Members of the Ellijay City Council and Downtown Development Authority got a look at what the downtown roundabout would look like without parking during an extended council workshop session at City Hall Monday, June 21.
They were briefed about several options for ongoing projects to improve the downtown roundabout and increase pedestrian safety by Madie Fischetti, an architect and planner with contracted firm WLA Studios.
One concept discussed heavily by city council and DDA members involves either eliminating or reducing the 18 parking spaces in front of businesses on the roundabout and, possibly, some parellel parking on River Street near the roundabout intersection.
Fischetti gave a PowerPoint presentation showing concept plans with renderings of what the square would look like without any parking spaces, as well as with the spaces mostly left alone and modifications done to existing curbs, sidewalks and shrubbery.
“That’s a tough one,” she said about deciding whether or not to reduce parking. “A lot of places say, ‘Absolutely not. We don’t want to lose a single space.’ Some places think the enhanced pedestrian space will bring more business. Y’all have a lot of support parking around, but I know it’s not right in front and that can be scary for people.”
Fischetti called the downtown roundabout “forward thinking.”
“You set up good bones for the city 20 years ago, and we’re just trying to build on that. You set up a town that’s already accommodating pedestrians. Giving more space to pedestrians by eliminating some or all of these spaces right in front of the businesses, I think is an asset,” she added.
Councilmember Tom Crawford said removing parking spaces is a touchy subject. Removing some parallel spaces and extending the sidewalk on River Street, just beyond the roundabout, might be met with more approval, he noted.
“That would be something I think people wouldn’t get crazy about, if we extended that sidewalk out. It would actually be an enhancement without a lot of pushback. That’s about the only place I could see eliminating any parking except for where we put the crosswalk down for North Main,” Crawford said.
When asked about the frequency of accidents in the roundabout area, Ellijay Police Capt. Ray Grace said the problem there has been the roundabout and square flagpole getting hit by trucks.
“We’ve had a minimal amount of accidents up there. If it is (an accident), it’s usually because somebody didn’t yield right pulling onto the roundabout,” he added.
Councilmember Sandy Ott asked if a trial run could be done by setting up metal barricades to make roundabout parking inaccessible, then see how it goes before making a decision.
Grace said setting up barricades to block parking on the roundabout is normally done during Apple Festival weekends.
“We get a lot of foot traffic the entire month (of October). If you did it from Oct. 1 to Halloween, that would probably give you the basis for what you’re doing,” he added.
Grace said downtown business owners need to be informed in advance if the trial run goes ahead.
“My recommendation would be to have a meeting with them all at the same time to lay out what you’re trying to do, then they can prepare for it and they wouldn’t be surprised (by the barricades),” he added.
Several pedestrian safety options including different types of crosswalks were also discussed. Currently, the council is looking at putting some type of crosswalk or crosswalks on North Main Street.
One concept plan shows a lit midblock crosswalk (a marked crossing typically used at intersections) extending from the sidewalk on North Main Street near Cornerstone Cafe and connecting with an existing crosswalk on Hipp Street. That plan also includes another crosswalk on North Main Street just near the North Avenue intersection.
A second concept shows the midblock crossing moved approximately 100 feet down North Main just past an intersection with North Church Street, but with a speed table added. The crosswalk near the North Avenue intersection would go in the same place.
“We like the one that comes out from the church and the speed table type with the HAWK system that’s highly lit. We would like to have the speed table,” said Grace, on behalf of the city police department.
Fischetti said the lit crosswalk uses flashing rectangular beacons powered by small solar panels.
“This one, there would be a pedestrian pole where you press a button to activate the lights,” she said.
Grace asked the city to consider a jaywalking ordinance if a midblock crossing is installed so that more people will use the crosswalks.
Mayor Al Hoyle said it’s his opinion that people are going to cross where they want to cross whether there’s a crosswalk or not.
“I’m not saying I’m for it or against it, but if you do a jaywalking ordinance, when we start writing people tickets for crossing in the wrong spot and Facebook starts lighting up about it, how popular are we going to be?” he said.
Kent Sanford, Joint Development Authority Director, said visitors’ navigation of downtown Ellijay and the roundabout is influenced by how jaywalking and pedestrian safety is handled in their own communities.
“We don’t have a jaywalking ordinance in Ellijay, but, unfortunately, visitors to our community don’t know that -— the drivers or the walkers,” he said. “Our visitors are not programmed to watch for jaywalkers because they’re automatically bringing their impression from whatever community they live in to our community and assuming if they live in Rome and you have to cross at the crosswalk, when you come to Ellijay everybody’s going to cross at a crosswalk. That’s not the case.”
In reference to the continuing influx of visitors, councilmember Katie Lancey said she expects 2021 to be a record-breaking year for fall tourism here.
“If you look at the mobility data right now, we’re above normal and there’s no reason to think that’s going to stop,” she added.
Ellen Grant, DDA member and Gilmer Chamber Membership Manager, said the chamber now provides a weekly update to businesses and law enforcement so they know how many people are expected to visit on weekends.
“It’s based on lodging only. This weekend, we’re thinking we will have 10,000 people staying in cabins,” she said.
No action was taken on any of the discussed concepts or plans. Cost estimates will be reviewed next, and council discussion will continue before any specific decisions are reached.