Whakatāne Wayfinding signage plan

Background

Whakatāne District Council asked ViaStrada to provide a wayfinding signage plan for Whakatāne District's walking and cycling network. Its focus: how can we help people (and visitors) navigate their community?

Walking and cycling routes provide the safest, most pleasant, and often most efficient travel to who walk or cycle. But not everyone is always aware of the nearest walking and cycling routes. This leads people to unsafe and unpleasant travel experiences, often navigating using phones. Clear signage at the right location can therefore make all the difference in people’s walking and cycling journeys.

We advised on the position of signs and which information should they provide. This resulted in over 80 bollards on a dozen routes and trails to guide people from all directions. Bollards include distances to the next and final destination of each route and also provide path user behaviour information. The plan was developed in concert with Bike Whakatane Trust members to ensure that local knowledge was included.

The first $50,000 stage of the project will see more than half of the signs installed to help guide the people of Whakatāne and visitors through their community.

Objective
The principal purpose of a wayfinding plan is to provide new residents and visitors with wayfinding guidance to follow the shared path, trail, neighbourhood greenways, and principal commuter routes (the spines of the Active Whakatane network).
Client
Whakatāne District Council
Location
Whakatāne
Deliverable
Plan set
Timeframe
May - October 2020
Project Status
Complete
John Lieswyn
Director – Principal Transportation Planner