Significant progress has been made toward creating way-finding signage for the city of Sandy, according to Planning Director Tracy Brown.

After the downtown parking survey identified the need for the signs, a couple of surveys were conducted to help select colors.

Sign designs also were considered before the current sign design received general agreement from the architect, Ambrosini Design Ltd., and local committee members.

Colors winning the majority of approvals included shades of maroon, green and tan with white letters.

The largest signs are planned to be 30 inches by 42 inches, Brown said. Currently, the panel is looking for the font that is easiest to read.

The committee’s idea is to identify perhaps a dozen sites and help people find them with the effective use of about four dozen signs.

In this Sandy Main Street effort, Brown is assisted by Associate Planner Kelly O’Neill, Main Street Director Jason McNeil and Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mitch Speck.

Largest among the signs are two gateway monuments, which are expected to be placed near the waterfall feature at the western edge of the downtown and another somewhere near the intersection of Ten Eyck Road, Wolf Drive and Highway 26 at the eastern end of the downtown core.

Brown said the gateway sign (Welcome to downtown Sandy) is approximately 15 feet tall — a size not to be ignored by incoming tourists or even local residents.

Other types of signs in the plan include large (30 by 42 inches) directional signs some distance from each site, which might list several sites in the same general area, as well as smaller signs closer to the sites, with arrows directing people where to turn. Special parking-lot signs also would be placed in strategic places as advised by the downtown parking committee. Likely the smallest signs will be placed closer to the ground, and are for pedestrians walking to sites.

“None of the signs will be at the sites,” Brown said. “They’re all directional. But we are trying to be careful not to over-sign the city.”

The committee has developed a map, locating 49 places where suitable poles exist that could have signs attached.

For example, a sign could be attached near Bluff Road and Highway 26, directing people to the north to Sandy High School, Jonsrud Viewpoint and Sandy River Park. It also could say “Chamber of Commerce straight ahead,” according to Brown. Some signs also could display international icons, such as a question mark as the icon for a visitor information center.

At the end of this planning process, the City Council is likely to place its stamp of approval or perhaps revise the plan slightly before approving it.

But for a while, that might be the end of good intentions.

There is no funding identified, and there is no contractor ready to take on the project. The cost of an architect to design signs was covered from the Planning Department’s budget.

The project is likely to take several years to complete, even if funding does not become an issue.

For more information, call Brown at 503-668-4886.