City Council approves Harrison Park Committee
City Council, Harrison Park June 21, 2022
GILMER COUNTY, Ga. — At their latest meeting, the Ellijay City Council heard updates on the four-way stop at the intersection of North Avenue, North Main Street, and College Street. The council also approved the creation of a Harrison Park committee, and discussed contractor compensation for the Harrison Park restroom project. 11 special event permits for an event at White Path Creek Farms were approved during the meeting as well.
During the staff reports portion of the meeting, the council heard that a new four-way stop near City Hall had been working to reduce speeds in the area. It was also noted that Ellijay Police have been reminding drivers of the new traffic pattern and have not yet begun enforcement with citations. In a Facebook post from June 6, The Ellijay Police Department noted it would be 30 days before they begin issuing non-crash citations. The same post also said that a “raised crosswalk/speed table at N. Main and Hipp Street” is another traffic calming measure that will be implemented soon.
The council approved the formation of a Harrison Park Committee, but did not move to appoint any members during the June 20 meeting. The council also discussed potential compensation for Denny Stover. Councilmember Al Fuller introduced the discussion at the meeting, noting that Stover had “helped facilitate the building of the restrooms at Harrison Park” by acting as a contractor. Fuller said Stover had already been payed $2,500, but asked the council to consider options for further payment. “Without Denny, we could not have even started this project, ” he said, emphasizing the savings afforded to the city by his help. Discussing proper procedures, Councilmember Kathryn Lancey responded: “If we don’t have anything in place, prior to the services that he’s providing us, then I don’t see how we could possibly come up with any kind of figure that would be fair.” While the council took no action, Councilmember Sandy Ott added they “definitely want to recognize him and all the hard work he’s done.”
Ellijay sees new four-way stop as Police Chief explains on Social Media
News June 6, 2022
ELLIJAY, Ga. – This weekend saw posts from the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office and others sharing information about the implementation of downtown Ellijay’s newest traffic calming device being a four-way stop at the intersection of North Main Street, College Street, and North Avenue, right next to Ellijay Elementary School.
In addition to these posts about the four-way stop, Ellijay Police Chief Edward Lacey took to social media on the department’s page to explain a few items about the stop.
Road work is continuing as the city puts the finishing touches on the new four-way stop on North Main Street next to City Hall and the Ellijay Elementary School.
Not the first attempt at traffic calming in the area, Lacey said that the city’s attempts to increase safety in the downtown area have come from major pushes by residents and business owners in the area. The city has long looked for ways to help with pedestrians and traffic flow in the area and has gone through several improvements that are not all visible all the time. Talks turned in years past to additional crosswalks and other methods that weren’t implemented.
The city erected signs in the middle of River Street at one point instructing drivers to stop for people in crosswalks. The city more recently has erected speed limit signs with built in radar highlighting drivers’ speeds as they enter the downtown area. Now, the addition of the four-way stop marks the next step, but certainly not the last. Lacey confirmed for those who don’t know that a raised crosswalks/speed-tables will also soon be implemented on North Main Street soon.
Another change in the area that isn’t always visible is the continued safety meetings and joint efforts from law enforcement from different jurisdictions during major events like Light Up Ellijay. In past years, law enforcement used roads like North Main and College Street to create an outer circle to help flow traffic around Ellijay’s downtown area after the event’s completion in order to help ease congestion on the roundabout and to quickly empty the core area.
The four-way, up now, comes just before a major event for Ellijay in the form of Independence Day. The first major event of the year since the schools across the state have hit graduation, this will see an uptick in traffic. However, as the city gets used to the new stop, Lacey did offer drivers a reprieve saying that the city police won’t be writing citations for non-crash violations at the new intersection
Posted by the Gilmer Sheriff’s Office, this top-down view of the area highlights the intersection where the city’s new four-way stop sits.
for 30-days. However, this does not mean that police won’t initiate traffic stops for violators as the offer warnings in this time period. Lacey stated that he wants to avoid increasing citations with the new stop saying, “We had rather look for ways to bring about voluntary desirable behavior rather than be placed in the position of using negative reinforcement.”
This means that the July 4th weekend could likely see the end of the grace period and the beginning of citation enforcement.
Speaking on the continuing changes to traffic and the downtown area, Lacey commented on both the positive and negative responses the city is already seeing. He noted, “The hard reality is that there have been both an increased number of pedestrians and an increased number of vehicles upon our roadways. Regardless if the reader “likes” or “dislikes” the increase in numbers, the fact remains; we have more people and more vehicles upon our roadways than in any time in the history of our city.”
While the four-way stop is designed to slow traffic and give drivers time to look around, Lacey said that there are still other factors involved. Both drivers and pedestrians are traveling while distracted by their cell phones. He said, “Combined, speeding and distracted driving/walking creates extremely dangerous conditions. When we increase the number of pedestrians and the number of drivers with the previous scenario, we have a recipe for disaster.”
No traffic device will solve these issues, and Lacey acknowledged that these efforts mean additional changes and response from the city that will definitely not be popular with everyone. The Ellijay Police Department has already responded to the growing number of comments with additional information as they increase warning signs and temporary flags on some signs as well as working to add additional rumble strips on approach.
The city has also looked into the the return of school later this year. Part of the current redesign also moved to McCutchen Street where a lane redesign is the first step in efforts to aid in school traffic alongside the stop signs.