The Garland City Council heard a presentation Monday evening on a proposed citywide corridors-and-gateways revitalization plan that would pair a new, flexible signage system with public‑art opportunities and median and landscape treatments.

Seth Atwell, principal at TPG Partners, said the plan’s aim was to “embrace the Garland vibe” by blending historical signage character with newer, district‑specific expressions. He described the design approach as a system rather than a single look: standard gateway markers, larger vertical landmark signs and smaller, utility‑pole or median elements that can be right‑sized for different locations.

Design and priorities
The team proposed three corridor treatment types — new corridors (where pavement and medians are upgraded together), beautification corridors (focused median upgrades only) and limited‑area corridors (narrow medians where pavement graphics and pavers identify the corridor). The design package includes a newly developed, city‑specific font, a color palette drawn from existing Garland hues and a set of metal and sculptural embellishments (including a gear/fire‑wheel motif and three‑dimensional “vertical landmark” features) that can be combined for different sites.

City staff said Forest Lane (western city limit to the Avenue B/D split) and State Highway 66 (eastern city limit to the Avenue B/D split) are budgeted in the proposed 2025 CIP as near‑term pilots. Becky King, who leads corridor work inside the city, said the Forest Lane project design will start this quarter, with the intent to begin construction within the year. The Forest Lane CIP entry lists $650,000 of new certificates of obligation funding and a total project cost of $1.55 million; State Highway 66 has $310,000 from a Texas Parks and Wildlife grant plus 2019 neighborhood‑vitality bond carryover and new CO dollars in the 2025 CIP.

Questions and concerns from council
Councilors generally praised the project’s goals of consistency and visual identity but raised questions about specific artistic elements. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Blunt and others said the proposed gear/“fire‑wheel” motifs and floral imagery would not appeal to all residents; presenters said the motifs were illustrative and could be refined in detailed design. Council members also pressed staff on sign placement for high‑traffic entries such as Rowlett Road and Interstate 30 and emphasized that any citywide replacement program would right‑size sign types for available medians, TxDOT rules and overhead utilities.

Implementation and funding
Staff said parts of the corridors and gateways effort are included in the 2025 CIP and bond requests: Forest Lane and SH‑66 are funded in the CIP and additional corridor/citywide gateway work is proposed as part of the bond’s $20 million gateways/corridors allocation that staff recommended to merge into the streets proposition. Becky King said some corridor elements (for example, SH‑66 medians) will be designed by TxDOT under its rules and that not every graphic element seen in concept drawings will be permitted on state right of way.

Public feedback and next steps
Designers described extensive staff and public outreach during concept development and said the city will use district‑level engagement to refine priorities. Council directed staff to bring refined concept language and budgets into the Saturday workshop and the CIP process.

Ending note
Council members asked for detailed staging, cost estimates and a clearer plan for signage consistency before moving forward with citywide rollouts.