A section of Whitehall Road in East Hall County will be closed to traffic after a Thursday night vote by the Hall County Commission.
Commissioners unanimously approved abandonment of a 2,850-foot section of the road in order make pedestrian access safer to the Healan's-Head's Mill historic site. The county, along with the Friends of Healan's-Head's Mill, is working to build a park in the area surrounding the old Civil War-era mill.
County Public Works Director Ken Rearden said after Thursday night's voting session that county crews will begin work on the area as soon as possible. He estimated it will take a month or more to clean up the gravel section of the road.
"County crews will build two cul-de-sacs and we'll put rocks up around them and not allow anybody [in vehicles] to go through there," Rearden said.
When the first reading on the abandonment was held, several residents who live on Whitehall Road protested. Thursday night, however, there was no opposition to the plan.
Assistant County Administrator Marty Nix said when the county realized some residents were upset, he went to speak to them personally about the plan.
"We explained what we were trying to do there at the park and if that part [of the road] were to be open to pedestrian traffic...it would be really unsafe for pedestrians, bicycles, anyone to be walking in that area," Nix said. "I think they understand for the most part what we're trying to do."
Nix noted that closing a section of the road will mean some residents will have to take a longer route in order to access Georgia 365.
"We tracked some data on that," Nix said. "I believe the person most affected on the east side of Whitehall Road would have to travel less than a mile and a half further [to the highway]."
Nix said most people he spoke with felt having the park in the neighborhood would far outweigh the inconvenience of having a portion of the road closed to vehicle traffic.
