The GDOT and their ugly roads

[DisgustaTruth]

Actually metro Atlanta has advocated a special tax district for funding road projects in metro Atlanta. The way it works is like this.. any road projects constructed in the metro Atlanta tax district is paid for only by funds collected in the metro Atlanta tax district. There is a myth that the Atlanta area receives more in road construction than what they pay into the state treasury.. it's actually the opposite.

[bgnzsavnh]

Originally Posted by Frankie117

A lot of GDOT's money goes to Atlanta's Interstate projects, it has put a lot of other projects statewide on hold. There are projects from more than 10 years ago stopped in their tracks in order to keep up with Atlanta's growth....Hopefully all the transplants can provide enough tax dollars to support the whole state - but realize that Georgia really is a massive state, and a transportation headache for the budget people.

Those of you in Metro Atlanta do not understand the more serious problems of traffic outside of metro Atlanta. Like the heartbreak of commuting from Springfield and Rincon into Savannah for work and dining. At least GDOT is throwing some pork our way. A nice new parkway..........

Effingham County Multi-Modal Study

[Frankie117]

I know that rural areas of Georgia are growing especially frustrated with the Atlanta situation, the federal government isn't really providing the help that it should be (when does it ever?).

Whoever said the Olympics kicked off the bulk of Atlanta's growth is correct. The publicity really opened up the city and put it in the spotlight. As a matter of fact, I think all the coverage of Atlanta helped people nationwide realize the potential of the South; spurring the economic boom and mass migration from 1996-2008 that continues to this day.

[MayorOfMacon2019]

Im sure someone is getting money there not supposed to and people arent getting money who are supposed to, but there isn't much you can do about that GDOT has never been good about keeping up with information and abiding by the Georgia Public Records law. Also I agree sole heartdly that the Olympics played a major part in the discovery of Atlanta, but full credit cannot be given to this events that last about two month's. There were great entrepreneurs in Atlanta waiting to be discovered, and once a couple of them got up there, they came back to help the others still waiting, which is way the businesspeople of Atlanta have such great ties, and you always here of the great business organizations, and businesspeople in Atlanta that help each other out with alot of things. But the south has always had potential, it just started off on the wrong foot with the slavery situation and everything.

[TakeAhike]

And the transition from an econonomy based on agriculture has been a factor.

[DisgustaTruth]

Atlanta was a major business center before the Olympics.. Atlanta was one of the fastest growing metro areas in the nation throughout the 1980s.. long before the Olympics.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by WanderingImport

I have a few questions regarding the Georgia Department of Transportation and their differences between other states. Some of this might sound petty and/or stupid to some people, but I believe they are valid questions.
First of all, why is it that our sign fonts aren't uniform like other states' signs are?
Example: US 78 E/US 78 Bus W BGS : Georgia Road Pics - "The Georgia Road Geek" Photo Gallery

..same goes for the fading paint on the roadways. (some of which don't even have reflectors so when it rains it is impossible to see which side of the road you're on!) It looks rather antiquated even compared to South Carolina or Alabama's.

Finally, why do our traffic lights still hang from wires and not steel beams? This especially boggles me in our coastal areas where they would easily get blown down in a powerful storm.

Georgia DOT might be in a money crunch right now, but this has been around well before the GDOT ever went into debt. Is our state or DOT really that behind in the times to update these things?!

As a transplant from the northeast now living in Cobb County, I do have to laugh a bit and realize that many things are relative. To me, the roads in GA are WONDERFUL and very well maintained compared to New England and NY where I lived. Up north, frost heaves, potholes and patched/repatched roads are the norm, sometimes the roads aren't repaved for many years, and driving can be downright hazardous to your car. You cannot drive low profile tires or you will destroy them and your wheels.

Faded road markings? In MA and NH, you're lucky if the road even has markings, and none of the roads have cat's eye reflectors because the plows would destroy them. People in the south don't realize how good they have it. At least in north GA, the roads are usually smooth, well lit and marked, and compared to the northeast are a paradise.

[Frankie117]

Originally Posted by DisgustaSucks

Atlanta was a major business center before the Olympics.. Atlanta was one of the fastest growing metro areas in the nation throughout the 1980s.. long before the Olympics.

It was a major business center in the South - it was opened up even more so after all the '96 publicity. Now it has International influence instead of just a regional reputation. The 1980's growth was mostly an influx from other parts of the South, the more modern Northeastern migration started in the 1990's. (while arguably the Northern migration started in the 50's, that was to Florida as the rest of the South was often times overlooked).

Originally Posted by neil0311

As a transplant from the northeast now living in Cobb County, I do have to laugh a bit and realize that many things are relative. To me, the roads in GA are WONDERFUL and very well maintained compared to New England and NY where I lived. Up north, frost heaves, potholes and patched/repatched roads are the norm, sometimes the roads aren't repaved for many years, and driving can be downright hazardous to your car. You cannot drive low profile tires or you will destroy them and your wheels.

Faded road markings? In MA and NH, you're lucky if the road even has markings, and none of the roads have cat's eye reflectors because the plows would destroy them. People in the south don't realize how good they have it. At least in north GA, the roads are usually smooth, well lit and marked, and compared to the northeast are a paradise.

Roads in rural parts of Georgia; Southwest and Southeast of Atlanta, are horrible. The vast majority of them remain unpaved. I recently made a large trip across Georgia from Columbus swooping down to Albany and back up and across - the only good roads were the Florida Highways that so many people travel on instead of the Interstate.

[neil0311]

Actually, Disgusta is right...Atlanta started kicking in the 1980s. I moved to Atlanta the first time from NYC in 1982, and at that time things were just getting started. You had a lot of folks from NY, Ohio, Michigan and other northern states moving down as the recession of 1981 - 1982 was being felt. That was the start of the transition from the "rust belt" to the "sun belt".

I lived in Gwinnett County and watched it transform in 10 years into the fastest growing county in the nation in that period. Things took off even more as the Olympics was announced and in the after Olympics period.

As far as roads go, I watched "spaghetti junction" go up in the mid 80's at I-285 and I-85, and I watched the expansion of I-985, GA400, I-575, and many other roads in north GA during that timeframe. All over Gwinnett and the metro area, small 2 lane roads were being turned into 4 and 5 lane roads, with the accompanying loss of yards and taking by eminent domain.

I moved to central Massachusetts in 1992 and learned what truly poor roads are all about.