Downtown Wayfinding Signage Project

The goal of the wayfinding effort is to make it easy for visitors and residents to navigate around downtown Knoxville, as well as, highlighting its attractions and offerings in an appealing and informative manner.

The project area encompasses all of downtown including World's Fair Park. The general boundaries are the Norfolk Southern Tracks to the north, the Tennessee River to the south, Hall of Fame Drive on the east and 11th Street on the west.

The project has is being funded as a Local Government Guidelines project in coordination with TDOT and has received the following approvals: Environmental Clearance, Preliminary Design, Right of Way and Construction Documentation Clearance. The city has posted the project for bid in accordance with TDOT requirements. A Pre-Bid Meeting will be held at the City of Knoxville, Engineering Department, located at 1400 Loraine Street at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, July 1, 2014. Any interested contractors must be pre-qualified with TDOT prior to bid opening.

Sealed bids for the Wayfinding project will be accepted by the Purchasing Agent of the City of Knoxville, in Room 667-674, City County Building, 400 Main Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee, until 11:00 a.m., July 17, 2014 at which time they will be opened and publicly read aloud and the Contract awarded as soon thereafter as practicable for the Downtown Knoxville Wayfinding Project.

WAYFINDING PROJECT ARCHIVES

In 2009, the city selected MERJE Design, a Philadelphia-based firm with extensive experience in wayfinding and branding work, from among more than 20 companies that submitted proposals to lead the public process for input, create a design, establish sign locations and create a manual for maintenance of the signs and system. Throughout this contract the City and MERJE have worked with various stakeholder groups, including representatives from Market Square and the Old City, the downtown theaters, historic preservation groups, the Arts & Cultural Alliance and various city departments, along with others. Public participation has been an essential component of this project.

Recognizing the challenges of funding the implementation of this project over multiple budget cycles, in September of 2010, the city submitted a request to the Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) to include the Downtown Wayfinding program in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and to make it eligible for Federal Highway (FHWA) funding. The city received approval for a grant in the amount of $1.2 million to implement the Downtown Wayfinding program as a Local Government Guidelines project, meaning 80% of the contract would be funded by FHWA through the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and 20% of the project would be funded locally by the city of Knoxville. Additionally, this funding source has requirements that include environmental permitting, right of way certification and construction review and administration.

In June of 2012, the city received a Notice to Proceed (NTP) from TDOT for the Downtown Wayfinding project. A call for letters of interest for qualified firms was issued by the city in the same month. The city held a kickoff meeting for this phase of the project on December 4, 2012 at the Emporium Center for the Arts. Click here to view the meeting presentation in PDF format.

Links to files from the Wayfinding Project are available below:

Theme Boards [PDF]

Steering Committee Info [PDF]

Inventory of Existing Downtown Signage

Pedestrian Wayfinding Report - ETCDC [PDF]

Request for Proposals - Downtown Wayfinding Signage Project [PDF]

Addendum 4 [PDF]

March 9, 2009 Press Release [PDF]

May 7, 2009 Wayfinding Design & Analysis Presentation [PDF]

June 30, 2009 Revised Wayfinding Design & Analysis Presentation [PDF]

Sept. 11, 2009 Wayfinding Analysis [PDF]

Oct. 15, 2009 Design Development [PDF]

May 17, 2010 Design Development Package [PDF]

October 2010 Program and Message Schedule [PDF]

Oct. 29, 2012 Construction Documentation [PDF]

Nov. 28, 2012 Press Release - Public Meeting on Wayfinding Project [PDF]

Dec. 4, 2012 Public Meeting Presentation [PDF]

Mar. 21, 2014 Press Release - New Downtown Signs to Help Navigation, Reduce Visual Clutter [PDF]

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