200-mile loop highway proposed for Chattanooga (Atlanta, Smyrna: construction, live, bill)

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Adi from the Brunswicks

Why exactly do we need to invest on 200 miles of road for a 250 K city ?

The money is much better spent on relocating the Amtrak to center city, and expanding corridor like intercity services to Raleigh.

Well its more like a 500k city.

Part of it is that there is only one cross-town link from I-75 to I-24 and I-59. Similar to our downtown connector, that one link is overburdened from traffic merging through town. It is also a very heavy freight corridor, so it isn't just the city itself.

Even just a southern bypass from I-24 to I-75 South would do wonders for freight and thru traffic.

I-75 north is a major freight corridor in the country and at Chattanooga much of it will go to I-24 to access the midwest via Nashville. Those freeways are more heavily impacted by freight than other cities of a similar size elsewhere. There is a reason Tennessee is pitching this for Chattanooga over Knoxville.

Trucking industry in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(I wish This was more updated)

This would keep most all of the freight flows from going through town.

[cqholt]

We will see no more new freeways built in Atlanta. The thinking here has changed and more people are realizing adding lanes does not solve congestion.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

Well its more like a 500k city.

Part of it is that there is only one cross-town link from I-75 to I-24 and I-59. Similar to our downtown connector, that one link is overburdened from traffic merging through town. It is also a very heavy freight corridor, so it isn't just the city itself.

Even just a southern bypass from I-24 to I-75 South would do wonders for freight and thru traffic.

I-75 north is a major freight corridor in the country and at Chattanooga much of it will go to I-24 to access the midwest via Nashville. Those freeways are more heavily impacted by freight than other cities of a similar size elsewhere. There is a reason Tennessee is pitching this for Chattanooga over Knoxville.


This would keep most all of the freight flows from going through town.

^^^ This

Originally Posted by cqholt

We will see no more new freeways built in Atlanta. The thinking here has changed and more people are realizing adding lanes does not solve congestion.

But this is for Chattanooga...

[bu2]

Originally Posted by WanderingImport

At the time, you're right, I'm pretty sure smart growth policies would have taken a back seat to sprawl. Had it gained traction around 2000, I believe things would've gone down differently though.



It's not the ONLY thing Atlanta should aspire for, obviously... and certainly not a 3rd perimeter. Geez, a 3rd one would probably be well in to Tennessee and North Carolina by that point. That's just stupid. I'm also routing for mass transit expansion as I have expressed in previous posts on here. There needs to be a perimeter train from Cumberland to Doraville at a minimum. Do away with the hub and spoke system and implement something similar to how Atlanta metro has been developing.

285 is really like Houston's Beltway 8, its 2nd loop. Houston's inner loop (610) is only 5 to 8 miles from downtown, similar to Dallas's Loop 12 which is only part freeway.

Houston thought their Hardy Toll Road from the north towards downtown would be the primary revenue driver in their toll road system. Instead it was their 2nd loop, Beltway 8. Atlanta has been approaching theirs as a bypass. The reality is that Atlanta needs east/west and north/south connections between the suburbs, not more hub and spoke making people go to downtown. That's why Houston's Beltway 8 toll road has generated so much revenue.

Atlanta's 2nd loop will happen, at least partway. But it will take awhile. The suburbs will have to strangle a little more and the people who want to keep things just like they were in the 70s will be outnumbered by newcomers who realize the 70s are gone.

[bu2]

As for Chattanooga, its a mess. That Nashville/Chattanooga road always has problems when I'm on it. Chattanooga has big traffic problems for a metro of its size. But going through those mountains is problematic. That's some challenging terrain, especially the Georgia portion.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by bfarley30

I've never seen the point of having a loop encircling a loop that we already have. I'm not a huge supporter of building more highways but I'd rather see the Stone Mountain Fwy connect to Freedom Pkwy and the connection from Ga 400 to I-675 before I see another loop highway!

That's one that WILL never happen. Druid Hills and Inman Park will fight that to the end of time.

And while there were good reasons for not doing it, there were consequences. Central DeKalb strangles on its traffic and the Northlake/Tucker area is less desirable as a result.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

What's hilariously sad about Houston is that they've widened I-10 west of town to something like twenty lanes, including the access and HOV lanes, and it STILL jams during rush hour.

Imagine how bad it would be if they didn't build it. When first built it knocked about 15 minutes off the commute from 10 years before.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I wish they would at least connect 675 to I-20 east. Up until a few years ago there was actually a clear path that could have happened. Could have been big for Henry County. I-20 east inside the perimeter has more surplus capacity than the downtown connector does, even south of town.

Its still lightly developed. 675 is pretty useless for most of the metro. If it went to I-20 it would serve central DeKalb and Fulton. As it is, you have to travel about 10 miles down Moreland through a really bad neighborhood or drive lots of extra miles.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by cqholt

We will see no more new freeways built in Atlanta. The thinking here has changed and more people are realizing adding lanes does not solve congestion.

The highway leadership feels this way as they will slowly strangle the life out of the city. You can't use a road network built for half the current population and not expect quality of life to be severely impacted. As employment recovers, traffic will get a lot worse.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by bu2

Imagine how bad it would be if they didn't build it. When first built it knocked about 15 minutes off the commute from 10 years before.

15 minutes worth the billions is cost for the expansion?