BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Parking and Market Road traffic will be impacted by this year’s Bradford Agricultural Fair, which will have its midway rides and vendors set up on the parking lot south of Building 2 and Building 3.
Part of the fair’s ongoing upgrades was to raise the entire midway and surrounding grounds at least 6 inches to withstand heavy rain events. Bradford Fair President Bob Milner said that “in spite of valiant efforts by the fair association and our contractors, the 309 loads of dirt that was brought in and watered and compacted unfortunately did not reach the compactness level required to stabilize the rides.”
To get to the midway, which is enclosed by fencing, people will proceed through Building 2, turn left before the Building 3 entrance, go outside and then walk around Building 3.
Building 3 is currently being rented by the Bradford County Health Department.
Due to that fact, the amount of parking available in the paved lot will be decreased. Milner said parking spots between Building 1 and the Colonel Arley W. McRae Bradford Food Pantry will be for disabled people. General parking will begin on the south side of the food pantry and extend southward past the old farmers market. Once those spaces are filled, people will be directed to park on 8 acres of land the fair association owns on the south side of Market Road.
“There’ll be plenty of light bars out there at night and deputies in high-vis vests,” Milner said. “It’ll be safe for people to park over there, and they won’t have to walk too far.”
Milner said the city has declared an emergency that will result in the closure of the Market Road railroad crossing to traffic from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m. each night of the fair.
“It’ll be open all day long for people to go back and forth to their homes and to the solid-waste collection site east on Old Lawtey Road,” Milner said. “It’ll open up again at 10.”
Milner said this year’s fair, which takes place Tuesday through Sunday, March 7-12, was set to have more rides than ever due to the expansion of the midway by approximately 400 feet. Having to relocate to the parking lot has changed that, but there will be 20 rides.
“There will be less rides, but they’ll be good rides,” Milner said. “I think everybody will still have a good time.”
The fair opens at 5 p.m. March 7-10, 2 p.m. March 11 and 1 p.m. March 12 (midway only).
