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isacksphoto

Beach Comber
Nov 25, 2007
36
5
52
seagrove
www.isacksphoto.com
Hard work is to be respected, and I don't really believe anyone is discounting that!

The fact that this is a new hot topic, is basically the TDC's fault to begin with. They made now REAL effort to communicate their intentions in the beginning of the signage process. Then when the Big Blue Signs were put up, they acted like it was no big surprise...but it was. So much of a surprise, that Claire Bannerman who is at the very for front of making 30A an offical scenic highway to begin with, was not informed! She has been working on this your years, and consulted the TDC on many occations, none of which did they discuss the design and purpose of the new signage. It was handed wrong, and now moving forward folks are very passionate because there is a fear if they don't speak up...who knows what will be put up next! What is now being proposed is twice as much signs that were put up in ealier this year, and that was twice as much as what was there before too.

The caution that needs to be taken at this point, is keeping our slice of heaven from becoming a clustered version of Destin. This is a recognized Scenic Hwy., even Hwy. 101 or Route 65 don't have that many signs! Saftey can be accomplished with out that many 'distracting' signs.

I often think that ego gets into the way of good decisions, and this situation is no exception.
 

ASH

Beach Fanatic
Feb 4, 2008
2,156
443
Roosevelt, MN
I've only been living here full time for a couple years and so I feel a bit shy about tossing my comments into the converasation.
That being said, how many of you have traveled West into Sandestin and then Destin and right at the outlet mall, watched people driving in that lane way to the left. They drive by (count them please) seven big ole signs telling them that the lane they are in must turn left at the next intersection. Once they have passed seven signs, they finally come across the same writing right on the road. That's when they jam their vehicle to the right and nearly into traffic in the next lane to get out of the turn lane. That is when they finally see what the lane is about. Happens every day...all day.
All I am suggesting is that this might be the same scenario with too much signage on 30-A. People simply do not read the signs.
This is also why you have people either riding your butt shaking their fist at you or vise versa. Too many people have no idea what the actual speed limit is because they do not read all the signs changing the speed limit every half mile or so on 98.
Just food for thought
 

rapunzel

Beach Fanatic
Nov 30, 2005
2,514
980
Point Washington
Hard work is to be respected, and I don't really believe anyone is discounting that!

The fact that this is a new hot topic, is basically the TDC's fault to begin with. They made now REAL effort to communicate their intentions in the beginning of the signage process. Then when the Big Blue Signs were put up, they acted like it was no big surprise...but it was. So much of a surprise, that Claire Bannerman who is at the very for front of making 30A an offical scenic highway to begin with, was not informed! She has been working on this your years, and consulted the TDC on many occations, none of which did they discuss the design and purpose of the new signage. It was handed wrong, and now moving forward folks are very passionate because there is a fear if they don't speak up...who knows what will be put up next! What is now being proposed is twice as much signs that were put up in ealier this year, and that was twice as much as what was there before too.

The caution that needs to be taken at this point, is keeping our slice of heaven from becoming a clustered version of Destin. This is a recognized Scenic Hwy., even Hwy. 101 or Route 65 don't have that many signs! Saftey can be accomplished with out that many 'distracting' signs.

I often think that ego gets into the way of good decisions, and this situation is no exception.

Maybe I wasn't clear. I agree that too many signs are a problem, and I think perhaps the logo was not thought through. I was hoping to point out that these signs were sought by a proactive group of good citizens and advocated by a fabulous commissioner who was being responsive to the voices she was hearing at the time -- so perhaps we shouldn't throw them under the bus, but try to work with what they have already done and hope to improve Phase 2 and drastically reduce the numbers of signs being proposed by all sorts of groups.

Ego sometimes leads people to attack others for wasting money, without factoring in how drastically the community involvement has changed.
 

scooterbug44

SoWal Expert
May 8, 2007
16,732
3,330
Sowal
I like the new design & scale much better (to nitpick, I don't think the sea oats should stick off the sign), but feel there is a great deal of extraneous signage on each post.

We don't need to explain WHY the traffic signs are there - a yield or stop sign is more than sufficient w/o another sign telling you the reason.

If you ignore a stop sign and have an issue, that's Darwinism, not a need for additional explanatory signage.

I like the addition of the yellow 'trail crossing' sign to the standard vehicular stop sign, but feel that the white symbols and lines painted on the pavement or the presence of a road are more than sufficient to alert a biker to a crossing area - they don't need 4 more additional signs.

I also vote that the mileage markers only be installed on posts for other signs - not separate and at the exact location. Since it is a recreational path I think we can save some $ with a mile marker at 4.02 instead of a sign at 4.02 and a market at 4.0!

See, I was complimentary and making constructive suggestions! :wave:

I do think that there are more signs proposed than are needed. IMO the focus should be on judicious sign placement for the people who actually read/use signs. There are a lot of "extra" signs that I think are intended for the people who would ignore a billboard.
 

Rita

margarita brocolia
Dec 1, 2004
5,209
1,634
Dune Allen Beach
See, I was complimentary and making constructive suggestions! :wave:

I do think that there are more signs proposed than are needed. IMO the focus should be on judicious sign placement for the people who actually read/use signs. There are a lot of "extra" signs that I think are intended for the people who would ignore a billboard.

You find this in retail too - a few well-placed signs can work whereas once you put up several the tendency is to just ignore them. I think our brains just don't want to register that much stuff that says "read me". .:blink:


.
 

5thGenFlo

Beach Lover
Dec 18, 2007
77
25
Nashville, TN
Ok, I have a problem with the number of signs. Why do we have to warn of a stop ahead? Get rid of that one. Keep the stop sign. My other problem is why do we need to reitterate what the sign is with an additional sign on the post? Just have the one sign. Get rid of the additional verbage and it's redundant sign. I'd much rather see past that space at the beauty beyond. I agree with scooterbug44, let Darwinism do its job. Lastly, I'm a little upset that wood was not the primary ingredient to the signs.
 

5thGenFlo

Beach Lover
Dec 18, 2007
77
25
Nashville, TN
P.S. I still like the old wooden signs better. Why can't we have those back? Who do we see about that? And while I'm still griping, let me just say it, the new design looks a little too chic, too refined, I don't feel as proud of these signs as I did the wooden ones. The original wooden ones were so unique, yet so pleasing to look at, and I loved the little unbrellas. The fact that they appeared carved, gave them a look of being hand crafted, which to me denoted that the people must really care about these parts to have built such beautiful signs. Simply put, I was proud to have visitors see the old wooden ones. They gave me a feeling of being in a special place, like no other.
 
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John R

needs to get out more
Dec 31, 2005
6,777
819
Conflictinator
logo_30a.gif


this is the image that was published in the paper as the new sign logo, looking vaguely similar to someone's website logo. There seems to be some confusion, at least on my part. are the extremely well meaning bikers the owners of said site, and offered up their logo as a mockup, and somehow someone in govt/media took it as gospel?
 

isacksphoto

Beach Comber
Nov 25, 2007
36
5
52
seagrove
www.isacksphoto.com
to many cooks in the kitchen with to many pots calling the kettle black!
AMEN! to the old wood signs.

"Ego sometimes leads people to attack others for wasting money, without factoring in how drastically the community involvement has changed"

In refrence to the above quote, the more people that flock to this area...the more folks you are going to piss off and the more people in the community will be involved. People don't always work well with change, even though it is a constant in life. I do agree that money was wasted on the "Big Blue Signs" but no more then usually with goverment and community projects. In fact I am a big believer in putting it to the community to raise the money to replace these signs.

If you don't like it...change it. If you can't change it...live with it.
 

organicmama

Beach Fanatic
Jul 31, 2006
1,639
338
WNC
wncfarmtotable.org
If Beach Group hasn't given their written permission, isn't it just still in the process, where it can be tweaked a great deal? How far along are they on the completion of the signs? Also, since they own the rights to the design, that gives them advantage over other real estate companies, etc.

Geez, why couldn't someone designing the signs come up with something original? There is such beauty here, plus there are so many talented artists....

IMO, there are just too many signs. It's not to harm the hard work of the people who put their heart & soul into making the path a safer place. Of that, I am very grateful. But the signs will be ignored if there are too many of them.

SJ's right, most can be painted on the pavement. It would mean that the improvements to the trail have to be completed and then kept up with. I love the trail, it's part of the magic that brought us here. We use our little section a lot, almost daily, and as we move closer into the middle, we will be using it a great deal more as a major route for our whole family. The safety & upkeep issues are extremely important to me.
 
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