he new signs coming to the Mt. Comfort Corridor contain graphics representing each of the corridor’s four sections. SUBMITTED ILLUSTRATION
he new signs coming to the Mt. Comfort Corridor contain graphics representing each of the corridor’s four sections. SUBMITTED ILLUSTRATION
HANCOCK COUNTY — Signs will soon go up branding the quickly growing Mt. Comfort Corridor in western Hancock County and marking its different sections.

The corridor spans 13 miles along Mt. Comfort Road from U.S. 52 to the south to County Road 1000N to the north. It has attracted large buildings housing logistical operations, including a recently finished one for Amazon as well as another underway that will be Walmart’s biggest distribution facility in the country. Developers are constructing other large buildings on speculation that tenants will quickly be secured. Hancock Regional Hospital has new facilities along the corridor near I-70 and U.S. 52, with plans to draw more developments to both areas.

“The interest in the corridor, it’s just exploding,” said Jill Snyder, director of business and economic development for NineStar Connect, one of the members of the the Mount Comfort Corridor Coalition for Smart Growth.

To ensure meaningful growth occurs and quality of place is maintained, the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute conducted a study on the corridor that was released in 2019. The study identified four sectors along the corridor: the McCordsville District/Northern Gateway; Airport/Industrial District/I-70 Gateway; Cumberland Opportunity District/Cumberland Gateway; and North of New Palestine District/Southern Gateway.

The study suggests installing way-finding signage to start branding the corridor and provide a sense of place for travelers.

The Mount Comfort Corridor Coalition for Smart Growth led the sign initiative. Along with NineStar Connect, the coalition’s members are Hancock Health and Greenfield Banking Company as well as the towns of Cumberland, McCordsville and New Palestine.

“The four areas of the corridor are so different; they’re so unique,” Snyder said.

Graphics were designed for each of the corridor’s districts denoting their uniqueness. McCordsville’s depicts a train, which is consistent with the town’s current branding that pays homage to its railroad history. The airport/industrial district’s is represented by an airplane. Cumberland’s has a road to represent historic U.S. 40 and a heart symbolizing Gateway Hancock Health, located near the Mt. Comfort Road/I-70 interchange. New Palestine’s has a street light to illustrate the town’s streetscape project and quaintness.

Each district had input on their respective graphics.

A total of 12 signs will be going up along the corridor. Each one will have all of the districts’ graphics outlined in diamond shapes, but only the one representing the district where the sign is located will be in its highlighted color. The other three will be gray.

“This may not be initially intuitive to travelers, but as they traverse the corridor over time and they notice diamonds change in color, they will begin to sense that they are traveling through a connected series of locations and will soon begin to understand the uniqueness of the 13-mile corridor,” a news release from the Mount Comfort Corridor Coalition for Smart Growth states.

Koda Witsken, who’s been involved in multiple art projects in and around Indianapolis, created the graphics for the Mt. Comfort Corridor signs with input from each district’s representatives.

“It really was a community-engaged project by the people, for the people,” Witsken said.

She added the idea to gray-out all of the graphics except for the one representing the district each sign is in was inspired by graphics often used to delineate different parts of bike trails.

“I think it translated well with the corridor signs, for sure,” she said.

Hancock Health and NineStar Connect funded the sign project.
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