The GDOT and their ugly roads (Atlanta, Marietta: transplants, sales, sales tax)

[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?!

[TakeAhike]

I can only assume that the answer to each of your questions is $$.

The explosive growth and development of the state has been expensive.

How others states cope more effectively I do not know.

[miranova]

Originally Posted by WanderingImport

..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.

This is one of the things I hate most about Georgia. It may sound silly, but realize at times I'm afraid for my and my kids lives (esp on interstates or heavy traffic highways, etc. You are absolutely right. I thought all of Georgia doesn't use reflective paint, but I don't want to say I've been told that it saves them money. I have fairly bad eyes, esp at night, you cannot see the where the lanes are at all and then add the rain on top of it! Drives me crazy!

[miranova]

and I was a little overly dramatic about the fearing for our lives part on purpose sorta

[DisgustaTruth]

The department of transportation has been rife with political corruption for years. Often roads are built not where they are most needed but where some political insider owns land.

[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.

[TakeAhike]

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.

Good point.

Thinking back I suppose the economic growth began with the bid for the Olympics.

At times I am truly 'dumbfounded' when I sit in the gridlock that never ends.

Once upon a time you could go from Stone Mountain to Marietta in about 45 minutes/1 hour. I would allow at least twice that amount of time now.

Then there's Gwinnett's unprecedented growth.

[WanderingImport]

I agree with every single post on here about this. Atlanta does seem to get a lot more projects than the rest of GA, however, we have to say that Atlanta is literally half the population of Georgia so I can't fully hate on ATL for that.
I guess this all bottoms down to the corruption of the GDOT as Disgusta mentioned. What a shame. ..this is all at the expense of Georgia traveler's lives.

Oh, and we also can't forget about the up and coming Forsyth County on the northside of Atlanta's unprecedented growth.

[TakeAhike]

The people that have come to Atlanta from other places dictated the growth to some degree.

The high tech industry stimulated growth in Alpharetta and it has continued into Forsyth and adjacent counties which is good for economic growth/taxes.

Boomers are retiring to the mountains and the coastal areas.

I just hope the housing market takes an upturn. We need to keep the DOT busy.

[MayorOfMacon2019]

I dont see much wrong with the signs, it pretty much does it job of telling you where to go, im not sure what your looking for when you see these signs but the GDOT is money strapped, and what else do you propose they do, add a little electronic trivia to the bottom of each sign. I doubt that will happen.

Even though Atlanta has half the state's population they still dont get everything they want, which shows how cash strapped the GDOT is, this is partly why representatives decided to do a 1-cent statewide sales tax increase to fund transportation as Georgia becomes even more of a passageway for the rest of the Nation getting to FLorida, the first i've ever heard of increasing the state sales tax since i've been alive.