21, 2021 the City Council awarded the project to Millis Development and Construction. They were the lowest responsible bid with a bid amount of $562,529. As of June 23, 2021 contract documents are being drafted. A Notice To Proceed will be issued in July. The contract has 160 days for the project to be completed. Work is expected to be done by the end of 2021.
The week of August 9th the contract has begun to stage materials at City Hall.
As of August 23, 2021 the contractor is working on the Layout and Foundations Electrical Rough-ins for the signs located at N. Eldridge, West, Steepleway, and Jones Road near Wyndham Lake Blvd. This is expected to take 30 days. The full project schedule, as of August 20, 2021 can be found here.
As of October 11 the following work is being completed:
- Removing left over trash after completion of grout fill at CMU, at all locations except for the Large Gateway Monument (at BW 8 and Philippine St).
- Applying waterproofing onto built CMU.
- Coordinating electrical and irrigation borings.
- Coordinating start of irrigation at all locations except for the Large Gateway Monument (at BW 8 and Philippine St). We were waiting on review of the irrigation submittals.
- Releasing and ordering cast stone and brick, finalizing shop drawings for the stone veneer.
- Coordinating built out of the sign cabinets with Signage Contractor, waiting for their update on the lead times.
The contractor is still working through the digital marquee specs. Manufacturing constraints will delay the installation of the marquee.
As of October 25 the following work has been completed:
- Boring the (6) electrical and (4) irrigation sleeves
- Working on electrical underground
- Starting irrigation, and preparing to run it to the irrigation marks where the bores are coming
- Starting soil preparation and backfill using approved landscape soil mix
- Have released brick and cast stone for delivery. All should be delivered by 11/15.
- Revising shop drawings for the stone veneer
- Ordered two digital display monitors and obtained the intake/air circulating fans for inside of the digital display cabinet.
- Signage in production.
As of November 11 the following work has been completed:
- Borings at Eldridge @ 290; West Rd @ 290, and Steeple Way @ 290. Other bores Senate @290 and Jones @ 290 are still pending.
- Underground electrical work is continuing. We are waiting on CenterPoint for the meters.
- Irrigation work is underway.
- Stone and brick is ordered and awaiting delivery.
- Digital displays for marquee sign has been ordered and scheduled to be here early December.
- Signage is in production and scheduled for on time delivery.
Project update for December 20, 2021
- Foundation for large gateway sign at Philippine and Beltway is done.
- Underground electrical work is underway at the locations where work has been approved.
- Bricks and cast stone have been installed at several locations, and remaining locations will happen this week.
- Stone veneer is scheduled to arrive this week.
- Signage is in production.
- Digital display monitors should be here before the end of the year.
Project update for January 6, 2022
- Work is moving forward on the large gateway at Philippine and the Beltway.
- Upon completion of the foundation work, they have started stone work, and completed it to the extent possible. The rest of the masonry and cast stone work is equally complete to the extent possible.
- Continuing work on irrigation and inspections.
- Coordinating with Bakers’ Signs to start signage at all locations. Digital displays have arrived.
- Stone veneer has not yet arrived.
- Drainage rock for the signs will be received and installed this week. Backfill and landscape will follow.
Project Update March 2022
- The signs have been installed.
- Signs that have been hit by graffiti are awaiting new stones to be set.
- Electricity has not yet been completed. The contractor, electrician, and CenterPoint are working to get electricity set up.
- Landscaping work is nearing completion.
Project Update May 2022
- Project is nearing completion.
- Awaiting CenterPoint to install electric meters and contractor to finish electric work.
Project Update June 2022
- Substantial completion walk has been done. The contractor is working on punch list items.
Wayfinding and Building Signs
On September 21, 2020 the City Council authorized a contract for wayfinding and building signs.
For building signage there will be new signs at City Hall, Police, Fire Station, and Public
Works. There will also be new signs at Carol Fox Park and Clark Henry Park. The current signs at the parks will not be removed. The sign at City Hall would be built so it could be removed when City Hall moves and the
foundation of the sign could be reused for a new sign for whatever is at the current location.
For the wayfinding signs 8 locations where identified:
- Jones and Village Green
- Village Dr near Rio Grande
- Jersey Dr near Fire Station
- Senate and Seattle
- Senate and Lakeview
- 2 on Lakeview at Jersey (one going each direction)
- Lakeview and Philippine
The new signs were installed November 12, 2020. The total cost for this project was $17,970.
Street Signs
The Street Signs were replaced in the fall of 2018 to the current ones we have today. The cost of this was $4,340.
The conceptual drawings of the different types of signs are seen below. Click on the image to see a larger version of it.