EDC hears consultant plan for Cleveland wayfinding signs; board to prioritize conventional intersections

Consultants presented to the Cleveland Economic Development Corporation on options to implement phase 1 of the city's Wayfinding and Gateway Master Plan, laying out design choices, technical constraints, and cost estimates for overhead intersection signage.

Emilio Labarillo, the city's community and economic development director, introduced Michael Mauer of M2L and Associates, who said the team identified 10 signalized intersections as candidates for overhead blades and described three typical intersection conditions: guy-wire spans, mast-arm-mounted signals and unusual diagonal guy-wire configurations that cross intersections.

"What we're talking about today are these overhead signs," Mauer said, explaining that municipal highway standards allow one-line signs (street name only) and two-line signs (street name plus block numbers), the latter requiring a larger blade. Mauer estimated per-sign bids in a recent, larger project at about $1,200'$1,300 each and suggested a per-intersection cost of roughly $5,000'$6,000, putting a 10-intersection buildout in the $60,000'$70,000 range once mobilization and site differences are considered.

Mauer flagged several technical challenges at diagonal intersections where guy wires and signal placements create visibility problems and potential confusion if a hanging blade would be visible from multiple approaches. "If we were to put a hanging sign right in the middle of that intersection that either identified Belcher or Washington, you would see it in two different directions, which would be very confusing," he said.

Board members and staff discussed trade-offs between branding continuity and field constraints. "I like the way this looks on the West South line, and this looks pretty to me, but I feel like the other ones just look kind of awkward," said Jasmine Funes, urging a focus on placements that preserve visual cohesion without forcing oversized plates onto cluttered poles. Brent McWaters said he concurred and thanked staff and volunteers for recent city events before supporting the prioritization idea.

Staff and the consultant agreed to produce full-size mock-ups and to study alternative approaches for the irregular intersections, including "next-intersection" post-mounted signs and smaller local blades that offer block numbering and directional information without the same overhead footprint. Mauer noted those post-mounted alternatives are similar in cost to overhead blades once foundation and slip-base protections are included, estimating roughly $1,600'$1,700 for such installations in some configurations.

The board expressed general support for prioritizing the more conventional 90-degree intersections in the initial implementation and asked staff to return with refined concepts, costings and visibility studies at a future meeting.

Next steps: staff will prepare mock-ups and alternative concepts for the board, run brief visibility and sidewalk impact studies for diagonal intersections, and bring recommendations back at a subsequent meeting.