Authorities urge patience, caution
Local law enforcement agencies are reminding both residents and visitors to use caution and patience —especially behind the wheel — during the upcoming Apple Festival weekends.
The Gilmer Sheriff’s Office said, in a press release, at least 200,000 visitors are expected to pass through Gilmer County this month, according to recent figures from the Gilmer Chamber. The upcoming 52nd annual Apple Festival, which opens Saturday, Oct. 14, is expected to bring in around 65,000 if the pleasant fall weather holds out.
“Those of us from Gilmer County know that, in the last two to three years, we have really seen an uptick in traffic every day,” said Sheriff Stacy Nicholson. “But we also know what time of year it is. October in Gilmer County and the north Georgia mountains means we’re going to see a lot of traffic.”
Nicholson said extra patrols will be working two of the county’s most heavily traveled routes, Highway 515 and Highway 52, through October. Residents are advised to take alternate routes around town if at all possible, the sheriff’s office suggested. Nicholson also advised both visitors and residents to watch their speed, don’t follow too closely and never drive distracted.
“If you can do those three things, you can really increase your chance of arriving where you want to be safely,” he added.
Greg Arp, a Muscogee County police officer and former East Ellijay Police Chief who heads up the Apple Festival’s traffic control team, had similar advice for drivers and festival attendees.
“The main thing is for everyone to be patient,” Arp said. “We’re going to have an influx of vehicle traffic (and people) over the next two weekends. Drivers need to be aware of that influx and handle their vehicles accordingly.”
Arp said parking for the festival will be done at the fairgrounds, as well as the park and rec soccer fields on Progress Road and the River Park parking lots on South Main Street. Parking lots at Gilmer High School and the Larry Walker Education Center will also be utilized during the event.
“There will be signs up along the four-lane directing people to parking, and they can access parking from various routes off Highway 515. They can come down Howard Simmons Road, then north on South Main Street, or they can come down Maddox Drive or Industrial Boulevard and access the fairgrounds,” Arp said.
“If they park at the fairgrounds, we’re probably going to direct them back up toward Industrial Boulevard to keep down on the traffic backing up. Likewise, if they’re coming off Legion Road or from the high school, they’ll be directed back south toward Howard Simmons Road and Progress Road. We want to keep the traffic flow moving as smoothly as possible. We will have a number of officers (on hand), and three will be at each site directing traffic, plus there will be officers at each gate and inside during the festival.”
About the at-times slow travel between the main highway and festival site, East Ellijay Police Chief Larry Callahan, who previously led the Apple Festival traffic control team, said, “We’ve got big inlets, but not very big outlets. You try to do as much as you can, but there’s only so much you can do — just try to minimize the delays and keep it flowing as best you can.”
Downtown Ellijay will also be the site of much vehicle and foot traffic the next two weekends, even more so than on a normal fall day.
The annual Apple Arts on the Square festival will be held along Broad Street and Sand Street the same two weekends as the Apple Festival. Two more Apple Festival sister events, the parade and 5K/road race, will be also be held downtown Saturday, Oct. 14.
There will be intermittent closures around Broad Street Friday afternoon for setting up the festival. Broad Street will later be closed from the intersection with the roundabout up to Gilmer Street, while part of Sand Street will be closed up to near Dalton State College, noted Ellijay Police Chief Edward Lacey. All parking spaces on the roundabout will also be closed beginning Friday evening.
The 5K, which begins at 8 a.m., will start near Ellijay Elementary School, proceeding up North Avenue to River Street and North Main Street. Street closures can be expected to accommodate the footrace.
Streets that will be closed for the parade, which begins at 10 a.m., include Sailors Drive, River Street to the roundabout and North Main Street to McCutchen Street near Ellijay Elementary.
Lacey said those streets will open back up as soon as the parade ends on McCutchen Street.