With work on the Five Points roundabout – and everything that comes with it – now underway, Police Chief Kevin Gerber is urging local and area residents to slow down and drive more cautiously, including putting down their phones while driving.
“Please slow down when driving around town,” Gerber said during the most recent city council meeting. “People just don’t need to be in such a hurry.”
“We’re a relatively small town,” said Dan Rickord, the mayor, “so it (reducing speed) might take you a couple of extra minutes to get where you are going.”
Traffic patterns have shifted significantly in some cases.
Detour signs are in place to direct drivers to alternate routes around the construction site.
According to city Operations Manager Jeremy Gilbert, the detour is from Mercer to Rugg to First St. and Mercer to Grant St. to Line St., depending on whether a driver needs to access the city’s east, center, or west sides.
Temporary speed bumps are in place on First Street, near the Madison Street Plaza and the former jail. Gilbert explained that they were installed to help slow traffic in those areas caused by pedestrian foot traffic.
Although they are open, no parking is permitted along the entire length of First Street and Rugg Street. First Street is expected to become a major thoroughfare.
The project could take as many as 120 days to complete.
