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Well, the thing is extra Interstates / freeways in Northern Georgia were all designed as developmental corridoors as BornToRoll pointed out earlier. I-575, I-985 and GA-400... ...without them there is a good chance North Atlanta Metro would look MUCH like South Atlanta Metro. That said, I believe that the southern metro actually did have the opportunities to have the similar interstates. Infact there is still a on-going plan to convert Tara Blvd (U.S. 19 / 41) into a Limited Access Super Arterial (much like Peachtree Ind Blvd between I-285 and Holcomb Bridge Rd.)... Initially it was shot down due to funding but I saw plans that it is indeed not completely dead.
That is an excellent point that greater North metro Atlanta and North Georgia most assuredly would look much different without the construction of developmental superhighway spur routes like I-575, GA 400 and I-985 and their developmental super-arterial extensions like GA 515 (I-575) and GA 365 (I-985).
But it is very difficult to go as far as to say that South metro Atlanta had similar opportunities as the Northside for the construction of developmental exurban spur superhighways.
That is because two very major factors that were very strong motivations for the construction of developmental exurban spur superhighways were the presence of the major manmade water supply and recreational lakes (Lake Allatoona and (especially) Lake Lanier) and the presence of the scenic foothills and ranges of the Blue Ridge Mountains/Southern Appalachian Mountains region beyond them.
The extremely strong scenic, recreational and tourism lures of the lakes and the mountains on the north side of the Atlanta region made economic development and real estate development prospects much more viable there than it did on the south side of the Atlanta region where the land was comparatively much flatter and much more level.
The presence of the lakes and the mountains to the north of Atlanta have provided and continue to provide a massively unfair advantage to the Northside when it comes to economic development and real estate development prospects.
Though the good news for the Southside is that the presence of the world's busiest passenger airport (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) on the south side of the Atlanta region has helped to give many more economic development and real estate development opportunities to the Southside than it might have otherwise.
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Originally Posted by Need4Camaro
I personally believe Fayetteville needs freeway connvectivity. It is a pain driving there. Griffin needs it too..but if it indeed occured both of those cities would just explode.
I agree that better logistical connectivity (in the form of direct superhighway access) most likely would have helped bring more real estate development opportunities to outlying South metro Atlanta communities like Fayetteville and Griffin in the same way that direct Interstate superhighway connectivity has brought a higher level of real estate development opportunities to Interstate-connected outlying areas like Coweta County (on I-85 South) and Henry County (on I-75 South).
The lack of direct superhighway connectivity seems to be especially notable for an outlying South metro Atlanta exurban area like Griffin whose downtown is actually one mile closer to Downtown Atlanta than the increasingly extremely heavily developed North metro Atlanta outer-suburb of Cumming.
But even without the direct superhighway connectivity, an outlying outer-suburban area like Fayetteville still seems to be doing extremely well economically given that it has become home to a thriving Television and Film Production scene anchored by the massive Pinewood Atlanta Studios complex which is one of the largest (if not the largest) TV/Film production complexes in the Western Hemisphere.
A major factor in the formation and stunning growth Fayetteville's and Fayette County's thriving TV/Film Production scene has been the relatively very close proximity of the county to the world's busiest airport at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The formation, stunning growth and domination of the TV/Film production scene in Fayette County and throughout South metro Atlanta is a prime example of how the presence of the world's busiest airport on the south side of the region has brought tremendous economic benefits to the Southside that potentially otherwise might be sucked away and hogged up by the massively overdeveloped Northside.
The Airport is an invaluable economic asset that helps to make the economic development playing field more fair and more level for the Southside than it likely might otherwise be. The booming TV/Film production industry that conducts much of its activity on the Southside is proof of that.
That section is always busy going northbound in the morning from all the people heading to Cumberland and Perimeter.
But...the perimeter between Cobb Drive and I-75 is under pretty heavy construction (and has been for eleventy-billion years), and that slows it down significantly.
I swear that section has been under construction for years! What exactly are they doing there? Adding C/D Lanes right?
I swear that section has been under construction for years! What exactly are they doing there? Adding C/D Lanes right?
C/D lanes between Atlanta Road and Paces Ferry, sound barriers along the same stretch, and a reconstruction of the Atlanta Road interchange.
They did concrete slab replacement on the west side a few years ago, but large cracks and potholes have already reappeared, particularly in the second lane from the right - the one that the semi trucks favor. I suspect that either the concrete used wasn't up to snuff or, perhaps more likely, a lot of the trucks passing through are overweight.
I swear that section has been under construction for years! What exactly are they doing there? Adding C/D Lanes right?
They are certainly taking their time, and it seems to have ground to a halt lately. The Atlanta Road bridge was started in early 2015. Three years later and they still haven't completed the bridge. Even though the first two sections were completed in well under two years, the third section appears to be on track for about a year and a half.
The exit ramp from I-285 West or South (14 years in Atlanta and I still have no idea how they label the sections of 285) to Atlanta Rd. has been in disarray for more than three years now. I mean, I'm not a highway engineer, but it seems patently ridiculous to me to take more than three years to finish a single exit ramp.
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Originally Posted by evannole
C/D lanes between Atlanta Road and Paces Ferry, sound barriers along the same stretch, and a reconstruction of the Atlanta Road interchange.
I'd be interested in how the people of West Village feel about the sound barriers. The lower sound is probably nice, but now instead of seeing something out of their windows, they see a wall.
They are certainly taking their time, and it seems to have ground to a halt lately. The Atlanta Road bridge was started in early 2015. Three years later and they still haven't completed the bridge. Even though the first two sections were completed in well under two years, the third section appears to be on track for about a year and a half.
The exit ramp from I-285 West or South (14 years in Atlanta and I still have no idea how they label the sections of 285) to Atlanta Rd. has been in disarray for more than three years now. I mean, I'm not a highway engineer, but it seems patently ridiculous to me to take more than three years to finish a single exit ramp.
I'd be interested in how the people of West Village feel about the sound barriers. The lower sound is probably nice, but now instead of seeing something out of their windows, they see a wall.
Not sure if this has already been asked but I have seen it referred to. Why is most of the growth and development of the area northward from downtown? I understand that many of the areas to the south of downtown and below I-20 aren't as desirable but why didn't Atlanta and the surrounding areas grow more equally distributed around the metro north south east and west instead of the majority of people and businesses being north?
Downtown and Peachtree St Northbound follow a ridge that's part of the Appalachian Mountains ending & descending back to the Southeastern piedmont flatter terrain.
The highest elevation in Atlanta is between 191 Peachtree tower and Georgia Pacific tower downtown.
Of course to the North it eventually rises higher becoming the mountains.
So in that sense, everything would be more on the North side where the Appalachian are starting to rise and ascend.
The Southside would be "nothing special" as the mountain range has faded away.
They are certainly taking their time, and it seems to have ground to a halt lately. The Atlanta Road bridge was started in early 2015. Three years later and they still haven't completed the bridge. Even though the first two sections were completed in well under two years, the third section appears to be on track for about a year and a half.
The exit ramp from I-285 West or South (14 years in Atlanta and I still have no idea how they label the sections of 285) to Atlanta Rd. has been in disarray for more than three years now. I mean, I'm not a highway engineer, but it seems patently ridiculous to me to take more than three years to finish a single exit ramp.
I'd be interested in how the people of West Village feel about the sound barriers. The lower sound is probably nice, but now instead of seeing something out of their windows, they see a wall.
Yes, we moved from that area to Marietta right before they started that project. I, too, am astounded that it's taking that long for them to complete it.
I have wondered the same regarding West Village. Those units right on the corner now look pretty unappealing.
It's funny you mention this. All I hear is complaints from people about Newnan being so far out, yet those same people don't consider Lawrenceville or Cumming far out (because there's contiguous development between Atlanta and those cities).
Part of the reason Coweta County has been so slow to take off is because, for a long time, the County was very hostile to growth. I think back in the 1980s, they voted against building a sewer system that would have allowed for Gwinnett-type growth. Even today, while Coweta hasn't seen a development it doesn't like, it also doesn't actively go out and beg for investment either (via a ton of incentives or bending over backwards). Only in the last few months did Newnan start discussion about creating a business director-type position to do just that. That said, Coweta always been a sleeper. Increasingly more and more people are starting to seriously discover and consider Coweta to reside and invest in (thanks, in large part, to the significant lack of traffic compared to other parts of Atlanta, the significantly underutilized I-85 infrastructure, the still very cheap land, the significantly undervalued housing and its proximity to the airport, and plus, city / county leaders who are now trying to cash in on the real estate they own throughout the county), so I definitely think it's on the verge of really taking off like Henry and Forsyth Counties, especially with the 2 new I-85 interchanges coming on line soon.
Actually, I drove out of town today and happen to leave this morning. Unfortunately (I'll get to why shortly), I was headed northward. From the Bullsboro exit in Newnan at 8:30am to the Hartsfield-Jackson exit, it was a 15 minute drive exactly with no traffic congestion what so ever (in fact, I used Cruise Control until Fairburn). Beyond that point, it was still smooth sailing until I-20.
Then, from I-20 on the perimeter to I-75, I suddenly ran to gridlock traffic moving at a snails pace. It took 45 minutes to get through that mess (an additional 30 minutes longer to travel a much shorter distance than Newnan to the Airport)
So yeah, folks on the north side can have that crap. I'm perfectly satisfied with "way out there" Newnan and Coweta County if it means keeping my sanity, especially if I can get to places in Atlanta proper or the north side just as fast or even faster than folks who are closer in.
I agree Newnan/Coweta isn't as far out as some think, especially if you live in the Canongate area of Coweta.
On another note, Bullsboro to the airport exit is 25 miles. You'd have to drive 100 miles an hour to make that in 15 minutes. Plus it takes at least 10-20 minutes to navigate all the traffic around Bullsboro.
I agree Newnan/Coweta isn't as far out as some think, especially if you live in the Canongate area of Coweta. [On another note, Bullsboro to the airport exit is 25 miles. You'd have to drive 100 miles an hour to make that in 15 minutes. Plus it takes at least 10-20 minutes to navigate all the traffic around Bullsboro.
At least in my case, I did exactly 80 MPH once I got on I-85 about 8:50am and passed by the airport exit at 9:05am.
This was during a time of "peak" traffic volumes too.
And that's true about the Bullsboro traffic during rush hour. But that should improve, at least somewhat, once the Poplar Road exit opens this fall.
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