San Marcos is adding its final touches to its first-ever gateway signs along 1-35 to mark the entrance into the city.
The two signs were made from utilizing leftover funds from a previous Ranch Road 12 extension which was completed in 2010, that could only be used for a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) project. Mayor Jane Hughson said the council has been pushing for gateway signs since other cities already have them installed.
Hughson said that she did not know why it took a long time for the city to get gateway signs.
“Some of us [city council members] have said ‘we need a gateway sign,’ before [other cities], but once the [other cities gateway signs] went up, I said ‘we really need a gateway sign,” Hughson said. “And I think it was [that] people finally had time to work on it.”
Council member Josh Paselk said he was thankful to the council and to Hughson for being able to install the new signs.
“[The gateway signs] have been long, long overdue, and we couldn’t be happier with them, and [I’m] looking forward to doing more great things here in the city moving forward,” Paselk said.
Hughson said that the signs represented certain aspects of San Marcos, as the green represents the city’s nature, the blue color represents the San Marcos River, and the stone at the bottom of the sign commemorates the Hill Country. The “San Marcos” text on the sign is also backlit at night.
“[The City] Council told our [designers] kind of what we wanted on them, she came back with some designs, I said ‘we like this out of this one, and we like that out of that one’ and then she brought them back, and I think they came back a third time, and we said ‘that’s the one we want,'” Hughson said.
According to Hughson, the TxDOT has strict criteria for gateway signs. Hughson said that she believed that the city used almost all of the square footage allowed for the sign and that the city had to get permission for the placement of the sign.
Hughson said that because the signs are in TxDOT’s right of way, the state’s property, they are in control of regulation.
Adam Hammons, media relations director for TxDOT, wrote in an email to The Star that gateway signs are regulated based on performance rather than a prescriptive regulation.
TxDOT works on regulations on a case-by-case basis; however, TxDOT still has the final say on colors, location and size, among other aspects, according to Hammons.
“Every project is a safety project at TxDOT, including monument projects. With a focus on safety, the appropriate location and overall design will rely on clear recovery zones, placement to minimize the likelihood of being struck, and not obstructing views or creating a distraction to motorists,” Hammons wrote. “The monuments must also be free of any business advertising.”
Hammons wrote that TxDOT works with communities on the design of structures like gateway signs, encouraging designs that reflect the culture of where the signs are placed.
