Foley improving Coastal Connection signage

Foley improving Coastal Connection signage

The Foley City Council approved improvements to way-finding Scenic Byway signage at the intersection of Hwy. 59 and U.S. 98 in downtown Foley.
Under an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation, the city will pay the cost of making the signs and the state will install the markers to improve direction finding and the appearance at the intersection of Baldwin County’s two main highways. The change will reduce the number of signs at the intersection.
“The way-finding signage for the intersection has been there for a number of years. The signs are starting to fade,” said Taylor Davis, Foley city engineer. “The city has been working with ALDOT for a number of years and trying to come up with and sign an agreement to what the layout will look like.”
“We’ve been trying to minimize the sign clutter on the corners for 20 years, and Taylor was able to work with ALDOT in a way that they were OK with,” Mayor Ralph Hellmich said. “It’s still not going to be none, but they’re going to minimize the number of signs, and so it will be aesthetically a lot better.”
Davis said ALDOT officials agreed that the new system will provide needed information while reducing the number of signs on the highways.
“They are in agreement,” Davis said. “They feel this is the most efficient way to replace the signs and to summarize what’s going on with the intersection.”
Hellmich said Foley officials studied sign systems at major intersections in other cities before developing the plan for Foley’s downtown.
The new marker system will reduce the number of signs by about half. Six signs, as well as directional arrows, are now in place at the southwest corner of the intersection. That number will be reduced to three when the new signs are in place.