Okay! Whats going on with the downtown connector uneven roads. (buy, university)

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by atl1221

It's a real shame. Georgia used to have some of the best roads in the country. It's getting terrible on the connector!

We really did used to have some great roads. It seems like they have been using salt more often and that has been very destructive to the roads. The rough patches on the connector are terrible, I am assuming they are working on a solution. I don't recall ever seeing it this bad.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by atler8

Plus, traffic lights were time-coordinated on a massive scale as compared to what I find in Atlanta and it's suburbs.

Compared? There's nothing to compare. I don't think Atlanta does any time-coordination on traffic signals, unless they are directly timed together, like two intersections acting as one. But driving down a long stretch? It's almost as if they coordinate them to turn red as you get to each one.

And, the light timings in Atlanta are WAAAAAAAY too long. There are some intersections where I put the car in park and tun it off because I know I will be there for 3-5 minutes waiting. And don't get me started on these mother ******* diverging diamond interchanges.

Originally Posted by tikigod311

We really did used to have some great roads. It seems like they have been using salt more often and that has been very destructive to the roads. The rough patches on the connector are terrible, I am assuming they are working on a solution. I don't recall ever seeing it this bad.

285 isn't much better, but at least they are working on it. There used to be a spot on 285 before exiting to 85 S that I hit every day. Since it was usually 5:45 in the morning, I was bleary-eyed and on auto-pilot, and hitting that car rattle reminded me that it was time to exit.

[testa50]

I believe the entire issue is the performance of a layer of pervious asphalt used as a top coat on the existing pavement section. Several years ago they closed the connector in segments to install this. It seems to have very suddenly degraded in a number of areas, mostly in the right lanes (which isn't surprising as this is where trucks are allowed, and a single truck generally causes a level of pavement stress equal to that of several hundred passenger cars).

What exactly is causing the pervious pavement to fail so rapidly and generally is mysterious. But I'm sure that GDOT was hoping for better performance than this.

Before people bring out the pitchforks against pervious pavement (there's sound, traditional asphalt underneath all of the failure areas, if you look closely), it vastly decreases pooling of water and spray during rainstorms, and thus greatly improves traffic safety (and hence reduces congestion). I just am surprised at how suddenly it started to fail. I suspect winter pavement treatment had something to do with it, but that's 100% conjecture.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

285 isn't much better, but at least they are working on it. There used to be a spot on 285 before exiting to 85 S that I hit every day. Since it was usually 5:45 in the morning, I was bleary-eyed and on auto-pilot, and hitting that car rattle reminded me that it was time to exit.

In my experience, the recent work done on 285 West b/t Camp Creek and Cobb County is the smoothest concrete I have ever driven on. The did some work on it recently and it is impressive! I get the feeling the issues with the connector and elsewhere are due to a bad mix of asphalt and rough weather.

[atl1221]

GDOT has been brining a ton since Snowmaggedon in 2014. I do have a feeling that mixture has something to do with the breakdown of pavement. Add in 200,000+ cars a day and the road is under heavy stress. What I feel has changed is that in the 1990s and early 2000s they would be out there for an "emergency project" by this point to fix it. Hopefully these problems come to their priority list because there are spots all around town that need some immediate TLC.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by testa50

I believe the entire issue is the performance of a layer of pervious asphalt used as a top coat on the existing pavement section. Several years ago they closed the connector in segments to install this. It seems to have very suddenly degraded in a number of areas, mostly in the right lanes (which isn't surprising as this is where trucks are allowed, and a single truck generally causes a level of pavement stress equal to that of several hundred passenger cars).

What exactly is causing the pervious pavement to fail so rapidly and generally is mysterious. But I'm sure that GDOT was hoping for better performance than this.

Before people bring out the pitchforks against pervious pavement (there's sound, traditional asphalt underneath all of the failure areas, if you look closely), it vastly decreases pooling of water and spray during rainstorms, and thus greatly improves traffic safety (and hence reduces congestion). I just am surprised at how suddenly it started to fail. I suspect winter pavement treatment had something to do with it, but that's 100% conjecture.

I agree Testa, I remember when they laid down the payment. I'm shocked all how fast it is breaking down. Also the white lines are curled up or completely gone in some spot. It looks a hot mess.

[TheTravelinMan]

Originally Posted by atl1221

GDOT has been brining a ton since Snowmaggedon in 2014. I do have a feeling that mixture has something to do with the breakdown of pavement. Add in 200,000+ cars a day and the road is under heavy stress. What I feel has changed is that in the 1990s and early 2000s they would be out there for an "emergency project" by this point to fix it. Hopefully these problems come to their priority list because there are spots all around town that need some immediate TLC.

I agree that GDOT's heavy brining these last couple of years has had an impact on the road surface. The fact that rather than being the traditional potholes instead the entire surface of the road is crumbling away to dust supports this conclusion.

Speaking of potholes there is a MAJOR pothole on 285 eastbound in the middle lane as it leaves the 75 interchange. It has been there for a couple of months but has gotten really massive. I forgot to move over to avoid it the other day and when I hit it I thought it had destroyed my front end. Really surprised GDOT hasn't gone out and patched that thing.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by TheTravelinMan

I agree that GDOT's heavy brining these last couple of years has had an impact on the road surface. The fact that rather than being the traditional potholes instead the entire surface of the road is crumbling away to dust supports this conclusion.

Speaking of potholes there is a MAJOR pothole on 285 eastbound in the middle lane as it leaves the 75 interchange. It has been there for a couple of months but has gotten really massive. I forgot to move over to avoid it the other day and when I hit it I thought it had destroyed my front end. Really surprised GDOT hasn't gone out and patched that thing.

Can you file a car damage claim with the GDOT? Thats ridiculous !

[TheTravelinMan]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Can you file a car damage claim with the GDOT? Thats ridiculous !

I looked at the front of my car and my tires when I got home and luckily I didn't notice any apparent damage. If they dont fix that soon though there is going to be a mighty big crater there. I dont think you can actually sue GDOT for damages such as that, I believe they have immunity.

[TheTravelinMan]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

I agree Testa, I remember when they laid down the payment. I'm shocked all how fast it is breaking down. Also the white lines are curled up or completely gone in some spot. It looks a hot mess.

I would also say that with GDOT planning on resurfacing all of I-20 West this summer lets hope they dont use the same surface!