McKinney City Council is moving forward with its wayfinding master plan with updated designs.
During the June 21 City Council work session, project manager Pamela Alummoottil presented council members with updated signage designs and introduced gateway designs, cost estimates and preliminary sign locations.
Kimley-Horn and Corbin Design came back with revised designs that incorporated the feedback council members gave them on their original designs during a Sept. 21 work session. New additions include a variety in colors; district headers for the southern part of McKinney with entertainment areas such as Hub 121, District 121 and the McKinney ISD stadium; and the city’s downtown area and a variety of insert panels featuring different plants found around McKinney.
Cost estimates were also presented to the council with a preliminary estimate of $2.6 million for 123 wayfinding signs. The council showed support for the updated wayfinding designs.
Gateway signage designs were introduced by Kimley-Horn for the first time to council members during the meeting as well. Landscape architect Paul Freeland presented three design concepts for gateways. The council eliminated the third concept and asked for revisions to the other two.
Freeland suggested the city focus on three gateways for $2.5 million and then an additional four gateways after the first three are completed. The priority gateways are at US 75 and Telephone Road, SH 121 and US 75, and SH 121 and Custer Road.
Council members such as Mayor Pro Tem Rainey Rogers said the $2.6 million was costly for the three signs. Mayor George Fuller suggested fundraising as a solution and said he is not approving the estimated $2.5 million cost during the session but is approving the furthering of designs.
“I believe there is an opportunity for us to go out and campaign,” Fuller said. “[We can] fundraise and campaign for big corporate stakeholders of McKinney to create this monument signage and sense of place.”
Once the city staff has feedback on the design and the project moves further along, they will have more accurate cost estimates, Alummoottil told the council. They will also be able to begin approaching landowners and working on getting property rights to place the gateway signs.
“When you're coming up [US] 75, there is lots of wayfinding for cities south of us,” Council Member Geré Feltus said. “I don’t want it to look like all the same city.”
The project is ready to be bid on while the gateway sign designs are revised.
