Ahead of Crabapple Fest, the main road on which it takes place – Crabapple Road – will shut down to vehicular traffic starting the morning of Friday, October 4.

In what has become an annual occurrence, Crabapple Road will close in both directions between the Mayfield Road/Broadwell Road/Birmingham Highway stoplight and Heritage Walk/Crabapple Chase Drive roundabout starting at 10 a.m. on the Friday before the festival. (That’s October 4 this year.) This will allow those involved in making Crabapple Fest happen, including vendors, to safely set-up so their ready-to-roll when the event kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

While this stretch of Crabapple Road is shut down, Heritage Walk will become the detour route since people can use that to go back-and-forth between Birmingham Highway, Mayfield Road, and the rest of Crabapple Road.

There will be one important change in this respect, though, Saturday: Children’s activities will be centered in the City Hall parking lot, which is on the opposite side of Heritage Walk from the Green and connections to the other Crabapple Fest activities. This means it is CRITICAL that people drive slowly, safely, and mindfully along Heritage Walk, since children will be crossing it regularly. Milton Police will act as crossing guards to guide walkers; those in vehicles can help by being cautious, courteous, and patient.

Everything should be back to normal, with Crabapple Road reopening, around 10 p.m. Saturday – so about five hours after Crabapple Fest ends (at which point the vendors should be all packed up.)