The red, blue and yellow routes with their corresponding diamond, circle and square shapes were designed to help tourists make their way around Branson, but many tourists aren’t aware the routes exist.
The City of Branson’s newly formed transportation committee met Wednesday, Feb. 18 for the second time to discuss if the colored routing system should be changed or kept in place.
Committee chairman Bob Warlick said he had not found any support for the colored routing system. “Everyone of us know the symbols and colors but couldn’t tell you what symbol goes with what road,” he said.
The colored routing program began in 1996 to help visitors navigate Branson. The red route centers around Shepherd of the Hills Expressway and Highway 376. The blue route consists of Gretna Road and Roark Valley Road while the yellow route deals with Green Mountain Drive, Wildwood Drive and Fall Creek Road.
“We discovered that people weren’t seeing the signs,” said Terry Dody, city administrator. “We came up with the idea of painting the symbols on the roadway, but visitors are looking for signage and not looking down at the road. We’ve seen it (colored routing system) fall by the way side because we haven’t got the response from visitors that we hoped for.”
Several roads in Branson are known by different names, thereby, confusing visitors even more. Warlick gave the example of Gretna Road. The road was recently dedicated as the Bob Hope Memorial Drive. It is also known as Highway 248 and the Avenue of Freedom. Business 65 in downtown Branson is also called Veterans Boulevard, Highway 76 and South Commercial. The committee will look at creating one name for some of Branson’s roads.
Box Car Willie Drive will be extended to Business 65 as part of Branson Landing infrastructure, and a name for the road will have to be determined. “Box Car Willie is going to be changed dramatically with the development,” Warlick said. “We could keep the name Box Car Willie as a memorial.”
Committee members also shared their thoughts on the city’s transportation tax. The tax will go on the August 2004 ballot for an extension. City Engineer David Miller said it takes $500,000 a year to maintain the condition of Branson’s roads. The transportation tax brings in $4 million a year. An educational process will soon begin for the tax extension. Presentations providing the facts on the tax will be given to area organizations.
The next transportation committee meeting will be March 4 at