New Wayfinding Signs for River Users
New Wayfinding Signs for River Users
a Carolina Paddler reprint of an article by Gretchen Smith
NCDOT has begun installing road signs on bridges over the Haw River as part of the Haw River Safety Collaborative. The road signs will be visible from the river on both the upstream and downstream side of the US 64, US 15-501, and Chicken Bridge Road bridges. This project is to help river users (paddlers, tubers) identify their location along the river, especially in emergency situations. The signs should be particularly helpful to river users who are unfamiliar with the Chatham County segment of the Haw River. Chatham County’s Trails and Open Space Planner Ben Rippe is working with NCDOT Division 8 engineers on the sign project. The first sign installed was one of the US 64 signs on July 9th. Sign installations will be coordinated with other road work needs since installation requires a lane closure for the safety of the installers.
This project is part of the Haw River Safety Collaborative, a stakeholder partnership working to develop signage to improve locational awareness of river users, a notification system, and educational programs to enable safer recreational use of the Haw River. Friends of Lower Haw River is an active participant in the collaborative. FLOHA’s president Gretchen Smith, Chatham County Trails and Open Space Planner Ben Rippe, and Central Pines Regional Council’s Langston Alexander will be giving a presentation at the Great Trails State Conference* about the Haw River Safety Collaborative that will include information about this bridge sign project.
This article is a reprint from the Friends of the Lower Haw newsletter. Thank you, Gretchen.
See the complete newsletter from FLOHA.
*More information on FLOHA’S participation in the Great Trails State Conference:
The Great Trails State Conference is being held in Winston-Salem on September 11-13th. Early bird registration has been extended through July 22nd. Information and registration at this link: The Great Trails State Conference | Great Trails State Coalition. The conference will include all types of trails: hiking, paddling, biking, equestrian. Our presentation will be about the Haw River Safety Collaborative. It will cover projects we are working on, including river safety signage such as the road signs on bridges, a notification system using E-Paper digital signs displaying real-time information at kiosks, and educational programming. Langston Alexander, Ben Rippe, and Gretchen Smith will be co-presenters. We don’t know yet which day of the conference we will be presenting, but it will either be September 12th or 13th. An overview of the conference schedule is available at this link: GTSC 2024 Agenda Overview.pdf – Google Drive