I-85 bridge near Piedmont Rd Collapses. (Atlanta, Cumming: university, approval, snake)

[toll_booth]

And the northbound lanes just opened!

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

This has been discussed. "Overall traffic volume" is a useless statistic. Which is better to you:
A: 250,000 vehicles on a major interstate
B: 200,000 vehicles (20% reduction in traffic volume) on surface streets and neighborhood roads

And please tell me which areas have seen much better traffic since the collapse. Where do you think all the cars from I-85 went? What "alternative routes" did not see increased traffic, and instead saw reduced traffic. You must have a list.

"Overall traffic volume" is the kind of speak that simple minds eat up and accept as a worthwhile statistic, without thinking about what it really means.

Ha. There is no list. That is the beautiful thing. They do a thousand different things and spread the load across a variety of options from other routes, to other times, to other modes, to other destinations.

The total reduction of traffic is higher than 20% is other places that closed roads.

Heck, MARTA alone saw a 25% boost in ridership after the closure which based on it's average daily rail ridership of 231k is 57k people right there.




Also in researching this I just found some published analysis of traffic changes as a result of this closure. New post coming soon!

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Ha. There is no list. That is the beautiful thing. They do a thousand different things and spread the load across a variety of options from other routes, to other times, to other modes, to other destinations.

The total reduction of traffic is higher than 20% is other places that closed roads.

Heck, MARTA alone saw a 25% boost in ridership after the closure which based on it's average daily rail ridership of 231k is 57k people right there.




Also in researching this I just found some published analysis of traffic changes as a result of this closure. New post coming soon!

Way to completely dance around the questions asked, as per usual.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Also in researching this I just found some published analysis of traffic changes as a result of this closure. New post coming soon!

I am very interested to see what you've dug up. I've just spent a while digging through traffic counts on any road I could get actual data on, which aren't many.

I looked at I-285, I-85, I-75, I-20, Peachtree Rd., Roswell Rd, and Chamblee-Tucker so far. The only one of those to see a drop in traffic counts between March and May thus far is I-85 ITP (surprise!). I-75 has seen about a 5.5% increase. I-285 south of 85 has seen a small increase, noting that it runs near capacity as is. Roswell Rd. near Chastain has seen a 5% increase. But the biggest changes come from Peachtree Rd. near Wesley, which has seen a whopping 26% increase, and Chamblee-Tucker, which has seen a 12.5% increase. It would stand to reason that most roads in the area have seen similar. And all those cars are getting to and from those roads in some way, most likely by using neighborhoods as cut-thrus.

So, yeah...please show us what you've got.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

Way to completely dance around the questions asked, as per usual.

You asked for a "list" of where all the cars went and I said "there is no list" but gave you a quick rundown of what happened to them. What were you expecting? Me to conduct one-on-one interviews and give you a list of the 200,000 different things all these people did?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

I am very interested to see what you've dug up. I've just spent a while digging through traffic counts on any road I could get actual data on, which aren't many.

I looked at I-285, I-85, I-75, I-20, Peachtree Rd., Roswell Rd, and Chamblee-Tucker so far. The only one of those to see a drop in traffic counts between March and May thus far is I-85 ITP (surprise!). I-75 has seen about a 5.5% increase. I-285 south of 85 has seen a small increase, noting that it runs near capacity as is. Roswell Rd. near Chastain has seen a 5% increase. But the biggest changes come from Peachtree Rd. near Wesley, which has seen a whopping 26% increase, and Chamblee-Tucker, which has seen a 12.5% increase. It would stand to reason that most roads in the area have seen similar. And all those cars are getting to and from those roads in some way, most likely by using neighborhoods as cut-thrus.

So, yeah...please show us what you've got.

Those numbers are about what I have seen / would expect too. But about every where in downtown and south of I-20 has seen an improvement though. Chamblee & Doraville have seen improvements too.

But the thing I am talking about is actually more visual. Nothing "ground breaking" but will be something people here will appreciate if I am able to make it happen.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Those numbers are about what I have seen / would expect too. But about every where in downtown and south of I-20 has seen an improvement though. Chamblee & Doraville have seen improvements too.

I just posted one of the results from Chamblee...Chamblee-Tucker road saw a 12.5% increase in number of cars between March and May.

But the thing I am talking about is actually more visual. Nothing "ground breaking" but will be something people here will appreciate if I am able to make it happen.

Looking forward to it.

Originally Posted by jsvh

You asked for a "list" of where all the cars went and I said "there is no list" but gave you a quick rundown of what happened to them. What were you expecting? Me to conduct one-on-one interviews and give you a list of the 200,000 different things all these people did?

No, you claimed that many areas had seen reduced traffic. I assumed that you had actually seen something to give you this idea. I also assumed it was something you could share. I didn't expect a list of each person and what alternate route they took. I just wanted a quick list of areas within a few miles of the break which had seen reduced traffic. Stats from south of I-20 are as useful as stats from Valdosta. I was able, within half an hour last night, to provide a list of every road within several miles which has working car-counters and the results. You, as the uber-urbanist, should be able to provide something that backs up your claim that traffic was better in many areas.

In the end, an overall reduction in number of cars is not a positive thing if it means that almost all of those cars are driving through neighborhoods rather than sticking to the expressway, any more than an overall reduction of water is better when instead of being in a lake, it's flowing through a neighborhood.

EDIT: I do have to wonder: what is the point of GDOT having all these traffic counters and a website of results, if most of the counters do not seem to record anything?

[higelj2]

I'm traveling from Venice,Fl to Cumming, GA. with the I-85 problem, what is my best route around Atlanta? thanks, Jeff

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by higelj2

I'm traveling from Venice,Fl to Cumming, GA. with the I-85 problem, what is my best route around Atlanta? thanks, Jeff

I-285 Atlanta Bypass. That's what is is made for.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by higelj2

I'm traveling from Venice,Fl to Cumming, GA. with the I-85 problem, what is my best route around Atlanta? thanks, Jeff

It depends when you're coming through. The I-85 section northbound is open now. If it's at a non-peak time (like late at night, or early on a weekend), it's shorter to go straight up 75, then 85N, then up 400. But, it's shorter by only a couple of miles. Other than that, just take 675, then 285 around the east side.