The Cobb County Sheriff's Office has announced a traffic plan for the Jim R. Miller Park area for the 2024 North Georgia State Fair, September 19-29, Jim Miller Fairgrounds, 2245 Callaway Road, Marietta.

The announcement states that the goal is to reduce congestion in surrounding residential areas and facilitate parking for the event.

The biggest change is that access to Callaway Road will be restricted to local traffic.

“Sheriff's deputies will restrict access from Callaway Road to Al Bishop Drive and will post clear signs indicating that the fair parking lot is not accessible from Callaway Road,” the announcement said.

Traffic from Powder Springs Road and Austell Road will be detoured to County Services Parkway for parking access.

Other key elements of the transportation plan listed in the announcement include:

• Officers will reserve two of the three lanes on Al Bishop Drive for westbound traffic to the parking lots. Officers will also be deployed to direct traffic from County Services Parkway.
• A shuttle service will be available from the Cobb County Safety Village near the parking lots to take fairgoers to the main entrance.
• The pick-up and drop-off zone for Uber/Lyft is also located in the Safety Village.
• The Cobb DOT Traffic Management Center will be in operation during fair hours to monitor traffic lights at area intersections and adjust timing to avoid long backups on Callaway Road.

“We believe this traffic plan will work,” Major Jacob Huval told residents at an open house this week. “This new traffic flow should keep traffic moving on Callaway Road and help avoid the long backups that residents have experienced in recent years.”

According to the announcement:

Residents of residential areas off Callaway Road have long been concerned about traffic congestion, which has gotten worse as the fair's popularity has grown. Parking in these residential areas is also a problem. County Manager Dr. Jackie McMorris assured residents that officials will hold a follow-up meeting after the fair to review the effectiveness of the traffic plan and determine if any further changes are needed.

About the City of Marietta

The City of Marietta is the county seat of Cobb County. According to the most recent estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's population is 62,769, making it the second largest city in Cobb County, smaller only than the newly established city of Mableton.

Here are some quick facts from the Census Bureau