“Our purpose is to bring more revenue with shoppers”

The City of Blue Ridge is moving ahead with plans for more parking downtown. At the January 24th city council workshop, Street Supervisor Barron Earley discussed a proposed plan for a new parking project in the works. Street Commissioner and Council Woman Rhonda Thomas initiated the idea at last month’s meeting and the council approved a motion to move ahead with the idea.

“Our purpose is to bring more revenue with shoppers,”

Thomas said at Tuesday’s workshop. She explained the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is assisting the city with finding funding for the project. As such, GDOT required the city to submit a plan for the project before efforts could move forward.

“At this point,” Thomas said, “if we move forward, we’re still investing no money; we’re simply just getting ideas to GDOT and they hope to find us funds.”

Thomas explained that the city was required to select two city-owned properties in the downtown area. The first is on the city hall property and the second is on Main Street.

Unfurling a sketch of the plan on the conference table, Earley gave an overview to the council. He explained that the parking deck will have two levels and provide an additional 118 parking spaces. For Thomas, the effort is a response to the inefficient number of parking spaces in the downtown area.

“We want to be proactive,” she said, “and find a solution to the problem.”