Stanford street signage evolves to meet community and visitor needs

In a typical jaunt down the postcard-famous Palm Drive, it is easy to get lost in the serene quality of an endless row of palm trees. Less noticeable, however, are the small directional signs that might point to, say, the Stanford Visitor Center.

A real journey begins for the ambitious traveler trying to locate the bookstore, one of the most popular destinations for campus visitors. It can be mind-numbing to navigate your way across the largest university campus in the United States by contiguous area, so I embarked on such an adventure.

Warning: the following escapade is not for the faint of heart, and my hunt one evening for textbooks was a stressful and frustrating quest.

Putting myself in the shoes of a tourist, I enter the campus driving south on Palm Drive.

At the intersection of Palm Drive and Campus Drive, a sign points left for the bookstore – my first clue.

But then finding the next sign is an odyssey.

Approaching the intersection at Galvez, I find no signs for the bookstore, so I just keep going straight. Next intersection at Serra Street and still nothing.

I don’t find another sign for the bookstore until Lane A, 1.3 miles later. Two signs in quick succession and mission accomplished, I’m parking in Tresidder.

It can be easy to take for granted the maintenance of street and pedestrian signs on campus, but it is a very complex job that involves architects and planners. All the signage at Stanford is overseen by University Architect/Campus Planning Design (UA/CPD), which is tasked with both designing signs and also keeping maps and directories up to date.

“In the last five years we’ve started to evolve to a different system,” said Cathy Blake, the associate director of UA/CPD. Colors are being used to distinguish between different types of signs, such as for campus parking.

More parking garages are springing up – or down if it’s underground – and traditional surface parking lots are becoming less common, said Blake. In the new system, there are more green signs which indicate where the nearest parking garages are located.

One of UA/CPD’s goals is to give more identity to streets such as Campus Drive for them “to become as memorable and clear as Palm Drive,” Blake said.

But Blake added that this isn’t a total revamping of the signs on campus. “It’s evolving, it’s not a redo,” she said.

Blake also described a new campus entries project, which aims to analyze and improve the entrances to the campus, and better define the entrances themselves, using both signs and landscapes. And UA/CPD say they’re engaging with the public by way of focus groups.

“We’re asking the community to give us input,” Blake said.

In recent years there have been improvements. The pedestrian sign system didn’t even exist five years ago and is being developed on a by-need basis, according to Blake.

Updating signage for massive building projects is one of UA/CPD’s most important tasks. Strolling around campus, a casual observer will find construction everywhere, with projects like the Knight Management Center southeast of Hoover Tower and a new extension to the Stanford Law School.

Signs for new buildings and structures will be updated right before they open to avoid as much confusion as possible, Blake said.

For now, if someone from Cal asks for directions, point them toward Kresge.