MASTER PLAN

Carrollton Master Plan

Planning staff at the Institute of Government design studio created the downtown master plan shown on the right to address key issues identified by residents in step one of the RSVP planning process and help guide local leaders in future development efforts. Centered on Adamson Square and the corridors radiating from it, this master plan

To bring new recreation and entertainment options residents desire, this plan includes significant improvements to existing parks including the Amp and Presbyterian Park. Dramatic playground features and a splash pad at the Amp and formalized trails and boardwalks at Presbyterian Park could bring more diverse offerings to these important downtown parks. This plan includes three large conceptual mixed-use developments at city-owned parcels at US-27, along Bradley Street, and a privately-owned parking lot at the intersection of Maple Street and Alabama Street. Similar developments could extend a vibrant downtown atmosphere outward from the square, creating new opportunities for downtown living, expanded retail and dining offerings, and entertainment venues.

In public input sessions with residents from across the community, locals continually brought up their love of the square. Residents treasure the historic buildings that point to Carrollton’s heritage. Locals love the freedom of being able to park their cars and walk to vibrant local businesses and restaurants. Carrollton citizens rightly see the square as the heart of their community. It was always planned to be so. Carrollton’s square was first laid out in 1830, the centerpiece of a unique city plan by surveyor Ulysses Lewis. Designed with a public courthouse square at its center and surrounded by 148 lots and a concentric arrangement of streets, Lewis’s vision for Carrollton was easily the most ambitious and original town plan in the region. Early surveyors and planners typically adapted plans of earlier Georgia cities, like Washington, to fit new cities being laid out across the state. Often these plans featured wide roads, long blocks, and sprawling courthouse squares that afforded future flexibility while reflecting the seemingly endless availability of land on the frontier. Lewis’s plan for Carrollton more closely resembles plans of 1820s towns of the northwest like Indianapolis and earlier Colonial-era cities like Easton, Pennsylvania. While much of Lewis’s compact, urban vision remained unbuilt and other elements were altered beyond recognition, Carrollton’s Adamson Square remains a concrete reminder of the ambition of the city’s founders.

The original plan for Carrollton featured four cardinal roads converging at a compact town square.

While much of this plan remains unbuilt, the square continues to be the focal point of downtown.

Designed as the center of civic life and home for the county courthouse, Carrollton’s square has changed and evolved over time to meet the needs of residents. The relocation of the courthouse from the town square in 1893 created a wide, open public space in the center of town. Photos from the late 1800s and early 1900s show the square as an open wagon yard, filled on busy market days with carts piled high with cotton. By the 1910s, a small greenspace had been carved out in the center of the square. Flanked with maple trees, this compact square created an attractive centerpiece of downtown. The rise of the automobile permanently altered the arrangement of traffic at the square. The roads converging at the square were designated as state highways for many years. Transportation planners of the era focused their efforts on moving vehicles through town as quickly as possible. In 1958, planners brought Newnan, Alabama, Rome, and Bradley Streets together in a four-way intersection in the center of the square. This alteration of traffic patterns removed the central greenspace and created the basic arrangement of traffic seen downtown today, with the corners of the square converted to parking areas. These parking areas feature one-way travel lanes with angled parking separated from the main roads with traffic islands and landscaping.

While Carrollton residents see the square as the heart of the community and overwhelmingly love the space, they also see opportunities to improve this community hub. Many citizens cited heavy traffic volume, vehicle noise and exhaust, and circulation issues at the square as problems that should be resolved. Residents also questioned the general arrangement of traffic at the square, with many citizens favoring alternate arrangements like removing one set of traffic signals, converting the intersection to a roundabout, relocating parking, or removing vehicular traffic altogether.

Carrollton residents often cited nearby towns like Newnan as examples of what they’d like to see downtown, with many favoring bringing an open greenspace to the center of the square. While providing valuable insight into what people would like to see downtown, many of these ideas simply will not fit or function properly within the compact dimensions of Adamson Square. Measured from building edge to building edge, the example most frequently cited by residents, Newnan’s courthouse square, is approximately 150 feet wider on all sides than Adamson Square. Adamson Square features proportions more akin to an Italian piazza than a traditional Georgia courthouse square—an intimate, easily navigated, human-scaled centerpiece of the community.

Whether people recognize it or not, the tight grouping of historic buildings around the square provides the sense of enclosure that humans are hard-wired to enjoy. The compact scale of the square also makes exploring the area on foot easy and pleasurable. No able-bodied resident would consider moving their vehicle from one quad to another to visit both the Corner Café and Horton’s Books on the same visit. Walking from one quad to another is simply the most useful and convenient way to navigate the space.

At the same time, the square remains the terminus of downtown’s four major corridors: Newnan, Alabama, Rome, and Bradley Streets. The original plan for Carrollton included a network of connecting roads radiating from the square. City leaders completed portions of this road network over the years, but over time much of Carrollton’s original plan was abandoned. Aside from these four roads, downtown lacks significant connectivity. Most of the remaining downtown side streets are one-way, many terminate after a block or two, and very few connect to meaningful destinations. The size and prominence of the square and necessity of the roads traversing it restrict what can take shape in this space. To help inform local decision-making on how the square can function in future years, planners and designers from the UGA Institute of Government developed a number of different concepts for the area in consultation with the RSVP Steering Committee, local engineers, and city officials. Inspired by citizen input, these concepts provide options to inform the next decades of this beloved community space.

Existing

This figure ground diagram shows a scaled aerial view of Adamson Square. Sidewalks and pedestrian spaces are shown in gray. The large sidewalks surrounding the square area are a key asset for downtown. Sidewalks surrounding the square vary in width but are approximately 15 feet wide at the narrowest points.

Newnan Square

FIGURE GROUND

This modified figure ground diagram shows the areas dedicated to the courthouse square and sidewalks in downtown Newnan. The widest and most accommodating sidewalks are found in the square, a contrast to Adamson Square.

Comparison

NEWNAN/CARROLLTON

FIGURE GROUND

This diagram shows Adamson Square with the Newnan Square area layered over it in gray. Newnan’s historic courthouse square occupies the entirety of Adamson Square and then some. Bringing a similar arrangement to Carrollton would require drastic changes to the street and building layout.