Changes are coming to the City of Elberton’s downtown square as the city is currently in the process of planning for multiple improvements to the area after developing a new “conceptual master plan.”
The new master plan was developed as a result of Elberton being one of two cities selected to participate in the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Summer Fellowship Program of the College of Environment and Design. The program is a partnership of the Georgia Municipal Association, the Georgia Cities Foundation and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at UGA.
A master’s student and a faculty member at the Carl Vinson Institute were paired with the city for 12 weeks and focused on finding ways to improve downtown traffic arrangements, rear parking and alleyway access, connecting corridor improvements and overall beautification and streetscapes.
Following the end of the program, the student presented suggestions to the city Aug. 9 and City Manager Lanier Dunn provided information to The Elberton Star Oct. 27 about what changes citizens can expect to see.
Dunn said one of the first areas that the city will work on is the fountain side, or west side, of the square.
The city is planning on expanding the landscaping on either side of the fountain, and adding a sidewalk, drive lane and event plaza on the side of the fountain that is opposite of Oliver Street, Dunn said.
In expanding the landscaping on both sides of the fountain, Dunn said the hope is to discourage motorists from entering the square at high speeds – which the program said is encouraged by the current shape of the fountain and landscaping.
On the side of the square opposite the Samuel Elbert Hotel, the program proposes narrowing the road down to a single lane to help discourage speeding, but Dunn said due to the ability for left-turning traffic to back up, that was unlikely to happen.
However, Dunn said that he does envision part of that side being narrowed to one lane before widening up to two lanes before the intersection of North Public Square and Oliver Street.
In addition to the changes on the west side of the square, Dunn said the second part of the project is adjusting the east side.
One of the things Dunn said was most important to change on the eastern side of the square is getting rid of the two triangles with yield signs.
“To make these streets a perpendicular intersection, again it slows people down. That oval turning radius where you can go around there at 35 miles-per-hour, that would remove that. You would have to stop and turn right or turn left,” Dunn said. “This is more complicated though because you have to lay it out carefully so I would say this is more like ‘Project Two.’”
After removing the triangles, the proposal calls for a “flex event lawn” to be added, but in order to keep parking, Dunn said that the area is likely to be smaller than what is shown in the drawings.
The third portion of changes that Dunn anticipates is adding more crosswalks around the square.
The proposal adds crosswalks connecting the north side of the square to the middle portion by the fountain and another one connecting the south side of the square to the portion by Papa’s Pizza.
However, something Dunn said the proposal does not include is a crosswalk connecting the southern side of the square to the hotel. Dunn said further plans would need to be looked at in order to create a crosswalk to the hotel as the addition would have to be based on narrowing the road and cause an impact to the number of parking spaces.
Another part of the project that Dunn said is not reflected in the drawings is widening the sidewalks on the southern part of the square, similar to the recent widening that occurred on the north side in front of The Star office and Bailey Building in 2022.
In addition to the changes to the public square, the program also proposed changes to the surrounding side streets, some of which Dunn said want to be pursued by the city.
The program proposed adding decorative lights and signage to the alleyway connecting James Street to Oliver Street, but Dunn said the city is only looking at adding the lighting and that the signs were “unnecessary.”
The program also proposed adding lighting and tables and chairs to the alleyway behind The Star office, but Dunn said the alley was not big enough for the tables and chairs and that the city was only planning on adding lighting.
The last of the changes that the program proposed, which Dunn said the city was likely to pursue, is adding planters with trees to the parking lot behind the Elbert County Courthouse.
The proposal has a strip that separates the parking lot from the buildings and Dunn said the strip was needed to prevent vehicles from being able to cut through the parking lot, ignoring lanes.
Work on the square is already underway as the city began by removing granite benches, planters and light posts that were located in the middle portions of the square. Dunn also said a tree was removed from the same area because it was dying, but that a tree would be replanted during the winter.
Dunn said that the city would like to reuse “a couple” of the benches that were removed from the square, but because of the size of the benches in conjunction with a “large concrete base” that is attached to the bottom of the benches, he is unsure exactly where they will be used.
While the order in which each phase of the project is still being determined, Dunn said work is likely to continue into 2024. A decision will likely be made this coming winter about where to start.
Dunn also said that if it passes the referendum, the city’s allocation of transportation special purpose local option sales tax funds will be the primary funding source for the projects.