OUR TAKE: Dublin’s parking problem‭ ‬is part ‘walking problem’

Parking in downtown Dublin has grown exponentially in recent years, especially with the addition of  Jackson Square, the parking lots on Madison Street near Georgia Military College and the new county parking lot on Franklin Street. 

Signs invite visitors to “Park here. Walk anywhere.” However, most of the parking remains underused as too many people refuse to park off main street. Downtown’s parking problem is a walking problem. 

“There’s a limit to where people are going to be willing to park and walk in Dublin,” Dublin City Manager Josh Powell told the Downtown Development Authority board recently.

The revitalization of downtown has brought more visitors here, looking for places to eat, shop or enjoy an event. That’s in addition to people coming to conduct business in court or with the county, along with the GovStrive workforce locating downtown. And the workers at those downtown restaurants have to park somewhere, too.

DDA officials insist there is plenty of parking downtown, and they are right. However,  some of the parking will remain underutilized until merchants and customers feel safer about leaving their vehicles parked a block away, citing past car break-ins and concerns about crossing streets and navigating downtown traffic.

The mess on Madison Street, where most of the parking is located, certainly isn’t helping. The renovation work there has been stalled for several months. Part of the charm of a nice downtown is enjoying the walk, which also comes with added health benefits of taking a stroll. And with a 41 percent obesity rate, Laurens County’s residents could use a few steps. 

Hopefully, once all done, Madison Street itself will become vibrant enough to allay any worries about safety there. Concerns during daytime hours already should be minimal, but in the meantime the city should do all it can to make visitors feel safe about parking and walking a block or two. Certainly there are ways to make pedestrians feel – and be – safer once they’ve parked their cars and ventured on foot into busy downtown traffic.

Storefront parking should be for just that, stores. Businesses, especially those that don’t rely on customers frequenting their establishments, should encourage their employees to use off-site parking. People with county or courthouse business should be strongly encouraged to use the new county lot on Franklin Street or the parking at and around the county annex building. 

In the end, downtown visitors, merchants and workers have to ask themselves – is getting in and out of the parking on Jackson Street any safer? 

We say take the city’s advice: Park, and take a little walk.