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When I went to visit a friend of mine in Cumming on New Year's Eve, I noticed how GDOT is finally widening GA 20 between Buford and Cumming. Talk about a project that's long overdue. Anyway, it got me to thinking about other necessary road improvements that ought to be done in metro Atlanta. Since I live in Athens, I'm most familiar with the roads east of I-75, so anybody who knows what ought to be done west of I-75 can add to the list, I guess. Anyway, here's my list:
I-85 from LaGrange to Newnan, and Buford to the South Carolina state line. Now that I-75 has been widened to six lanes through the entire state of Georgia, it's time to widen I-85 to six lanes where the traffic count demands it -- in other words, everything except the portion between the Alabama state line and LaGrange.
U.S. 19/GA 400 from Cumming to Dahlonega. GA 400 should be limited-access for its entire length, and U.S. 19 should be four lanes from GA 400's northern terminus up to Dahlonega. There's more traffic to Dahlonega in the summer and fall than the road can handle in its current form.
GA 16 from Carrollton to Eatonton. This is the major east/west road on Atlanta's southern exurban fringe, serving six county seats.
GA 53 between Calhoun and Watkinsville. Rome, Gainesville and Athens are Atlanta's three big satellite cities, and all three of them are connected by this highway. Widening this road to four lanes should enable traffic to get between these cities without having to enter the urbanized area of metro Atlanta.
GA 81 between McDonough and Winder. This is the major north/south road on Atlanta's eastern exurban fringe, serving three county seats and the town of Loganville.
GA 120 between Roswell and Lawrenceville. I haven't driven this road in a few years, but last I remember, many parts of it were still two lanes. This road serves several of the more established northern suburbs of Atlanta, so widening it all to four lanes makes sense.
GA 138 between Conyers and Monroe. This road should be widened to four lanes. It's the most direct route between I-20 and Athens, and also the most direct route between the Atlanta airport and Athens that doesn't go through downtown Atlanta.
GA 316 short-term improvements. The limited-access portion of this highway is finally being extended east to Lawrenceville, but more needs to be done. Eventually it should be limited-access all the way to Athens, but in the interrim, interchanges need to be built at U.S. 29 South (Lawrenceville Highway) and Harbins Road in Gwinnett County, and GA 81 and GA 11 in Barrow County.
These are just some of my ideas. Feel free to add yours.
Well, I'll add 400 @ 285 needs to be reconfigured. Given the choice I would pick the red line extension over it, bu it does need to be done.
Cobb Parkway @ S. Marietta needs some type of improvements. Probably grade separation is the best, like at Delk Rd.
I'd like to see the left-hand entrances at 285 and the Stone Mountain Freeway eliminated and changed to right-side entrances.
Probably my highest priority project is extending the I-20 HOV lanes through the city and creating HOV exits to/from the connector. There are too many people that fly down those lanes, then force their way over at the last minute which just clogs things up.
Either expand Iris DR Between Stonecrest and Sigman rd. or extend Sigman to Turner Hill road like they wanted to do in the TSPLOST.
I'd like to see Turner Hill rd grade separated from Covington Highway and the railroad as well.
The two cloverleafs on I-20 at 285 on the east side should be changed to broader flyovers for higher speed, that becomes a choke point during the morning rush.
I'd also like to see 124 Between 78 and Ronald Reagan Parkway to be somehow upgraded for smoother flowing traffic for through traffic, not sure how to do it though without building a new highway.
When I went to visit a friend of mine in Cumming on New Year's Eve, I noticed how GDOT is finally widening GA 20 between Buford and Cumming. Talk about a project that's long overdue. Anyway, it got me to thinking about other necessary road improvements that ought to be done in metro Atlanta. Since I live in Athens, I'm most familiar with the roads east of I-75, so anybody who knows what ought to be done west of I-75 can add to the list, I guess. Anyway, here's my list:
I-85 from LaGrange to Newnan, and Buford to the South Carolina state line. Now that I-75 has been widened to six lanes through the entire state of Georgia, it's time to widen I-85 to six lanes where the traffic count demands it -- in other words, everything except the portion between the Alabama state line and LaGrange.
U.S. 19/GA 400 from Cumming to Dahlonega. GA 400 should be limited-access for its entire length, and U.S. 19 should be four lanes from GA 400's northern terminus up to Dahlonega. There's more traffic to Dahlonega in the summer and fall than the road can handle in its current form.
GA 16 from Carrollton to Eatonton. This is the major east/west road on Atlanta's southern exurban fringe, serving six county seats.
GA 53 between Calhoun and Watkinsville. Rome, Gainesville and Athens are Atlanta's three big satellite cities, and all three of them are connected by this highway. Widening this road to four lanes should enable traffic to get between these cities without having to enter the urbanized area of metro Atlanta.
GA 81 between McDonough and Winder. This is the major north/south road on Atlanta's eastern exurban fringe, serving three county seats and the town of Loganville.
GA 120 between Roswell and Lawrenceville. I haven't driven this road in a few years, but last I remember, many parts of it were still two lanes. This road serves several of the more established northern suburbs of Atlanta, so widening it all to four lanes makes sense.
GA 138 between Conyers and Monroe. This road should be widened to four lanes. It's the most direct route between I-20 and Athens, and also the most direct route between the Atlanta airport and Athens that doesn't go through downtown Atlanta.
GA 316 short-term improvements. The limited-access portion of this highway is finally being extended east to Lawrenceville, but more needs to be done. Eventually it should be limited-access all the way to Athens, but in the interrim, interchanges need to be built at U.S. 29 South (Lawrenceville Highway) and Harbins Road in Gwinnett County, and GA 81 and GA 11 in Barrow County.
These are just some of my ideas. Feel free to add yours.
Good comments...These are all excellent ideas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnutella
I-85 from LaGrange to Newnan, and Buford to the South Carolina state line. Now that I-75 has been widened to six lanes through the entire state of Georgia, it's time to widen I-85 to six lanes where the traffic count demands it -- in other words, everything except the portion between the Alabama state line and LaGrange.
I completely agree with this.
Though in addition to widening the rural portions I-85 to 6 lanes (...something that should have been done at least a decade ago at the latest) between Newnan and the I-185 split to Columbus near LaGrange, and between Buford and the South Carolina state line, I would turn the long-overdue expansion of I-85 into a multimodal transportation upgrade project by also establishing a robust regional high-capacity passenger rail option on new passenger rail-only tracks along the existing Norfolk Southern freight rail right-of-way between the world-leading Atlanta Airport and Greer, SC (near the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport in the fast-growing and increasingly-industrialized Greenville-Spartanburg area of Upstate South Carolina).
Regional heavy rail service would be established between the Atlanta Airport and Gainesville; regional commuter rail service would be established between the Atlanta Airport and Clemson, SC (which is home to Southeastern college sports powerhouse Clemson University, which has a very-large following with lots of students, alums and fans in the Atlanta metro area); and regional interurban passenger rail service would be established between the Atlanta Airport and Greer, SC near the fast-growing Greenville-Spartanburg Airport.
A robust regional high-capacity passenger rail option would also be established southwest of Atlanta parallel to the I-85 South corridor between Norcross and Columbus, and between Norcross and Auburn, AL.
Regional heavy rail service would be established between Norcross and Newnan where traffic is the absolute heaviest on the Interstate system through Atlanta.
Regional commuter rail service would be established between Norcross and Columbus (where the locals just absolutely crave more direct logistical connectivity to the Atlanta area).
Regional commuter rail service would also be established between Norcross and Auburn, AL (which is home to Southeastern college sports powerhouse Auburn University, which has an extremely-large following with lots of students, alums and fans in the Atlanta metro area).
The I-85 Southwest regional heavy rail and commuter rail lines would terminate on the at Norcross on the northside because the Norcross area is home to a fast-growing large employment cluster of industrial, commercial and logistical businesses (FedEx has a large hub serving Northeast Metro Atlanta located in Norcross).
Regional interurban rail service would be established between Downtown Atlanta (at the future MMPT/Multimodal Passenger Terminal) and Montgomery, AL (site of the state capital of Alabama).
I would also get the money to widen the rural portions of I-85 through Georgia to 6 lanes by implementing inflation-indexed distance-based user fees on the road in exchange for designing the road to handle higher speeds (particularly in rural areas) raising the maximum speed limits on the road.
The maximum speed limits on the I-85 roadway would be raised to 60-65 mph inside of the I-285 Perimeter, 70 mph through suburban areas outside of I-285, and 80-85 mph through rural areas outside of I-285.
Electronic overhead variable speed limit signs would be utilized so that maximum speed limits could be lowered and raised as driving conditions and weather conditions dictate so that traffic could be better managed as needed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnutella
U.S. 19/GA 400 from Cumming to Dahlonega. GA 400 should be limited-access for its entire length, and U.S. 19 should be four lanes from GA 400's northern terminus up to Dahlonega. There's more traffic to Dahlonega in the summer and fall than the road can handle in its current form.
I also completely agree that GA 400 should be a limited-access expressway up to at least the shopping/retail area at the GA 400/GA 53 junction in the Dawsonville area.
Though, widening GA 400 to 8 lanes (4 lanes in each direction) north of the GA 400/GA 20 interchange in Cumming might potentially be overdoing it, GA 400 should definitely be 6-8 lanes wide (6 mainline lanes with one additional auxilury lane in each direction where needed) between GA 20 in Cumming and GA 53 in Dawsonville.
In addition to extending the GA 400 limited-access expressway from its current northern terminus at GA 369 up to north of the GA 53 junction and widening GA 400 to 6-8 mainline lanes from McFarland Parkway up to north of GA 53, I would also implement some multimodal transportation options along the GA 400 corridor north of Atlanta.
The multimodal transportation options that would be implemented along the GA 400 corridor north of Atlanta would be in the form of regional heavy rail service north of the North Springs MARTA station between the Atlanta Airport and Cumming, and regional express commuter bus service between Cumming and Dahlonega where needed.
The State of Georgia (by way of the Georgia Department of Transportation) has also considered the idea of extending the expressway portion of GA 400 from its current northern terminus at GA 369 north to beyond GA 53 as discussed in this GDOT study: http://www.dot.ga.gov/Projects/studi...nal_report.pdf
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnutella
GA 316 short-term improvements. The limited-access portion of this highway is finally being extended east to Lawrenceville, but more needs to be done. Eventually it should be limited-access all the way to Athens, but in the interrim, interchanges need to be built at U.S. 29 South (Lawrenceville Highway) and Harbins Road in Gwinnett County, and GA 81 and GA 11 in Barrow County.
Turning GA 316 into a limited-access expressway between Lawrenceville and Athens is something that I also completely agree with.
I would go about getting the money to further extend the limited-access portion of GA 316 from east of GA 20 east to the GA 10 Loop around Athens by implementing inflation-indexed distance-based user fees on GA 316 in exchange for converting the current dangerous divided 4-lane high-speed surface road to a much-safer 6-8 lane high-speed grade-separated expressway with a maximum variable speed limit of 80-85 mph.
I would also make the project to convert GA 316 to a limited-access expressway the entire distance between Lawrenceville and Athens a multimodal transportation project by implementing regional heavy rail service between the world-leading Atlanta Airport and the University of Georgia in Athens on new passenger train-only tracks along the existing CSX freight rail right-of-way where the long-discussed Atlanta-Athens "Brain Train" regional commuter rail service has long been proposed to go.
Well, I'll add 400 @ 285 needs to be reconfigured. Given the choice I would pick the red line extension over it, bu it does need to be done.
Cobb Parkway @ S. Marietta needs some type of improvements. Probably grade separation is the best, like at Delk Rd.
I'd like to see the left-hand entrances at 285 and the Stone Mountain Freeway eliminated and changed to right-side entrances.
Probably my highest priority project is extending the I-20 HOV lanes through the city and creating HOV exits to/from the connector. There are too many people that fly down those lanes, then force their way over at the last minute which just clogs things up.
Either expand Iris DR Between Stonecrest and Sigman rd. or extend Sigman to Turner Hill road like they wanted to do in the TSPLOST.
I'd like to see Turner Hill rd grade separated from Covington Highway and the railroad as well.
The two cloverleafs on I-20 at 285 on the east side should be changed to broader flyovers for higher speed, that becomes a choke point during the morning rush.
I'd also like to see 124 Between 78 and Ronald Reagan Parkway to be somehow upgraded for smoother flowing traffic for through traffic, not sure how to do it though without building a new highway.
For the southside there needs to be a couple of road projects done
Hwy 85/I-285/I-75 Intersection needs to be redone. It is a mess in the morning and a traffic nightmare in the Afternoon.
I-285/Old National/I-85 I don't even no what can be done here. It has taken me 1 hour to get onto Old National from the highway. It is a complete mess and a traffic disaster.
Hwy 314(W. Fayetteville Rd.) This needs to be widen to 4 lanes from I-285 to Hwy 138 at the Clayton/Fayette Line. I also see the need for an off ramp from the I-85 South off ramp that goes to I-285 East. The new off ramp could go to Godby Rd. I can see this as a great way to alleviate traffic on Both the Old National Exit as well as the Riverdale Rd exit.
When I went to visit a friend of mine in Cumming on New Year's Eve, I noticed how GDOT is finally widening GA 20 between Buford and Cumming. Talk about a project that's long overdue.
Its been months since I've driven that road; is there any indication that they're going to replace the 1947-built 2-lane bridge over the Chattahoochee?
As for I-85, I'd be happy if they'd pave asphalt over the busted concrete in Banks County.
My understanding is the Governor's priority is the 400 I-285 interchange.
With the failure of T-splost, regrouping needs to happen and that isn't. Our legislature refuses to grow a pair and make the big boy (and girl) decisions about the state's transportation needs.
I'd say expanding I-575 NB/SB, which I guess they're already sort of doing with the HOT lanes. Woodstock to I-75 in the mornings and vice versa in the evenings is horrendous.
Ditto the 400/I-285 interchange.
I feel like S. Cobb Parkway needs multiple grade separations with Windy Hill the top priority. It can take an absurd amount of time to get through that intersection.
Light rail into Cobb/Kennesaw/Cherokee would be awesome.
I agree with almost all of these needing to be done at some point. However they will only make traffic worse in the long term unless we fund these and roads as a whole with all user fees.
On the top of my to build list is unquestionably the Northern Arc, as we have seen the traffic on Interstate 75, 85, and 285 is horrendous. When you factor in truck traffic and travelers who are passing through the area, it is no wonder they are so clogged. Opponents have argued the road would increase sprawl which is happening without the road anyways.
Second, I would push to finish transforming the GA 316 into a fully limited access road.
Third, I would create a GA 316 type limited access road to connect Huntsville and Atlanta via Rome.
Fourth, I would stress connecting the 2nd tier cities of Georgia to help pull some traffic away from Atlanta.
Last edited by therealpattman; 01-30-2014 at 09:08 AM..
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