State DOT considers shutting down certain connector ramps during rush hour (closing, dangerous)

[MattCW]

GDOT considers closing connector off-ramps during rush hour | www.wsbtv.com

“About two miles has nine exits within there. Standards really call for a distance of about a mile in an urban area, so we have about five times the accepted standard in that particular area,” Jill Goldberg of GDOT said.

Because of that, GDOT is considering closing two of the ramps during rush hour.

Wow, just...wow. I'm not sure what the other exit is, but while the area is a mess, I'm sure it would turn into an even bigger mess if you were trying to squeeze drivers into an even smaller area. What should have really happened, is a redesign of the I-20 and Connector interchange. Put in honest-to-goodness HOV ramps between the two roads, and you'd stop a log of congestion on BOTH Roads, during BOTH rush hours, right there. As it is now, HOV-traffic has to merge all the way over to the right to make the exit. Maybe if GDOT hadn't bungled the ramp meters completely, I could trust them a little better, but that's not gonna happen.

[tonygeorgia]

What a stupid idea

[netsirk]

I don't know...as a transplant from the north, I noticed right away that there are a LOT of exits on the connector going through Midtown/Downtown, and that it causes on/off issues and backup.

When I get on to the connector (north) in the morning, I have a bunch of choices on where to get on--Freedom Parkway, from Irwin St., or from Highland. I mean, do I really need three options within one mile to get on to the highway? I'm going to say...no. That said, the afternoon and getting off of the connector is always worse, exactly because of 20.

That Edgewood Ave. ramp they're talking about is the one I get on if I'm going south to the airport, and it is ridiculously dangerous for exactly the reasons they state--people getting to the right to get on to 20.

I'm not an engineer, so I have no idea whether closing exits would work. But I am glad they're thinking about doing something about it. Now, whether they can be trusted or not is another story.

[cqholt]

There is little in the state can do about the Downtown Connector, besides try and close ramps to alleviate so much merging.
By closing lanes it would force cars to use certain interchanges, that could be better spaced out for merging.
There is no more ROW for extra lanes.