Rebuilding of I-20/59 downtown

[Tourian]

I think they'll survive. Once you take away the locals who know othe ways to go, the truckers who plan ahead and the people with nav systems that can detour around construction and find alternate routes you'll only be left with a few chumps that have to follow the signs by the letter to get out of there.

[birminghamster]

Originally Posted by mcalumni01

YOU NEED EXITS OFF ANY MAJOR INTERSTATE in any downtown city...

Of course, but not one every 100 ft.

[jakabedy]

I'll bet they're just taking those exits away so they can use them on the northern beltline.

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by birminghamster

Of course, but not one every 100 ft.

People are acting like there will be no way to get in and out of downtown using the interstate system after this project is completed. One only has to look at a map to see this wont be the case. With this kinda of attitude its very clear why transportation issues, like 280 for example, will never be solved.

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by jakabedy

I'll bet they're just taking those exits away so they can use them on the northern beltline.

That would be the worlds longest exit ramp...lol.

[birminghamster]

Originally Posted by sleepless in Bham

People are acting like there will be no way to get in and out of downtown using the interstate system after this project is completed. One only has to look at a map to see this wont be the case. With this kinda of attitude its very clear why transportation issues, like 280 for example, will never be solved.

It all comes back to the reactionary, opposed-to-progress attitude here.

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by mcalumni01

everybody around this metro knows different ways to get in and out of downtown, but does people who visit the city knows how to get into downtown being on 20/59 coming east or west and know what exit to get off, majority would not. so you telling me not having some exits on 20/59 and just letting people pass through and having to go another mile or two just to exit off just to get back to downtown on a local street is better...whatever. yea people know that everybody isn't gonna be happy with whatever happens, but at the same time aldot needs to come to a equal solution about it with the citizens of druid hills, fountain heights, norwood, central city to make them feel good about the rebuilding of the interstate. it's not like traffic ain't flowing outta downtown to begin with. this entire project ain't about keeping the flow of traffic through downtown, the whole project was about "REPLACING THE DECKS" cause they are old and needs replacing, THAT'S IT. now it has move to closing exits and for what. traffic is flowing anyway. traffic gone always be what it is at certain times of the day, nothing you can do about that. so now closing exits so people can not have a way to get off the interstate during rush hour or during a accident. so what it's a accident between that stretch of interstate, there's no exit to divert traffic off. YOU NEED EXITS OFF ANY MAJOR INTERSTATE in any downtown city...

Kindly I want to say to you that you are being irrational about this. Get out a map of metro B'ham and look at all the much longer stretches of freeway without exits.

Those exits are only there because the laws and engineering in the late fifties allowed exits to the left and did not dictate the space between exits which became necessary with merging and weaving.

Yes, you are correct this began as a maintenance program but with issues of urban negativity around the convention center and the need to increase traffic capacity after fifty years it has expanded into a bigger project. If that section of freeway does not work well it affects almost the whole metro.

The exits have to go for the space needed to add two more through lanes which is a minimum needed.

There will be new 'DOWNTOWN' exit signs in places like Carraway, 31st, and the 280/31 Hwy exits that will still exist, not to mention several along STEPHENS EXPRESSWAY and I-65.

As to the neighborhoods you mention. The interstate system was built for the states first and then cities. As far as neighborhoods go, they were lucky not to be destroyed as construction necessitated taking urban land. Have you ever noticed that Hoover, with 85,000 people only has three exits on I-65?

I hope you can see the big picture and realize that these roads are not actually there for each individual neighborhood,or if they were, I want to know where my damn exit is? lol

raj

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by birminghamster

It all comes back to the reactionary, opposed-to-progress attitude here.

That and people have a hard time believing that things often do not stay the same forever, especially when it comes to transportation. We are talking about a portion of an interstate that hasnt had any major work done since it opened in 1973. Traffic volumes and patterns obviously are not the same today as it was then, so changes need to be made to meet the needs of today and the future.