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Madison seeks $400,000 for downtown gateway and wayfinding signage project
Summary
The Borough of Madison presented a capital request to fund a phased, branded gateway and wayfinding signage system for downtown and parking areas; staff asked council to include roughly $400,000 in next year's capital budget to begin the first phase.
Borough staff on Wednesday asked the Madison Council to allocate just over $400,000 in the 2025 capital budget for a phased gateway and wayfinding signage program intended to support downtown branding and make municipal parking easier to find.
The project, led by the borough's director of business development, Lisa Ellis, follows a downtown revitalization study and a multi-year local committee process that selected Merge (the consultant) to design a signage system consistent with borough brand standards. Ellis said the final plan runs nearly 200 pages and is intended to be installed in phased groups over multiple years.
Ellis told council the committee prioritized gateway and parking signs in the first phase so residents and visitors can more easily identify town entrances and locate commuter and municipal lots. She said the design and technical specifications are complete but the borough must appropriate funds before moving to bid and installation.
Council members broadly supported starting with gateways and parking; several members noted that Madison currently has almost no remaining gateway signs and that other nearby towns have more extensive wayfinding. Council member Eric Range, who previously chaired the Downtown Development Commission working group, praised the long committee effort and asked the council to accelerate the two priority groups so the project does not take multiple council terms.
Ellis said the committee expects to seek cost savings by using borough Department of Public Works labor where appropriate, but said much of the work will require competitive bids. No formal vote to appropriate funds occurred at the meeting; council directed staff to include the request in the borough's upcoming capital budget process.
Ending: Staff will return with final bid documents and cost breakdowns after council acts on capital budget allocations in a future meeting.
