Georgia DOT eyes tunnel, double-deck for Downtown Connector (Atlanta: law, versus)

[tikigod311]

It schedule was advanced by an earthquake, but the Embarcado Freeway in SF was another double decker that was torn down.
California State Route 480 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[magnetar]

new location surface roadway parallel to the Connector

Yeah, I know one thing: I'll lay down in the middle of the Connector myself before I see it take another inch of downtown or midtown.

I can't get over the fact that almost every single trip I take in-town, Google Maps or Apple Maps routes me onto the connector. Just having GDOT re-sign and re-route traffic so that all traffic goes onto 285 by default, and the Connector is signed "local traffic only", would do an awful lot. That, and if every major GPS app weren't routing people onto it for little everyday errands that can and should be accomplished on city streets.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Here's an innovative idea, invest in a regional commuter rail network. It'll be cheaper than adding lanes, tunneling or double decking. Also, the citizens of Atlanta should have a huge say in the final product because we will be the ones effected everyday by the decisions to accommodate the downtown connector for suburban commuters and drivers passing through.

Georgia DOT is pleased to announce the release of the Draft 2015 Georgia State Rail Plan. We invite and encourage your participation by reviewing and providing any comments you may have on the draft Plan. Please submit written comments via email or letter, before April 17, 2015. Once the public comment period ends, GDOT will review all comments and make revisions to the Plan as appropriate. Final approval is scheduled for June 2015.

Go let them know!

[ATLTJL]

Well, someone has to say it......

MONORAIL!!!!

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Well, someone has to say it......

MONORAIL!!!!

That would be cool.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Check out the double-decker interstate through downtown Boston that was removed in favor of the "Big Dig" too: Central Artery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Truly better than the ugly green raised highway. I have always thought Boston is beautiful, but it really shines now. I do recall that the big dog went astronomically over budget, though.

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by Bobcat2012

This worked really well in Boston.

Yeah that example pretty much kills this part.

practical, have been shown to be effective elsewhere, and are financially realistic

[Atlwarrior]

Yes this needed. It's exactly what Dallas Texas is doing.

[Born 2 Roll]

Adding lanes to the entirety of the Downtown Connector in any way (double-decking, widening, new parallel roadway, tunneling new lanes under the existing lanes, etc) is just simply unfeasible for both financial and political reasons.

It is unfeasible for financial reasons because the State of Georgia barely has the money to maintain the existing roadway infrastructure that it is already responsible for much less the massive expansion of a roadway through a densely-developed and populated area with a long history of successfully defeating unwanted roadway expansions.

It is unfeasible for political reasons because just the announcement of such a project would be met with so much widespread public derision over the decision to spend a massive sum of money on a roadway expansion project instead of making long overdue investments in the expansion of transit throughout the Atlanta region and North Georgia.

Massive road expansion projects have not always been well-received by the public in Georgia and if GDOT pushes the road expansion concept too far in regards to the Downtown Connector (despite the complete lack of funding to even think about executing such a politically ill-advised concept), all hell will most certainly break loose politically.

Just ask the one-time supermajority, now superminority Georgia Democrats about how much an unpopular road project can help to shake-up the state's political climate (...for proof of this theorem look no further than the political fallout that resulted in part due to the overwhelming public pushback against the unpopular Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc proposals of the late 1990's and early 2000's).

Chicago (which has a regional population of about 9.9 million inhabitants) has a somewhat similar logistical problem where the metro region's main central artery experiences severe traffic problems that are exacerbated by the merging of multiple major transcontinental superhighways (Interstates 57, 55, 90, 94) down into one roadway (the I-90/I-94 Dan Ryan and Kennedy Expressways) through the center of Chicago.

Chicago (which has a much better surface road network with a gridded road system that provides multiple surface alternatives to each one of Chicagoland's major interstates...as opposed to Atlanta's sparse metro surface network) deals with its central arterial traffic congestion problem by providing strong high-capacity transit alternatives to its crowded expressway system in the form of a comprehensive Heavy Rail Transit system and a comparatively very comprehensive (but still underfunded) regional commuter rail network.

The State of Georgia is going to have to accept (and is most likely going to be forced to accept) that the main way (if not the only major way) to deal with congestion on Atlanta's I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector is to expand the capacity of the high-capacity passenger rail transit infrastructure that parallels and intersects the Connector.

Expanding the capacity of the Downtown Connector with new lanes (either above, below or beside the existing roadway) just simply is not an option either financially and (especially) politically.

It's time for the Georgia's state government to grow up and start investing in a robust regional high-capacity passenger rail system for the Atlanta metro region and the state of Georgia.

[stillinthesouth]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Adding lanes to the entirety of the Downtown Connector in any way (double-decking, widening, new parallel roadway, tunneling new lanes under the existing lanes, etc) is just simply unfeasible for both financial and political reasons.

It is unfeasible for financial reasons because the State of Georgia barely has the money to maintain the existing roadway infrastructure that it is already responsible for much less the massive expansion of a roadway through a densely-developed and populated area with a long history of successfully defeating unwanted roadway expansions.

It is unfeasible for political reasons because just the announcement of such a project would be met with so much widespread public derision over the decision to spend a massive sum of money on a roadway expansion project instead of making long overdue investments in the expansion of transit throughout the Atlanta region and North Georgia.

Massive road expansion projects have not always been well-received by the public in Georgia and if GDOT pushes the road expansion concept too far in regards to the Downtown Connector (despite the complete lack of funding to even think about executing such a politically ill-advised concept), all hell will most certainly break loose politically.

Just ask the one-time supermajority, now superminority Georgia Democrats about how much an unpopular road project can help to shake-up the state's political climate (...for proof of this theorem look no further than the political fallout that resulted in part due to the overwhelming public pushback against the unpopular Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc proposals of the late 1990's and early 2000's).

Chicago (which has a regional population of about 9.9 million inhabitants) has a somewhat similar logistical problem where the metro region's main central artery experiences severe traffic problems that are exacerbated by the merging of multiple major transcontinental superhighways (Interstates 57, 55, 90, 94) down into one roadway (the I-90/I-94 Dan Ryan and Kennedy Expressways) through the center of Chicago.

Chicago (which has a much better surface road network with a gridded road system that provides multiple surface alternatives to each one of Chicagoland's major interstates...as opposed to Atlanta's sparse metro surface network) deals with its central arterial traffic congestion problem by providing strong high-capacity transit alternatives to its crowded expressway system in the form of a comprehensive Heavy Rail Transit system and a comparatively very comprehensive (but still underfunded) regional commuter rail network.

The State of Georgia is going to have to accept (and is most likely going to be forced to accept) that the main way (if not the only major way) to deal with congestion on Atlanta's I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector is to expand the capacity of the high-capacity passenger rail transit infrastructure that parallels and intersects the Connector.

Expanding the capacity of the Downtown Connector with new lanes (either above, below or beside the existing roadway) just simply is not an option either financially and (especially) politically.

It's time for the Georgia's state government to grow up and start investing in a robust regional high-capacity passenger rail system for the Atlanta metro region and the state of Georgia.

Great overview and perspective (unfortunately, I can't rep you). Studying the possibility of a double-decker expressway or tunnel is just a huge waste of time. You're so right about the need for a metro-wide solution that includes high-capacity rail.