Augusta locals express worries over new parking changes on Broad Street

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The future of parking in Downtown Augusta was the topic of discussion at a special meeting Wednesday night.

Small business owners and concerned residents packed into Fat Man’s Cafe wanting to make their voices heard.

Representatives from Augusta’s Traffic Engineering Department discussed parking as well as plans for ongoing construction which has many business owners concerned including Dominik Cartrel, Owner of Toast of Augusta.

“I see the room being filled with a lot of angry people because this is the first time they’ve heard of it, let alone we have three months to get prepared for it. This is people’s livelihood, this is how we take care of our families, this is how we sustain the future, how are we going to survive is the question, that’s the only thing I’m worried about,” said Cartrel.

The main concern for many people is the amount of parking spaces that would be taken away after construction specifically on Broad Street.

John Ussery, the Assistant Director with Traffic Engineering, says he understands the upset over a loss of parking spaces but also says parking space size standards are larger now.

“Because the parking stalls are not standard, if we did nothing else but just re-surface Broad Street, grind out a couple inches of asphalt, put it back and then re-stripe everything, we would lose approximately 140 stalls when we re-install them per the new standard,” Ussery said.

Many people at the meeting, including Molly Swift, Owner of Fine Roots Marketing, are concerned not only as business owners but also residents of Augusta.

“This is very much not just a personal interest but definitely has to do with my working life too, I care very much about my clients, and I also care about the customer experience so when we see that there is something impacting these businesses, we definitely have to do something,” Swift said.

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