Hamilton Gateway Sign

[coalminecanary]

Image might be everything but putting a sign on the QEW is not going to move our image one millimeter no matter how nice the logo is.

[the905sDW]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

Image might be everything but putting a sign on the QEW is not going to move our image one millimeter no matter how nice the logo is.

it might not change the view or image of the city, but at least you would know you were actually in it! Out city is too good for the 'builder-basic' blue highway sign.

[coalminecanary]

A real city announces itself by its reputation, not by its manicured highway sign. THese signs scream "inferiority complex".

If we want to improve our image we need to do it form the inside out. This is a waste of time, energy and money when there are real things we should be busy doing, like making the city liveable and economically sustainable.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I don't disagree with you but I'm not sure it has to be an either-or proposition. With City Hall, however, you just never know. Perhaps they'll splash out with the rest of our Future Fund monies.

[coalminecanary]

It just kills me that we rubber stamp these HUGE roads expenditures every budget year without a second thought. And now how much time is going to be wasted determining whether to make a sign or not, and if so, what will it look like, how will we pay for it etc etc etc.... it is totally wasteful in terms of time and eventually money. Nobody - and I mean nobody - is going to take a highway exit because of this sign, and it won't change anyone's preconceived notions about Hamilton. And based on the city's track record with "public art" (witness our bus wraps and hideous traffic signal box covers) it will very likely be ugly and dated the minute it's built. I have no patience for pig lipstick when we are a billion dollars in the hole. If they REALLY want to do something to make the city look better from the QEW, they should light up the skyway or something. But even that would be premature. Lets move into the 20th century before we start getting all proud about how neat-o we are.

[flar]

Originally Posted by matt602

That would be pretty awesome, actually.

haha, I was being facetious. That mural is almost certainly better than whatever they will end up with.

It will probably be some fake stone pillars with a few slats of wood across it, Hamilton logo of painted wood, and some Home Depot landscaping. Like pretty much every other city in Ontario.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by coalminecanary

It just kills me that we rubber stamp these HUGE roads expenditures every budget year without a second thought. And now how much time is going to be wasted determining whether to make a sign or not, and if so, what will it look like, how will we pay for it etc etc etc.... it is totally wasteful in terms of time and eventually money. Nobody - and I mean nobody - is going to take a highway exit because of this sign, and it won't change anyone's preconceived notions about Hamilton. ... I have no patience for pig lipstick when we are a billion dollars in the hole...

I’m really happy when I hear people talking like this.

There’s nothing wrong with a welcome sign as such. But this city is facing some real challenges. It’s too often that the municipal government stands around patting itself on its back as it wastes time and money talking about extremely low-impact things like this, and few people clue in to the fact that it is ignoring its real job, and ignoring growing problems. This is all a polite fiction, and it's not productive.

[lucasmascotto]

Welcome to Hamilton: councillors to vote on gateway sign for Hwy. 403
The Hamilton Spectator

City staff are calling for a $230,000 Hamilton gateway sign at highways 403 and 6 to be installed in time for the Pan Am Games.

"This location was chosen due to traffic volume statistics, and the high volume of traffic expected as part of the official route to Pan Am Games soccer in Hamilton," reads a public works department report that will be presented at the general issues committee Wednesday.

The installation, about 500 metres west of the ramp to Highway 6, would need to be approved by the Ministry of Transportation and would be paid for out of capital reserves.

The ministry estimates that on average, 117,000 cars pass the site each day.

If council approves the plan, city staff recommends the proposed design be displayed on the city's website for public feedback. The design renders the word Hamilton in metal, 3D block letters with landscaping behind.

An eight-month MTO approval process and the construction tender, sign fabrication and installation are expected to take until July 2015.

Public works staff are also recommending that the costs for signs at the city's other highway entrances — Highway 6 and Freelton Road, Highway 403 and Alberton Road and the Queen Elizabeth Way at Fifty Road — be considered in the 2016 budget.

The estimated cost for those three gateways is $550,000.

Staff concluded the pedestrian bridge over the QEW at the Red Hill Valley Parkway exchange serves as a gateway there.

Under provincial guidelines, if the city installed a gateway sign at the QEW and Fifty Road, it would require removing the existing Stoney Creek sign.

The Hamilton gateway signs issue has been studied for years, first surfacing in 2001 just after amalgamation.

[coalminecanary]

What a waste of money.

[bluevue]

given the goal is pre Pan-Am, you would think the ministry process could be expedited just a bit....little urgency here. I think the city needs this. It makes no sense that all other cities in the areas have these, but Hamilton. Man up!

[coalminecanary]

Will there be a day-long debate about whether we can afford this or is that level of scrutiny reserved for bike lane maintenance costs?

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

not only a waste of money but this makes us look like a small suburb of Toronto that needs to be identified.... why not spend some money and fix the horrible lighting on the new pedestrian bridge that overpasses the QEW ?? whoever was in charge of lighting that bridge has obviously never worked with lighting installations before

[HillStreetBlues]

What a waste of a half a million dollars.

Last I checked, highway 403 is not Hamilton. Motorists will get to see a pretty sign, and the ones just passing by might be fooled, but what about the ones who get off the highway at Main East and see...more highway. Or Aberdeen to see the rail yard and a couple of vacant lots.

[thistleclub]

Hamilton's borderline neurotic labelling of urban geography ("Welcome to the North End" springs to mind) seems like a marker of low confidence or civic amnesia, like these places would have no identity, charisma or history if you didn't bracket them with expository signage or overwrought gateway features. It has gone beyond the kitsch obelisks favoured by various BIAs and is fast approaching something akin to your mom sewing name tags inside your clothes.

Not a fan. Seems like podunk stuff to me.

[coalminecanary]

[markbarbera]

Labelling of urban geography rarely aid in enabling civic identity, or develop into iconic symbolism.

[thmx]

I don't understand how a few metal letters and some trees could cost as much as a house...

Source

...and that design couldn't get much more boring.


I designed this a few months ago. I used orange brick with dark would trim to go with so many historic buildings downtown. I also added a waterfall feature because Hamilton is the waterfall capital of the world. The letters would be metal with a metallic silver finish, and Hamilton's "The Ambitious City" nickname would also be featured. At night it would glow with white LED lights...

Source: My Photo

Different views, and colours...

Source: My Photo


Source: My Photo


Source: My Photo


Source: My Photo


Source: My Photo

Lighter wood colour & dark stone:

Source: My Photo

Dark wood & dark brick:

Source: My Photo

[davidcappi]

Email that shit to the city yo. It looks excellent.

[thmx]

Originally Posted by davidcappi

Email that shit to the city yo. It looks excellent.

Thanks

[thmx]

What my design would look like if it replaced the Stoney Creek sign at Fruitland Road...

Source: My Photo