Jones Bridge Park: Community Concerns and Steps Toward Solutions

Updated with new headline and additional information on November 22, 2024.

Although Jones Bridge Park isn’t the largest in Gwinnett County, it’s one of the busiest, according to county officials. You don’t have to convince nearby residents of that. Christina Wagner lives in the Linfield subdivision. She and 17 of her neighbors met with Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation and Gwinnett County Police in late summer to voice concerns about illegal activity taking place there and what measures are being taken to curtail it.

 A follow-up meeting was held on October 15 at Pinckneyville Community Center to report on the progress and what could — and should — be done going forward.

In the neighborhood

“This kind of meeting … is the result of residents who live in homes that are up against Jones Bridge Park or nearby neighborhoods that suffer the loss of quality of life at best,” said Peachtree Corners City Manager Brian Johnson. “There have been instances where somebody ran from police down into Jones Bridge Park. It’s a dead end. They bail and they’re running through neighborhoods in the middle of the night with law enforcement chasing them, including aviation units, like their helicopter, up with searchlights.”

Even though the park is Gwinnett County property, it’s within Peachtree Corners city limits, and residents have raised concerns to the city.

“Jones Bridge Park is unique in that it’s one of the few parks, at least in north metro Atlanta, that has access to the Chattahoochee River all the way down to where there are man-made improvements for you to get into the river, versus like walking down, unimproved,” added Johnson. “It’s also one of the few places that has, I wouldn’t call them rapids, but some whitewater right there.”

That makes the park attractive to many who come from outside the county to enjoy it.

Parking at the park

“Since our last meeting, we’ve done a few changes to Jones Bridge Park as requested at that previous meeting,” said Chris Minor, Gwinnett Parks and Recreation division director. “The rental hours have been shortened to 7 p.m., and in a few weeks, when times change, that will be backed up even further after dark. We have also installed barriers preventing people from parking alongside the road.”

He added that nearby construction has hindered some changes, but it should be finished soon.

“At that point, we will evaluate our signs to install more and also finish adding barriers along that stretch of the park,” he said. “We are not going to move forward with the gate, but we do believe that the enforcement efforts … are making an impact in terms of what’s happening in the park that you all brought to our attention.”

An update from law enforcement

“When we met back in July, I know I said, I’ll get back with you after we’ve had some time, and then you tell me how and what kind of progress we’ve made,” said Major J.D. Griffin, commander of Gwinnett County’s West Precinct. “How do you feel in terms of safety? I can’t speak for the trash or the trucks driving too fast with the speed bumps, specifically, that kind of thing, but in terms of the safety of the park, how do people feel?”

“In the few times that I’ve driven through the park, all the cars were parked in parking spots. There weren’t any vendors, there wasn’t any music from the ice cream truck. So, during a couple of times I’ve gone in there, it’s definitely been positive,” said Wagner, adding that people who live closer to the park may have a different take.

Every resident present mentioned noise from permitted and unpermitted events as well as trespassers after hours. After the July 25 meeting, Major Griffin immediately implemented heavy enforcement in the park. He said that from January 1 to July 25, GPD officers wrote about 42 citations. Since July 26, they’ve written 130.

“This gives you an idea of the increase in enforcement in the area,” he said. “One thing y’all said was that there was a large problem with parking.”

Impounding vehicles

On several days where large events took place, GPD was onsite to impound cars that were parked illegally.

“We tried to make announcements because we don’t want to just tow people’s cars for the sake of towing people’s cars,” Major Griffin said.

Just one vehicle had been impounded in the first seven months of the year. Since July 26, the county impounded 15 vehicles.

“What we were finding was, as we’re impounding five, six vehicles, other people are running out, realizing that our efforts on the PA system were genuine, and then started moving their cars,” he said. “So, we were actually seeing a higher violation rate when people were moving their cars out before we could address them.”

Going forward, Major Griffin said there will be an officer present during peak hours on Saturdays and Sundays. “Clearly the park has a lot of use,” he said. “In general, we’re trying to make it safe and people feel comfortable.”

Speeding and pedestrian safety

Another major complaint from neighbors is speeders racing through an area heavy with pedestrians — mostly children.

Sylvia Goalen, director of traffic studies for Gwinnett County Department of Transportation has been working with Wagner for a while about those concerns.

“We had identified ‘no parking’ areas to help mitigate some of the violations of parking concerns, and that was completed last week,” she said. “They [designated] no parking between the end of the school zone [to the area that the] parks maintain.”

Once the construction is complete, more signs will go up, Goalen said.

“We have already been looking to do additional speed studies way before I knew you guys were meeting, and we were able to finally create a project, get the funding and get that done,” she said.

Goalen checked out the handywork and realized the new speed humps looked so good that the old ones now need refreshing.

“When I leave from here, I am going to call my contractor. I’ll have them do an extra layer of asphalt, which will elevate them a couple of inches,” she said. “We can mark the back speed humps on the transportation [project list] right away.”

Goalen added that the department will assess if more speed humps are needed within the park and upgrade existing speed calming devices throughout.

“I don’t know when that road is going to be resurfaced, [but when it is] we will blow out all of the speed humps, put in the new asphalt, and then on top of that, add the new speed humps,” she said. “I can give you a tentative resurfacing date.”

Technology and enforcement strategies

Currently, there is one flock camera (license plate camera reader system) near the entrance of the park.

“As you approach the intersection, right before you get to Simpson Elementary, it’s right there,” said Major Griffin. “So basically, if you’re driving through, there is no other way to exit. … You’re either going to the school or you’re going to the park.”

Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason offered city assistance in setting up as many cameras as needed.

Explaining the current camera setup and its effectiveness, Major Griffin said before anything else is added there should be an assessment of need. Perhaps license plate readers aren’t the only kind of cameras needed at the park. He added that he’s sure GPD can work with the Peachtree Corners city marshals to find the best solution.

A suggested gate for after-hours

Another suggestion was to install a gate to go down when the park closes. Although it wouldn’t keep out pedestrians, it would prohibit cars from entering the park at night. And the city offered to pay for it.

“The maintenance of it is negligible over a year,” said Johnson.

But the county didn’t like the idea.

Minor said he’s hesitant to lock the gate for various reasons, primarily access. Who would be tasked with locking and unlocking the gate? And what if there’s a need to get an emergency vehicle inside the park while the gate’s locked?

“There are a lot of parks that are surrounded by neighborhoods,” he said. “So, this is not necessarily a unique situation with Jones Bridge. And I don’t say that to diminish your experience, because that’s your home, and I understand that, but only to put it in a larger context of the rest of the county.”

Johnson pointed out that the Fields Club has used residents to open and close gates with no issues.

“The residents that are nearby there just kind of organize a little spreadsheet,” he said. “[On their designated day, they] just go out and close it, lock it and it’s unlocked the next day.”

He said that when it started, Fields Club gave it a trial run.

“If this doesn’t work out well, we’re going to have to not allow you to do it anymore,” he recalled. “It’s worked out so well, so I’m not sure why Gwinnett didn’t say ‘we’ll try it unless you screw it up.’”

Johnson said the city has even offered to buy and install a vehicular gate similar to those at railroad crossings.

“We researched ones that automatically go down at a certain time and go back up at another time so it could be programmed to do it automatically, and it was remotely accessible so that emergency services could have it go up [if needed],” he said. “We offered to donate and install it if Gwinnett would then take it over, because it would be securing their park, and it would be at their entrance, and we don’t have the authority to restrict some access to property that the city doesn’t own.”

Johnson said the price quoted was $1,000 a year to maintain.

“Mind you, this is an organization that has over a billion-dollar budget. But $1,000 a year, and they have declined that option as well. So, I’m not sure where we will go,” said Johnson.

Noise complaints and pavilion power

One participant mentioned that some public venues cut the power to the pavilions after hours to quell usage of loudspeakers and lights.

“I would personally like to see that happen because I’m really tired of hearing music blasting,” said Wagner. “It’s like it’s in my house, and my house isn’t anywhere close to where the pavilion is located.”

Minor said that Jones Bridge Park may have more issues than others because of its high usage.

“Usually we’ll hear [that] the fields are too loud, or the PA system is too loud on a Sunday or Saturday when kids are playing games, things of that nature. Pavilions, not quite as much, but it sounds like people are getting out there and just going way beyond the noise ordinance at Jones Bridge,” he said.

Other than cutting power, using an automatic sprinkler system may be another solution.

Next steps

Wrapping up the meeting, Minor emphasized the importance of community input and the need for effective enforcement to protect neighborhoods. He vowed to work with residents near the park to ensure their rights are looked after just as much as those whose right it is to use the park.

The suggestions and recommendations will be assessed, and a follow-up meeting has been set for 2 p.m. on January 8 at Pinckneyville Community Center.

For more about Gwinnett County Parks, visit gwinnettcounty.com/departments/communityservices/parksandrecreation.