By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
With work on the Five Points roundabout – and all that entails – now underway, Police Chief Kevin Gerber is asking local and area residents to turn down the speed and turn up the caution, including putting down phones while behind the wheel.
“Please slow down when driving around town,” Gerber said at the latest city council meeting. “People just don’t need to be in such a hurry.”
“We’re a relatively small town,” Mayor Dan Rickord said, “so it (reducing speed) might take you a couple of extra minutes to get where you are going.”
Traffic patterns have changed significantly in some cases.
Detour signs are in place to guide motorists to alternate routes around the construction area.
The detour is on Mercer to Rugg to First St. and Mercer to Grant St. to Line St., depending on if a driver needs to access the east side of the city, center or west side, according to city Operations Manager Jeremy Gilbert.
Temporary speed bumps are in place on First St. in the area of the Madison Street Plaza and also the site of the former jail. They have been put in place to help slow traffic in those areas due to pedestrian foot traffic, Gilbert explained.
Although they are open, no parking is permitted along the entire length of First St., and on Rugg St. First St. is expected to become a major artery.
The project could take up to 120 days to complete.
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