Three Questions With the Mayor: Aug. 13 Edition

Interested in learning more about Dacula? In this week's "Three Questions With the Mayor," Dacula  provides an update on the latest city news and shares information about our community's history.

Dacula Patch: What's new in Dacula this week?

Mayor Wilbanks: The , a Gwinnett County headquartered company. Hamby is the low bidder, and the company built our . Even better, the award embraces Dacula’s desire to award contracts to local companies while following our bid-process procedure. Hamby has 160 days to complete the project from the date of the notice to proceed.

Dacula Patch: What is something Dacula residents need to know?

Mayor Wilbanks: We have a week of school traffic behind us. I would like to remind everyone that the City has certain intersections marked with a large “X”. This is to help traffic flow through congested areas in the best way possible. Please obey the “Do not block this intersection” signs. If you stop your car in the “X”, you prevent/delay turning traffic. This in turn creates greater congestion and delays. Stopping in the marked intersections puts you at risk of receiving a traffic citation. If you get one, ask yourself was it worth it to get a one-car length jump on traffic?

Dacula Patch: If you could only show a visitor one place in Dacula (incorporated or unincorporated), what would it be and why?

Mayor Wilbanks: That’s a hard question. There are so many things to choose from, but I think I would show a first time visitor our historic downtown area. I would then try to explain the historic importance of the downtown to the greater Dacula area. I would explain how transportation (railroad, US 29 and now GA 316) and education shaped our location (and also how it limits the current downtown). I would explain how the construction materials were found locally (the clay for the brick storefronts was quarried and the bricks made locally). I would explain how hard our ancestors worked and what that downtown district meant to them. I would explain how land use has changed over the years and how the historic downtown is a snap shot of that change. So if you live in the Hamilton Mill area or the Harbins area or in the general eastern Gwinnett area, the people who lived here before you may have traded in the historic downtown area, gone to school in Dacula, or attended sporting events near historic downtown Dacula. We invite you to do so too.

If you could only show a visitor to Dacula one place, what would it be and why? Let us know in the comments.