Ga DOT dropped the ball on this storm again (Atlanta: how much, tax)

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Would it cost much less to purchase, house and maintain the brine and equipment to lay it down and have crews ready to do this work, all winter every year for years and years of no/minimal snow? Unlikely.

I'm a liberal so I don't have knee-jerk support for cutting taxes and spending, but I am for sensible use of public resources. It annoys me when people who normally complain about "big government" and taxes start complaining that there should be more public services the moment they are personally inconvenienced. You can't have it both ways.

That's for sure. "I demand less government, as long as it doesn't inconvenience me."

[ssankofa]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

This sort of storm happens how often? 1 out of 10 years at the most? In order to prepare for a storm like this you need a lot of resources (more than the state currently has). How many plows does the state have? How many do they need for a storm like this? In order to plan for this sort of storm and be fully prepared for it we would have dozens of plows sitting around for the 5-10 years between this and our next big storm. Poor use of resources. If we have to deal with this once every 5-10 years, so be it. I'd rather do that than tie up millions of dollars a year in resources that aren't used.

agreed. I agree that it does suck that people are losing money though. It's kind of a no-win situation IMO.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Would it cost much less to purchase, house and maintain the brine and equipment to lay it down and have crews ready to do this work, all winter every year for years and years of no/minimal snow? Unlikely.

I'm a liberal so I don't have knee-jerk support for cutting taxes and spending, but I am for sensible use of public resources. It annoys me when people who normally complain about "big government" and taxes start complaining that there should be more public services the moment they are personally inconvenienced. You can't have it both ways.

This.

BTW, all those guv'mint trains kept right on rolling, with only modest reductions in service (probably due to fewer riders).

[AcidSnake]

I can't help but wonder if the state couldn't have coordinated better with other government & private entities to provide a quicker response. Couldn't the GA DOT have contracted with private firms the same way Mayor Reed did to plow the snow? Couldn't the state have request a loan of equipment from the military from snow state bases that have dealt with the issue of snow clearing?

This stuff could've been flown in on a C-5 Galaxy cargo jet at Dobbins ARB or Hartsfield. Just wonderin' I guess...

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

This.

BTW, all those guv'mint trains kept right on rolling, with only modest reductions in service (probably due to fewer riders).

Where are all of the "MARTA is so inefficient" people now when the trains are the only reliable form of transportation in the whole city at the moment?

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Would it cost much less to purchase, house and maintain the brine and equipment to lay it down and have crews ready to do this work, all winter every year for years and years of no/minimal snow? Unlikely.

A very good question, but I think it would also be interesting to compare how other metros in this general region handle such events.

If other metros or states in the region deem that sort of thing cost effective, it does make me wonder why they seem to think so and Georgia does not.

It may be that everyplace else in the south does what GA and Atlanta does. I really don't know.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

A very good question, but I think it would also be interesting to compare how other metros in this general region handle such events.

If other metros or states in the region deem that sort of thing cost effective, it does make me wonder why they seem to think so and Georgia does not.

It may be that everyplace else in the south does what GA and Atlanta does. I really don't know.

Well, for one, I can count on my hand all of the times in the last 30 years the roads have been impassable due to snow and ice. Using one hand.

[mike7586]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

A very good question, but I think it would also be interesting to compare how other metros in this general region handle such events.

If other metros or states in the region deem that sort of thing cost effective, it does make me wonder why they seem to think so and Georgia does not.

It may be that everyplace else in the south does what GA and Atlanta does. I really don't know.

My parents live in Charlotte, NC and my father told me the roads there were clear (he works Downtown and my parents live 20 miles south). I'm not sure about South Carolina but from the traffic cameras their roads (mostly I-85) look better than ours.

I can definitely understand not buying all this equipment when snow like this is not that common here, but they can do a better job preparing, coordinating, and contracting out the work. They are a little slow...

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

Where are all of the "MARTA is so inefficient" people now when the trains are the only reliable form of transportation in the whole city at the moment?

That's great- can they pick me up at my house and drop me off at the train station, and then shuttle me from the train station to my office? Without that, having a train running in this weather isn't doing alot of people much good....

[roxyrn]

How about if everyone had just stayed off of the roads (unless a life and death emergency) so that they could have gotten sand and salt down? Personally, I don't really want to pay for fleets of plows, expensive de-icers, whatever, just to have them used once a decade.

We had a lot of warning that this was going to hit and that it may be bad for at least 5 days so I think everyone has to take responsibility for being prepared for the worst case scenario. At least most of us did not lose power! And if you don't know how to drive in these road conditions or have a car that can handle it, STAY HOME! And quit whining.