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Date: 11/22/2021
NORTHAMPTON – The Planning & Sustainability Department in Northampton is currently seeking feedback from residents on a draft design for wayfinding signs that will be placed at seven different locations in Florence.
According to Wayne Feiden, the director for the city’s Planning & Sustainability Department, the implementation of these wayfinding signs is a part of a bigger project within the city that includes updating the zoning inside of Florence, as well as the streetscapes that reside in this area.
“We have a contract out now improving some of the worst sidewalks, adding more wheelchair-accessible ramps, adding a new crosswalk, and doing a long-term master plan,” said Feiden.
Part of this broader project, for example, included putting money in for an art project earlier this spring, where a bunch of murals were painted on a specific stretch of the Northampton Bike Path in Florence.
According to Feiden, there are a good number of people who are not from Northampton that ride on the bike path in Florence, but they are not widely familiar with the area. “We want to draw them into downtown Florence to spend money and have them play,” said Feiden, when speaking on the reasoning for adding these signs across town. “There are wayfindings for that, but also just for building a sense of place for people who live in Florence. It just sort of reminds them.”
Multiple organizations comprised of Florence residents and Florence Business and Civic contributed to the inception of these drafts through a unified committee, and local artist Seth Gregory created the design for the signs. “This is us trying to get community engagement through this process,” said Feiden, when speaking on the survey’s importance.
The proposed Florence Wayfinding sign locations include, Lilly Library, Main Street eastbound at Maple Street, Main Street westbound at Keyes Street, Main Street eastbound at Valley Medical, Main Street westbound at Chestnut St., MassCentral at Straw Avenue and MassCentral at North Maple.
For residents who would like to share their thoughts on the signs, they can learn more at https://northamptonma.gov/2369/36305/Florence. Residents have until Dec. 1 to respond to the survey.