The City of Atlanta and the Planning of Events (home, university)

[Atlwarrior]

Okay I was going to let the road blocking from this past Sunday slide. Let me remind you that the Falcons had a home game, but yet that morning the city block the roads for a running event, while thousands of tailgaters try to arrive early at the dome. Now today, as I'm heading through GSU campus, I see another road block around 5:30pm. Not only is this rush hour, but GSU still had evening classes. What is the logic behind the timing, scheduling, and closing of major roads for events. Does the city even consider things like a 33.000 student university, and rush hour of people leaving the city heading east. Why not schedule the race on Saturday or Sunday.

[AnsleyPark]

Didn't you mentioning our first sentence that the race was on a Sunday?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Okay I was going to let the road blocking from this past Sunday slide. Let me remind you that the Falcons had a home game, but yet that morning the city block the roads for a running event, while thousands of tailgaters try to arrive early at the dome. Now today, as I'm heading through GSU campus, I see another road block around 5:30pm. Not only is this rush hour, but GSU still had evening classes. What is the logic behind the timing, scheduling, and closing of major roads for events. Does the city even consider things like a 33.000 student university, and rush hour of people leaving the city heading east. Why not schedule the race on Saturday or Sunday.

A running event at Turner Field. They announce this stuff on their Faceboook page, twitter, etc.
You always have the choice of taking MARTA to classes.

[atler8]

Yes, the op did mention that there was an event with road blocking on Sunday but then he brought up the blocking related to the Kaiserpermanente race held yesterday in downtown. Trust me, he has an EXTREMELY valid point!
I commute in & out of the COA via GRTA but I have to keep my self aware of events ahead of time because of the horrible congestion, which is normally bad enough on a day-to-day basis but which is particularly aggravating during the evening commute home when events occur that have roads closed entirely or cones placed on a lane or two. But sometimes special events or traffic disasters occur and I have no advance warning about them (events) & cannot be proactive to avoid them via other means of transit.
The planning, site placement & approval process for special events that close or clog roads should be looked at & overhauled given that they too often bring the commute to a grinding halt! The same thing should be said for the COA process of okaying road closures for film shoots. First & foremost Atlanta is a city of business & that needs to be recognized & respected to make doing such business easier through better access.
A case in point of a special event that caused major problems occurred about a month ago when a dance music event was held one week day evening on Spring St. which closed Spring St. south of 5th St. in midtown for the evening rush hour. Spring St. is a major commuting artery & also is the route taken by all of the GRTA buses that are leaving midtown to head east, west & south out of the city. The gridlock my bus experienced on Spring St. that day extended south from 17th St. all the way down to where I actually got off of the bus at 5th St. because I could not take any more of the inching forward gridlock. I left the bus at that time so that I could walk over to the North Avenue Marta station to catch a different method of transport.
There was a traffic woes thread here the other day that cited what Clark Howard had said about the threat it posed to metro Atlanta. There may be some measure of denial about his opinion but I am whole heartedly a person who agrees with him & will not stay in this metro on beyond retirement because of the traffic & several other issues. But for me personally the traffic problem is the biggest elephant in the room for Atlanta & my future plans. If I only could get out of here before retirement, I'd be an even happier camper!

[noah]

Yep, it was a nightmare. My 25 minute commute home took 2 1/2 hours after getting stuck in it trying to go east out of downtown.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Didn't you mentioning our first sentence that the race was on a Sunday?

Sorry Ansley, yes the COA block off the road for a running event on Sunday, and then again yesterday. The running event on Sunday affected tailgaters, while the one yesterday affected rush hour traffic.