Members of the West University Place City Council discussed several options for new city entrance signage on Buffalo Speedway during a Sept. 11 meeting.

What you need to know

Elizabeth Gilbert, a managing principal from Houston-based landscape architecture firm Clark Condon, presented three potential designs for the thin strip of median at the intersection of West Holcombe Boulevard and Buffalo Speedway to the council members.

Gilbert presented three potential designs for the area:

• a design featuring ground-level planted flowers throughout the median with a monument in the center
• a design with raised plant beds surrounded by brick pavers
• a design featuring ground-level planted flowers behind a monument built in place on top of brick pavers

In each of the designs, there is an intended spot that marks the entrance of the city, either displayed on a monument or at the front of raised plant beds.

The approach

Council members unanimously agreed that the second design—one featuring raised plant beds—was the preferred design. Several members noted the raised plant beds will protect the flowers from pedestrians, while the brick-paved front will serve as a landing place for pedestrians crossing the intersection and provide continuity for the other parts of West University Place, which feature brick.

Next, Clark Candon will work on the design in detail.

Related highlights

Also on the agenda was an item to accept the completion of work on the Buffalo Speedway Project—a years-long drainage improvement effort—to begin the city's resolution, or payment, process.