Temporary parking barricades on River Street will come down sooner than expected following a vote from the Ellijay City Council Monday.
During the Nov. 15 city council meeting, Police Chief Ed Lacey asked councilmembers Sandy Ott, Al Fuller, Tom Crawford, Katie Lancey and Kevin Pritchett to consider taking down the barricades, which were originally to stay up until January, so they can be used for crowd and traffic control on the roundabout during the upcoming Light Up Ellijay parade and festivities.
Fuller asked if there was any benefit to putting them back up after the event, and Lacey recommended they be put away after Light up Ellijay.
The steel barricades went up in October as part of a test period recommended by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to see if having parallel parking spaces from River Street Tavern to the roundabout would help improve pedestrian safety and traffic flow along the busy downtown street. A digital speed sign had been put in ghost mode to collect data about how speeds differed when vehicles passed the test area with and without the barricades.
“My hypothesis was that speeds were going to increase after the barricades went up. Yes, and no,” said Lacey. “The interesting part was that, on the margins, they decreased, and, in the middle, they increased. From 0-16 miles per hour, they decreased. From 16-26 miles per hour, they increased, and from 26 miles an hour and up, they decreased.”
One thing the trial period showed was that the absence of parked cars in the spaces made it easier to navigate crosswalks, Lacey noted.
The police chief said he’s heard opinions from people in favor and not in favor of the parking spaces being blocked. Many of the not-in-favor comments have been that it looks terrible, he said.
“We’ve been murdered on social media about it, but I’ve had tons of people come up to me and tell me how much more they like it because people aren’t stepping out in front of them. Doors aren’t opening up in traffic and that kind of thing,” Lacey added.
Councilmembers approved removing the barricades so they can be used for Light Up Ellijay, then taking them down and storing them afterward. They will likely be moved from River Street and put up on the roundabout the day after Thanksgiving, Lacey noted.