Atlanta's Interstates (Washington: statistics, vacations, office)

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

So am I to infer that signage in that era was deliberately designed to confuse minorities?
Where is my Tylenol?

Lovin, there ain't enough analgesics for that comment... And for heavens sakes, he's implying minorities are worse at figuring out road signs than others? Really? Dumb post of the day.

[gtcorndog]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The connector purposely cut sweet auburn in half to destroy what was once the wealthiest AA owned street in America.

Sure the routing might've done that but the road had to go somewhere. The road wasn't constructed solely with "Lets destroy black wealth" in mind like that jackwagon insinuated previously.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

Sure the routing might've done that but the road had to go somewhere. The road wasn't constructed solely with "Lets destroy black wealth" in mind like that jackwagon insinuated previously.

Why didn't it go west of downtown, where it was mostly industrial land?

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The connector purposely cut sweet auburn in half to destroy what was once the wealthiest AA owned street in America.

Er, the road was actually shifted to lessen the impact on Auburn avenue. Bear in mind that the connector also cut dozens of other streets in the city as well.

As Born 2 Roll pointed out above, it was standard in the early days of expressways to route them through the middle of cities, as that was believed to be the best way to bring commuters to work. The state Highway department (now GDOT) followed what was considered best practice in major cities all over the country.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Er, the road was actually shifted to lessen the impact on Auburn avenue. Bear in mind that the connector also cut dozens of other streets in the city as well.

As Born 2 Roll pointed out above, it was standard in the early days of expressways to route them through the middle of cities, as that was believed to be the best way to bring commuters to work. The state Highway department (now GDOT) followed what was considered best practice in major cities all over the country.

You are correct in that they shifted to avoid destroying atlanta life insurance building, but I still think they were underlying reasons to go straight thru the AA business district.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

You are correct in that they shifted to avoid destroying atlanta life insurance building, but I still think they were underlying reasons to go straight thru the AA business district.

cq, no disrespect whatsoever intended, but that goes more in the category of internet lore, like the claim that MARTA is the only big city transit agency not to receive state funding or that the city of Atlanta decided to kick out the Braves.

I agree with you that highways were used in many cities (including Atlanta) as an attempt to block housing integration but that really wasn't what the connector was about.

[magnetar]

Ever since I started driving around Atlanta, I've wondered if some of the problems on the Downtown Connector couldn't be fixed by a change of signage where I-85 and 75 meet 285. Instead of signing 285 as a "bypass" and showing 85/75 continuing straight ahead, explicitly route all through traffic onto 285 and sign the lanes heading into downtown as "local traffic only." This would cut down on the number of tourists passing through that suddenly find themselves trying to drive through the heart of a major city, reducing overall traffic in general and traffic unfamiliar with the area in particular. I know 285 is congested as it is, but the Connector seems like the more important issue to solve for the sake of those who live or work in the city.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by magnetar

Ever since I started driving around Atlanta, I've wondered if some of the problems on the Downtown Connector couldn't be fixed by a change of signage where I-85 and 75 meet 285. Instead of signing 285 as a "bypass" and showing 85/75 continuing straight ahead, explicitly route all through traffic onto 285 and sign the lanes heading into downtown as "local traffic only." This would cut down on the number of tourists passing through that suddenly find themselves trying to drive through the heart of a major city, reducing overall traffic in general and traffic unfamiliar with the area in particular. I know 285 is congested as it is, but the Connector seems like the more important issue to solve for the sake of those who live or work in the city.

That what bypass means. If passing thru, use the bypass.

[emcee squared]

I think it is pretty easy to get around. There is one circle, one main east-west, and a few north south.

There are a lot of lanes, but not a lot of roads.

[magnetar]

Originally Posted by cqholt

That what bypass means. If passing thru, use the bypass.

You and I know this, but the volume of cars trying to pass through downtown on a cross-country trip seems to indicate that not everybody's picking up on that, hence the idea of signing it more explicitly.