Signage as both Guide and Invitation: Part 1
Wayfinding signage is a humble investment with outsized returns: it reduces friction for first-time users, amplifies interpretive stories that deepen connections to place, and signals that your local trail is part of a living regional network.
On the Richard Martin Trail, it also honors the vision of the man whose persistence created this path in the first place. By adding SRT signage, we’re not erasing Martin’s legacy but extending it — linking his local achievement in Elkmont to the broader regional story of the Singing River Trail. His dream of preserving history and creating shared community space now finds new momentum in a network that spans all of North Alabama.
Practical plan: installing SRT wayfinding signage
From Anna Clem, Singing River Trail Associate Director
A sign unveiling may not seem like much, but honestly… it’s a big deal.
Working on a long-term project like a regional trail can feel daunting. Some days, it feels like we are sprinting to the finish line, but really, it’s more of a triathlon—a test of endurance, patience, and persistence.
Something as simple and unassuming as a trail sign represents months, sometimes even years, of effort and coordination. Behind that one sign is an entire story: fundraising campaigns, forming a steering committee, hiring design firms, hosting public input sessions, reviewing countless design options, selecting the final concept, drafting technical drawings, and mapping out exactly where each sign should go. And that’s just the short version.
Sidewalks, greenways, and trail systems do not appear overnight. We don’t wake up one day to find sidewalks along our community’s street or suddenly discover a greenway cut through a beautiful, wooded part of our town. Trails are the product of years, often decades, of dreaming, planning, and collaboration.
So, when we stand together to unveil a new sign, we’re not just celebrating a piece of metal in the ground. We’re celebrating vision. We’re honoring dedication. And we’re recognizing the gift of time—given by so many—to make our shared spaces better for generations to come.
The Process
A coordinated, well-designed signage system improves the coherency of a greenway network and provides a sense of identity and utility for the trail network.
Goals were developed to guide the design of the Singing River Trail wayfinding system, to ensure that the proposed design suits the needs of the corridor and its users.
- Enhance awareness for users that they are along a larger trail network
- Improve wayfinding access throughout the sub-areas
- Improve connections to trail networks from adjacent neighborhoods and communities
- Enhance education opportunities about local history, amenities, culture, and ecology.
SRT recruited a steering committee of about 20 people from all over the region and from different backgrounds and organizations. This steering committee chose from 3 family of sign designs and then gave suggestions for edits.
After the design was chosen, technical drawings and specs are created and then quotes are requested from fabricators.
The SRT team coordinates with the municipalities and/or organization leadership.
- Placement plans are then discussed and created with municipalities and planners.
- Signs are ordered
- Signs are installed!
