Sharon Bradley of Sharon Bradley Site Design, Inc. presented the Greenbelt City Council with her latest designs for Greenbelt gateway (city limit) signs at a March 21 worksession. Three different styles of entrance sign were proposed with two cast stone monument signs to be located at main entrances to the city, 10-foot-high cast stone on stone block base columnar signs at other important road entrances and small signs on top of steel poles at other city entrances (see more renderings on page 12). All would be in an art deco compatible style and include the city logo in color and either “Greenbelt” or “Welcome to Greenbelt” on the sign face. The city contracted with Bradley, who has done other site designs here, to design these entrance markers. At a previous worksession on July 1, 2015, council had reviewed preliminary concepts and agreed that more work on design was needed. This time, councilmembers appeared to be generally pleased with the designs, although some tweaking was suggested. More discussion City Gateway Signage Designs Shown at Council Worksession by James Giese took place about which kind of sign to place at which location. Generally, council preferred using column signs instead of pole, although the latter would be less expensive. There was also difference of opinion expressed on whether or not a map of the city should again be placed at the Southway entrance to the city. The matter was not resolved. A remaining obstacle to achieving this council objective, referred to as a 15-year project, is permission from the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) to place these signs on state highway right-of-ways, according to Planning and Community Development Director Celia Craze. Mayor Emmett Jordan urged staff to get an answer from SHA. If it is a “no,” then council, he thought, can seek the support of the city’s representatives in the state legislature. City Manager Michael McLaughlin cautioned that while money was budgeted for this project, “it may not be enough.”
The article goes on to describe the history of the hand-painted Southway sign which was removed after damage in a car accident. Curious residents can follow the story in the paper by CLICKING HERE...