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pollen
I appreciate your comments but you may have missed where I wrote that I did live in the City of Atlanta for 30 years until moving to Jonesboro 5 years go. During those 30 years, I became very familiar w/ the city processes, such as the NPU's, dealing w/ city hall & other departments to get something done. I still have the pot hole & traffic signal reporting numbers & the Midtown Blue APD Precinct number all saved in my phone because I believe in making a difference in the quality of life issues as well as dealing with regular bricks and mortar stuff.
An overarching issue for Midtown, which was mentioned almost immediately in this thread by another member, is the worsening traffic congestion there, particulalry around Tech Square. Early on another member wrote something like traffic planners have their "work cut out for them." That is a factual statement & if you doubt it, you have your head in the sand.
In the 5 years since I moved to Jonesboro & have been commuting through Midtown via GRTA Xpress bus, the traffic has gotten noticeably worse in the corridors the bus uses & the Spring St. corridor can particularly be awful during the evening rush hour.
I zeroed in with comments about the occasional shutting of that particular street, as they do for festivals which exacerbates the gridlock, but the real message is that during the normal rush hour, the street is MUCH more congested than it was when I began that commute pattern 5 years ago. As can happen at the worst, slogging through complete gridlock all of the way southbound from 14th st. to the North Avenue corridor is not my idea of a good time & should not be acceptable.
Additionally, when our south bound bus passes by the Varsity & through the intersection with North Aveneue, I can look west & see that the inbound traffic headed east on North Avenue is usually backed up as far as the corner where the Coke HQ Tower is located.
So, what does the worsening situation portend for the future of development in Midtown and it's ability to maintain & attract new business development & residents?
pollen
I appreciate your comments but you may have missed where I wrote that I did live in the City of Atlanta for 30 years until moving to Jonesboro 5 years go. During those 30 years, I became very familiar w/ the city processes, such as the NPU's, dealing w/ city hall & other departments to get something done. I still have the pot hole & traffic signal reporting numbers & the Midtown Blue APD Precinct number all saved in my phone because I believe in making a difference in the quality of life issues as well as dealing with regular bricks and mortar stuff.
An overarching issue for Midtown, which was mentioned almost immediately in this thread by another member, is the worsening traffic congestion there, particulalry around Tech Square. Early on another member wrote something like traffic planners have their "work cut out for them." That is a factual statement & if you doubt it, you have your head in the sand.
In the 5 years since I moved to Jonesboro & have been commuting through Midtown via GRTA Xpress bus, the traffic has gotten noticeably worse in the corridors the bus uses & the Spring St. corridor can particularly be awful during the evening rush hour.
I zeroed in with comments about the occasional shutting of that particular street, as they do for festivals which exacerbates the gridlock, but the real message is that during the normal rush hour, the street is MUCH more congested than it was when I began that commute pattern 5 years ago. As can happen at the worst, slogging through complete gridlock all of the way southbound from 14th st. to the North Avenue corridor is not my idea of a good time & should not be acceptable.
Additionally, when our south bound bus passes by the Varsity & through the intersection with North Aveneue, I can look west & see that the inbound traffic headed east on North Avenue is usually backed up as far as the corner where the Coke HQ Tower is located.
So, what does the worsening situation portend for the future of development in Midtown and it's ability to maintain & attract new business development & residents?
We need bus only lanes and bus only ramps. They need to highly enforced with signal prioritization.
I don't mind traffic. All cities have traffic. A place with no traffic is probably a boring place. Midtown seems to be doing just fine despite your complaints about rush hour traffic.
pollen
I appreciate your comments but you may have missed where I wrote that I did live in the City of Atlanta for 30 years until moving to Jonesboro 5 years go. During those 30 years, I became very familiar w/ the city processes, such as the NPU's, dealing w/ city hall & other departments to get something done. I still have the pot hole & traffic signal reporting numbers & the Midtown Blue APD Precinct number all saved in my phone because I believe in making a difference in the quality of life issues as well as dealing with regular bricks and mortar stuff.
An overarching issue for Midtown, which was mentioned almost immediately in this thread by another member, is the worsening traffic congestion there, particulalry around Tech Square. Early on another member wrote something like traffic planners have their "work cut out for them." That is a factual statement & if you doubt it, you have your head in the sand. In the 5 years since I moved to Jonesboro & have been commuting through Midtown via GRTA Xpress bus, the traffic has gotten noticeably worse in the corridors the bus uses & the Spring St. corridor can particularly be awful during the evening rush hour.
I zeroed in with comments about the occasional shutting of that particular street, as they do for festivals which exacerbates the gridlock, but the real message is that during the normal rush hour, the street is MUCH more congested than it was when I began that commute pattern 5 years ago. As can happen at the worst, slogging through complete gridlock all of the way southbound from 14th st. to the North Avenue corridor is not my idea of a good time & should not be acceptable.
Additionally, when our south bound bus passes by the Varsity & through the intersection with North Aveneue, I can look west & see that the inbound traffic headed east on North Avenue is usually backed up as far as the corner where the Coke HQ Tower is located.
So, what does the worsening situation portend for the future of development in Midtown and it's ability to maintain & attract new business development & residents?
This comment isn't directed at you Atler8, but just a general comment on transportation. If you are not happy with surface street traffic and street closures slowing down your commuter bus, just remember that the next time someone tells you BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) is every bit as effective as grade separated, rail based transit. BRT, even with dedicated lanes, still has to navigate the surface streets at some point.
I'm not saying that BRT doesn't have its place and it's true that it can be implemented faster and cheaper than most rail based transit, but it will never be a true substitute for light/heavy/commuter rail.
This comment isn't directed at you Atler8, but just a general comment on transportation. If you are not happy with surface street traffic and street closures slowing down your commuter bus, just remember that the next time someone tells you BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) is every bit as effective as grade separated, rail based transit. BRT, even with dedicated lanes, still has to navigate the surface streets at some point.
I'm not saying that BRT doesn't have its place and it's true that it can be implemented faster and cheaper than most rail based transit, but it will never be a true substitute for light/heavy/commuter rail.
Not necessarily, Look at Orange Line in LA or HealthLine in Cleveland. They have their own lane, but interact with traffic at priority-signalized intersections. As long as the technology is there for the light to change in favor of the bus as it arrives and drivers obey those signals, a BRT can be effective. Brazil and other nations have been doing it for decades and created a reliable network from it.
Yeah, I don't doubt BRT can be effective, but you still get what you pay for. Trust me, I'd take BRT over nothing any day, but if you want a system that is truly independent of road conditions, such as closures, natural distastes, traffic, etc, grade separated rail is the way to go.
BRT would have still been brought to its knees during the Snowpocalypse, but the trains ran just fine. I also don't trust leadership in this region to go all in with BRT. I could see them easily cutting corners and under-delivering, especially when the line will have to run through multiple jurisdictions.
I also don't trust drivers to always obey signals. You always see the one or two jerks that decided to try and make the light and end up sitting in the middle of the intersection, holding everyone up.
The Orange line in LA looks like a great example for BRT, but I doubt we'll get something like that here. It would be nice. But, even they are talking about converting that line to rail based to improve both capacity and reduce travel time.
In short, I think BRT is good and can be effective, but I don't buy into people saying that it's just as effective as rail-based transit for a fraction of the price.
Midtown: Yes, the transportation planners have their work cut out for them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnsleyPark
Man. I hope the transportation folks are busy planning!
From the time I walked out the door of my office building to catch my GRTA Xpress bus @ 14th & W. Peachtree on Thursday, it was exactly 1 FULL HOUR before our bus made it onto the connector southbound via the HOV-ramp @ Portman Avenue.
The mess on Spring St. was the major culprit. That is a totally unnaceptable example of the gridlock the area can experience. If Midtown is to be viable for business & residential development in the future, the planners need to rethink the flow on Spring St. among other problems, especially before the NCR relocation brings over 3,000 new employees into the corridor.
Our receptionist drives home & was in gridlock on the Juniper/Courtland corridor as well.
pollen
I appreciate your comments but you may have missed where I wrote that I did live in the City of Atlanta for 30 years until moving to Jonesboro 5 years go. During those 30 years, I became very familiar w/ the city processes, such as the NPU's, dealing w/ city hall & other departments to get something done. I still have the pot hole & traffic signal reporting numbers & the Midtown Blue APD Precinct number all saved in my phone because I believe in making a difference in the quality of life issues as well as dealing with regular bricks and mortar stuff.
An overarching issue for Midtown, which was mentioned almost immediately in this thread by another member, is the worsening traffic congestion there, particulalry around Tech Square. Early on another member wrote something like traffic planners have their "work cut out for them." That is a factual statement & if you doubt it, you have your head in the sand.
In the 5 years since I moved to Jonesboro & have been commuting through Midtown via GRTA Xpress bus, the traffic has gotten noticeably worse in the corridors the bus uses & the Spring St. corridor can particularly be awful during the evening rush hour.
I zeroed in with comments about the occasional shutting of that particular street, as they do for festivals which exacerbates the gridlock, but the real message is that during the normal rush hour, the street is MUCH more congested than it was when I began that commute pattern 5 years ago. As can happen at the worst, slogging through complete gridlock all of the way southbound from 14th st. to the North Avenue corridor is not my idea of a good time & should not be acceptable.
Additionally, when our south bound bus passes by the Varsity & through the intersection with North Aveneue, I can look west & see that the inbound traffic headed east on North Avenue is usually backed up as far as the corner where the Coke HQ Tower is located.
So, what does the worsening situation portend for the future of development in Midtown and it's ability to maintain & attract new business development & residents?
Definitely stop allowing left turns on Peachtee during certain hours, and maybe encourage more midtown workers to take transit. Midtown residents and business people love to Uber which stills create more congestion. Also midtown, north avenue and the art center Marta stations have no parking for residents to park and take the train to Buckhead and the Perimeter.
Definitely stop allowing left turns on Peachtee during certain hours, and maybe encourage more midtown workers to take transit. Midtown residents and business people love to Uber which stills create more congestion. Also midtown, north avenue and the art center Marta stations have no parking for residents to park and take the train to Buckhead and the Perimeter.
Residents are going to walk or take the bus to a marta rail station, that's why there is no parking.
There are discussions about turning West Peachtree back into a two way street, and extending 15th street to the interstate with on and off ramps, which may help.
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Midtown: Yes, the transportation planners have their work cut out for them!
