I-85 bridge near Piedmont Rd Collapses. (Atlanta, Decatur: closing, quality of life, living)

[dblackga]

What a disaster! Combine that with the construction starting on 400/285 for that interchange make-over, and you might as well resign yourself to hours out of your day spent commuting.

I lived in Connecticut when the Mianus River Bridge on I-95 collapsed in 1983. I-95 -- the main artery through NYC and up into New England, and a MAJOR commuting artery for people driving from Fairfield County into NYC, or driving to catch the train to NYC. All traffic was diverted to the Boston Post Road (Rt 1), a 2-4 lane road, or commuters clogged the Merritt Parkway, a scenic 4-lane parkway with pretty overpasses, etc. They didn't get a 2-lane temporary bridge erected and open for six months, and it was 10 years before the whole construction was declared FINISHED.

I don't imagine that this will take that long (not having to build over water, etc.), but it's not going to be done in a couple of weeks . . .

[dblackga]

Originally Posted by DreamerD

This is the first I have heard about this as I don't watch the news. Where on the 85 is shut down? I am curious because sometimes I take 75 South to 85 North Nd then exit I think at exit 93 or 94. Will I still be able to do this or is this area also affected?

It collapsed right before the exit for Ga 400 going north. The Ga400 exit is 87. So, no, you won't be able to do that any more for a long time. The Buford Spring Connector, if it's reopened and wasn't damaged by the fire by virtue of being adjacent to the fire, is going to be completely clogged as it attempts to take the traffic out of Midtown and downtown up to Ga. 400.

Start plotting your route via surface streets . . .

[goillini8]

Originally Posted by bu2

If the bridge collapsed, the support beams will almost certainly have to be rebuilt. I'm not an engineer, but I guess those would take a couple of months just to cure, not even counting construction time.

At Pensacola it was years before they fixed I-10 after it collapsed after the hurricane.. They did put up some temporary bridging. But it was down to one lane for a long, long time--looked it up. It took 3 years. The temporary bridge was up in 2 months.

For some perspective on potential timelines, the I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed on August 1, 2007 and was reopened on September 18, 2008 (three months ahead of schedule). But, there could be any number of differences, including the fact that I-35 went over a major river, the section of collapse was larger, and I believe it is a higher bridge (not positive). But, I'd still think this takes a while. Even before rebuilding there has to be investigation, review, work with the federal DOT, etc.

[fourthwarden]

From MARTA's Website:

ATTENTION!
3/31/2017

Due to the recent I-85 collapse, MARTA is providing additional services to accommodate the expected influx of passengers needing to navigate traffic congestion and delays. MARTA is increasing rail services to assist travelers during this time. Additional representatives are on hand to assist passengers as needed. MARTA continues to work closely with our state and local partners to ensure that residents and visitors can safely reach their destinations.

It's unclear as to what this exactly means, yet, or if there will also be additional bus services as well.

[magnetar]

Because of the freeway collapse, Google Maps is going to be showing transit as the fastest option for lots of people for the first time ever in this city. A lot of people who haven't ever, or recently, tried MARTA are going to get in their cars tomorrow, see what Google says, and try driving to their closest transit station instead. They'll get to see the improvements MARTA has been making, and they're going to see what way-more-frequent rail service looks like. It's a terrible situation but I hope the agency is able to make the most of it.

I just wonder if they'll have to start charging for daily parking.

[wasel]

Originally Posted by magnetar

Because of the freeway collapse, Google Maps is going to be showing transit as the fastest option for lots of people for the first time ever in this city. A lot of people who haven't ever, or recently, tried MARTA are going to get in their cars tomorrow, see what Google says, and try driving to their closest transit station instead. They'll get to see the improvements MARTA has been making, and they're going to see what way-more-frequent rail service looks like. It's a terrible situation but I hope the agency is able to make the most of it.

I just wonder if they'll have to start charging for daily parking.

Funny you say that. Just last week I routed a location from Brookhaven to the Norcross area near BuHi and, even though Doraville station was not too far from either, the transit calculation was over 7 hours! I was driving but I noticed the 7 hours on the transit icon so I opened that and it had all kinds of strange bus connections that didn't make sense.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by dblackga

It collapsed right before the exit for Ga 400 going north. The Ga400 exit is 87. So, no, you won't be able to do that any more for a long time. The Buford Spring Connector, if it's reopened and wasn't damaged by the fire by virtue of being adjacent to the fire, is going to be completely clogged as it attempts to take the traffic out of Midtown and downtown up to Ga. 400.

Start plotting your route via surface streets . . .

Thank you. I get so confused with the highways.

[fieldm]

Im sure some people just found out about this going to work this morning

[BELMO45]

Originally Posted by fieldm

Im sure some people just found out about this going to work this morning

It's pretty clear that some did because an excessive amount of people came down 400 and are getting diverted off at Sidney Marcus or Lenox. I don't think that many people would be doing that if they knew

[Forhall]

So any commuters have traffic updates?

This is just another example of why living 35+ miles from your workplace is silly. Not sure why some people want to add 2 hours to their workday sitting in the car even without bridge collapse traffic.