Traveling in and around downtown Gainesville today?
Take note: Some of Gainesville’s busiest streets will be shut down beginning at 9 a.m. to make room for the Paul E. Bolding American Legion Post 7’s eighth annual Memorial Day parade.
The Gainesville Police Department plans to detour motorists traveling from North Hall into the city, either by Thompson Bridge Road or Cleveland Highway/Park Hill Drive, at Enota Avenue, which leads to Downey Boulevard and then Jesse Jewell Parkway.
Motorists traveling from south of the city on E.E. Butler Parkway will be rerouted east or west at Jesse Jewell Parkway.
In addition, all side streets in the parade route area will be shut down, including Washington Street, where motorists won’t be able to turn left onto West Academy Street.
“There will be no way to get into the event area,” said Sgt. Dale Cash, commander of the police department’s traffic division.
The parade is set to start at 10 a.m. and travel Green Street between First Baptist Church and E.E. Butler Parkway. Marchers then will turn left on E.E. Butler and travel to Spring Street and turn left, with the parade ending.
Police will keep the streets closed “hopefully no later than” 1 p.m., Cash said. “It may be earlier or later, depending on how long the parade goes.”
Parade organizers have said they are expecting a big parade, possibly their largest yet.
Parking will be available all through the downtown area, including at the Georgia Mountains Center and Hall County Courthouse.
Motorist “can get into that (area) from Jesse Jewell on Henry Ward Way ... or they can come through the square,” Cash said. “However, when they get on Spring Street at Green Street, they can’t go any farther.”
“We’re not shutting down anything that can facilitate mass parking,” he added.
With the parade being an annual event, Cash said he believes area residents “understand that Monday is going to be one of those days like (the festive Christmas on Green Street) where they’re going to have to use alternate routes to get to their destinations.”