Every day, an estimated 12,000 vehicles travel through downtown Clarkesville. Now, Georgia’s Department of Transportation will launch a study to look at ways to improve traffic flow through the city of just over 2,000 residents.
The future traffic study comes after Clarkesville City Council on Monday approved a resolution titled “Town Green Restoration,” which signified the city’s desire for GDOT to proceed. It will also serve as a first step in determining whether parking decks could be built in Clarkesville in the years ahead.
Developer Lew Oliver unveiled preliminary plans for potential reconfiguration of the downtown square to city officials at a work session Monday, Oct. 4. As drafted, Oliver’s plan aims to bring a “calmer, softer” look to the downtown area. It could also lead to the creation of two parking decks – one across from the Copper Pot on Grant Street, as proposed, and another behind Your Pie and Unicoi – for a total of about 60 extra spaces.
On Monday, City Manager Keith Dickerson said the study could result in a complete reconfiguration of the downtown area – or no change at all – depending on what GDOT finds. The study would be funded by GDOT and come at no cost to the city, according to Dickerson.
“We’re going to have GDOT study the square to see if there’s a better way of making traffic flow, and also to see if there’s a way to utilize more of the square,” Dickerson said. “If we’re going to utilize more of the square that’s currently there, we’re going to have to add some additional parking – which would be in the (form) of parking decks.”
Right now, Clarkesville has almost 600 parking spaces in and around the city, with about 88 on the square and nearly 500 (off-square) along the perimeter of the downtown area.
It’s not yet known when the study could start or be completed, according to Dickerson.
