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Consultants outline countywide wayfinding plan for Tompkins County
Summary
Consultants and Visit Ithaca leaders presented a countywide wayfinding plan that inventories roughly 300 signs, recommends about 200 new installations and estimates a rescoped project budget a little over $1 million; implementation depends on New York State DOT review and municipal input.
Michelle Palmer of Widom Planning and Design and Peggy Coleman of the Tompkins Chamber and Visit Ithaca presented an update on the Tompkins County Wayfinding Project at the July 23 Tompkins County Council of Governments meeting.
Palmer said the project began as an effort to update a 2014 plan that was never implemented and that the team completed an inventory of roughly 300 existing signs. "So the goal of the plan is really to to make it easier for visitors to Tompkins County to understand where they're going and, take away some of the confusion about finding destinations," Palmer said. She described a design approach that emphasizes visitor‑oriented destinations (state parks, trails, museums, Downtown Ithaca and Collegetown) rather than municipal boundaries.
The presenters described a mix of sign types: county gateway signs to replace aging green‑and‑white signs, municipal gateway signs (optional for towns that already have satisfactory signage), pedestrian ground signs concentrated in walkable zones such as Downtown Ithaca, and a range of vehicular signs designed to meet New York State DOT sizing and visibility standards. The team noted that many of the proposed signs sit in NYSDOT right‑of‑way and therefore require individual municipal packets and formal NYSDOT review before final design and permitting.
Coleman said the project has moved into implementation planning and provided preliminary financial context: about $150,000 has been spent to date on design, the inventory and related meetings, while the rescoped project budget is "a little over $1,000,000" given current estimates and uncertainties around installation costs. Consultants estimated fabrication at roughly $300 per sign and installation ranging from about $500 to $1,500 per sign depending on site conditions and DOT requirements; the team expects about 200 signs to be installed.
Next steps include preparing individual packets for NYSDOT review (the team expects an NYSDOT review to take about three to four months after submission), completing the final report, public bidding and then permitting and installation. Palmer and Coleman said they will follow up with municipalities on the detailed sign lists and on requests for municipal gateway signs.
