What is going on with 410 and San Pedro? (Cloverleaf, Atlanta: construction, live)

[oldmanshirt]

I live over by the airport, so unfortunately I'm forced to use 410 on a pretty regular basis. I've driven by/used the 410-San Pedro intersection three times in the past four days, and I still can't figure out exactly what they're doing with it. I'm guessing the two ramps on either side of 410 are for the access road to bypass the intersection, but are they also supposed to directly connect with the 281 interchange?

Also, how is this design an improvement over the cloverleaf that was there before? Granted, I probably hate cloverleafs more than anyone, but it just seems that without even the semblance of an interchange now, the traffic is going to get backed up just as bad as before. Am I missing something?

[hello13685]

There was no cloverleaf at 281 and 410 before.

[AtlantaTexan]

Originally Posted by oldmanshirt

Also, how is this design an improvement over the cloverleaf that was there before? Granted, I probably hate cloverleafs more than anyone, but it just seems that without even the semblance of an interchange now, the traffic is going to get backed up just as bad as before. Am I missing something?

traffic wont have to slow down to 30 mph to get on/off 410/281, thus negating traffic even more.

[oldmanshirt]

Originally Posted by hello13685

There was no cloverleaf at 281 and 410 before.

I was talking about the cloverleaf at 410 and San Pedro.

[oldmanshirt]

Originally Posted by AtlantaTexan

traffic wont have to slow down to 30 mph to get on/off 410/281, thus negating traffic even more.

That's true, I suppose I didn't consider that SP will no longer be the effective 410/281 interchange, but it's still a major arterial with lots of traffic coming in off of 281.

[OzzyRules]

410/San Pedro used to be a major intersection. But that was before 281 crossed 410. I think Mcallister Freeway used to stop at the airport (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

I agree that the overleaf worked fine, even though it was usually busy at certain points.

To answer your orig q, I don't know what they are doing.

[FastFerrari]

lets say that after the construction it will be alot easier to move around during peak times of rush hour traffic.....or you can visit the TxDot website and the may shed some much needed light on this subject.

[Bowie]

That interchange needed to be redesigned. Once the Super Target goes in where Central Park Mall used to be, it will need to handle much more traffic.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by oldmanshirt

Also, how is this design an improvement over the cloverleaf that was there before? Granted, I probably hate cloverleafs more than anyone, but it just seems that without even the semblance of an interchange now, the traffic is going to get backed up just as bad as before. Am I missing something?

Cloverleafs are notorious for becoming completely inefficient in congestion. The way the ramps are laid-out in a cloverleaf makes them prone to locking-up under heavy traffic conditions. Plus, in the case of the San Pedro interchange, the ramp ends on SP were too close to the nearby intersections, which caused even more problems with merging and with traffic trying to cross over all the lanes in a very short distance to either turn left or to get on the entrance ramps. (This same issue is why the cloverleaf at SE Military and I-37 is being eliminated.) The new SP interchange (a big chunk of which coincidentally is scheduled to open tonight) will be a standard signalized acess road intersection, with the intersections pulled as far away from Isom and Rector as possible. It also has flyovers for the 410 access roads so that traffic not destined for SP can bypass the intersection entirely. With proper signal coordination, this will be a much better intersection than the old cloverleaf was.

[ChrisSA_wxatUIW]

Originally Posted by TexHwyMan

Cloverleafs are notorious for becoming completely inefficient in congestion. The way the ramps are laid-out in a cloverleaf makes them prone to locking-up under heavy traffic conditions. Plus, in the case of the San Pedro interchange, the ramp ends on SP were too close to the nearby intersections, which caused even more problems with merging and with traffic trying to cross over all the lanes in a very short distance to either turn left or to get on the entrance ramps. (This same issue is why the cloverleaf at SE Military and I-37 is being eliminated.) The new SP interchange (a big chunk of which coincidentally is scheduled to open tonight) will be a standard signalized acess road intersection, with the intersections pulled as far away from Isom and Rector as possible. It also has flyovers for the 410 access roads so that traffic not destined for SP can bypass the intersection entirely. With proper signal coordination, this will be a much better intersection than the old cloverleaf was.

May I say that I am very excited....




Btw- underneath 410, how many lanes across will San Pedro be??? It looks really really wide!