City Sign to Be Painted on Bridge Downtown

A sign reading either “Welcome to Fullerton” or “Downtown Fullerton” soon will be painted on a Harbor Boulevard bridge downtown.

City Council members approved a proposal to paint such a sign on both sides of an abandoned train bridge across Harbor. It was not determined when it would go up.

Mayor Chris Norby called the bridge sign “an important step forward” in the city’s goal to upgrade and add directional and informational signs and kiosks.

The sign project has not yet received council approval because members are still discussing the shape and size.

One proposal calls for signs that resemble murals, depicting scenes from the city. That would cost $655,000. The other idea would use signs shaped like boxcars--a testament to the city’s railroading heritage. That concept would cost $528,000.

Results from a recent three-week survey, in which residents were asked which idea they favor, were inconclusive, city officials said. The vote was split.

City officials said the council could go with a third alternative, in which both the mural and boxcar concepts are used, or come up with a totally different concept.