Despite her efforts to keep it out of the political arena, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Nancy Denson acknowledged Monday that a proposed pedestrian safety demonstration project for part of Prince Avenue has become “a political football.”

Briefly, the proposal calls for the installation of temporary pedestrian islands at a couple of locations along Prince Avenue between Milledge Avenue and Pulaski Street. The islands would allow pedestrians to cross just half the width of Prince Avenue at a time, and might also serve to slow traffic along the street.

Speaking at the Athens-Clarke County Republican Party’s regular monthly meeting Monday evening, Denson said when the project was brought to her by Athens-Clarke Commissioner Kelly Girtz and longtime Prince Avenue activist Tony Eubanks, she told them that given this year’s May 20 nonpartisan election, staging the demonstration in the spring as they wanted would be a problematic option.

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