I-285/GA 400 Redo: Outdated Before The First Orange Barrel? (Atlanta: hotel, buy)

[jsvh]

I-285/Ga. 400 Redo: Outdated Before The First Orange Barrel? | WABE 90.1 FM

Brace yourself, Atlanta commuters.

Next year, the Georgia Department of Transportation begins a three year rework of the Interstate 285/Georgia 400 interchange. It promises to relieve congestion along one of the nation’s worst bottlenecks.

For example, State Farm is bringing 3,000 workers to a new building near Perimeter Mall. Across the street, there are plans for a new hotel, 2.2 million square feet of office space and 3,000 new abodes. Not far away is Mercedes-Benz’s newly-proposed U.S. headquarters ─ which will add another 1,000 folks.

“This project was planned years before" these announcements, says GDOT spokeswoman Annalysce Baker.

Baker says the I-285/Ga. 400 rework didn’t account for specific development, but plans did include forecast growth. Currently 221,000 cars travel the route each day. In 2039, when GDOT forecasts it’ll be time to go back to the drawing board; the number could be 357,000, Baker says.

“This project is not meant to be the silver bullet to resolve all traffic issues at the top end of the perimeter," she says.

But can it get us to 2039?

If you buy into a theory known as "induced demand," the answer is “no.”

Induced demand is kind of like the famous line from the 1989 film, “Field of Dreams.” If you build more lanes, magically, more cars appear.

“You’ll never catch up with the demand," Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute, says. The I-285/GA-400 project is a Band-Aid that only delays terminal gridlock, he says.

“Atlanta may be 10, 15 or 20 years away from it," Diridon says, "but it’s rapidly approaching that level, and it’s doing so because they’re so successful in pursuing jobs.”

In other words, Atlanta's growth success today could be its downfall down the road.

Diridon says the only real fix is a New York or San Francisco-like mass transit system that incorporates multiple modes of transportation ─ everything from bike lanes to commuter rail.

[Ha-Mez]

To me, it doesn't look like it's more lanes so much as reconfigured feed and distribution. This will hugely improve safety. Will there still be congestion? Probably, but safety should be number one.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Ha-Mez

To me, it doesn't look like it's more lanes so much as reconfigured feed and distribution. This will hugely improve safety. Will there still be congestion? Probably, but safety should be number one.

If safety is number one then discouraging driving should be priority number 1. Its by far the most dangerous thing people do on a regular basis.

[Ha-Mez]

Originally Posted by jsvh

If safety is number one then discouraging driving should be priority number 1. Its by far the most dangerous thing people do on a regular basis.

Good luck with that. Like it or not, people are still going to drive. I support transit expansion too, but build all the transit you want, and I-285/GA400 will remain a critical piece of Metro Atlanta's infrastructure, and it needs to be safe.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by Ha-Mez

Good luck with that. Like it or not, people are still going to drive. I support transit expansion too, but build all the transit you want, and I-285/GA400 will remain a critical piece of Metro Atlanta's infrastructure, and it needs to be safe.

Thank you for this practical dose of realism!

[bUU]

Nirvana Fallacy. It would be great if it resolved all problems, completely, for all time, but even resolving some problems, partially, for some time, has value. The question is not about what improvement it does not offer. The question is about the improvement it does offer, and whether that improvement is worth the price.

[arjay57]

I am not a big fan of this thing.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by Ha-Mez

Good luck with that. Like it or not, people are still going to drive.

Of course people are still going to drive. We should not stop them, people should be free to take risks if they choose. But we should not be encouraging it either, and we should be giving people other choices besides driving. The tax dollars would be better spent on transit if we are going to spend it.

[joey86]

The project needs to be done. It's mainly a safety issue, which shouldn't exist in the first place, but does whether we like it or not. The project is happening.

I'd love to see the money go towards mass transit. But let's make that argument when the state wants to build a new highway, not when they are fixing dangerous design flaws in existing infrastructure.

[HayateWind]

My concern is that transit won't even be on the table in the future. The state's bound to protect ROW for the long-projected HOT Lanes to run through the area, if there's even any left. Will there be any space set aside for transit in the future? It's presented as this solution to solve congestion, and it probably will, but what are we going to do in 2040 when Perimeter Center is even larger than it is now? Spend another billion to make it three levels taller?