Gloucester residents, county staff and the Virginia Department of Transportation have come together to find ways to improve the aesthetics of Route 17 as motorists enter the county from the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge at Gloucester Point.

The county’s board of supervisors was presented a number of options for improving the county’s entranceway during its May 21 meeting in the colonial courthouse.

Ideas for improvement range from a welcome sign under the beam of the toll tender structure atop the Coleman Bridge to welcome banners being placed along Route 17. There was also an idea for plantings and/or signs to be placed along the small and larger traffic islands at the turnaround adjacent to the toll plaza, an idea which seemed to gain the most traction with the board.

“Board members have voiced displeasure with the lack of landscaping and signage, the condition of the concrete medians and the overall lack of appeal of the gateway,” said Gloucester assis...