Which Failed Expressway Would Help Traffic Today (Atlanta, Marietta: camp, live in)

[Atlanta-Kid]

Atlanta had many failed expressway projects due to social/ economic issues.
Projects such as 675- Langford Pkwy- and Stone Mountain Freeway never came to pass.
Which of these paths would have really helped Atlanta today.
(I do not support the division of communities- especially if used for segregation) This is all for perspective.

[primaltech]

#1 by far is the Outer Perimeter:



#2 would really be the ITP combination of all of these planned freeways:



Currently, 400, just dumps traffic onto I-85 and the Connector, Langford is a stub that doesn't seem to have much point, Freedom Pkwy is a stub, I-675 is nearly without a point, and Stone Mountain Fwy is a stub compared to what it could have been, an actual alternative to I-85 to get into town for the south half of Gwinnett. Could have used that when I-85 collapsed.

[equinox63]

Originally Posted by Atlanta-Kid

Atlanta had many failed expressway projects due to social/ economic issues.
Projects such as 675- Langford Pkwy- and Stone Mountain Freeway never came to pass.
Which of these paths would have really helped Atlanta today.
(I do not support the division of communities- especially if used for segregation) This is all for perspective.

I’m not sure of the best option, but I believe any additional expressways ITP would have ended up being a major disservice to the city and its residents. I think it would be the same type of negative affect on QOL as razing large chunks of established buildings for downtown parking lots.

If you looked at a map or photos of Downtown Atlanta before the era of the automobile, white flight, and urban renewal, it would look as different as night and day.

It seems to me that more expressways sounds like an expensive solution for people coming in and out of the city but not necessarily for the people who actually live in the city. Theoretically, isn’t that what MARTA is for?

[bu2]

An alternative to the Connector would be the most valuable. Everything N/S is run down that corridor. It would also relieve a lot of traffic on our arterials.

I think they all had value if done in the right way. The Stone Mountain Freeway should have followed the more northern route (along the RR tracks), not the one down Ponce de Leon. I think the lack of the Stone Mountain Freeway has greatly contributed to the decline of Tucker, Stone Mountain and southern Gwinnet County. Its just very difficult getting into town from that direction.

[Born 2 Roll]

From a purely logistical standpoint, ALL of the aforementioned expressways (I-675 to GA-400, Langford Parkway/I-420, Stone Mountain Freeway ITP and the entire Outer Perimeter) would have helped traffic flow today.

I also think that other roadways OTP would have helped traffic flow had they been built as expressways early on, including:

> GA-316 (which currently is being upgraded to a full freeway between Lawrenceville and Athens)

> GA-6 Camp Creek Parkway/Thornton Road/US-278 C.H. James Parkway/Wendy Bagwell Parkway/Jimmy Lee Smith Parkway/Jimmy Campbell Parkway (from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport out to Cedartown)

> The Ernest W. Barrett Parkway/East-West Connector around the west and south sides of Marietta and Smyrna

> Sugarloaf Parkway (the full loop around the south and east sides of Lawrenceville)

> Ronald Reagan Parkway/North Snellville Loop (from I-85 in Norcross to US-78/GA-10 east of Snellville)


I also think that there are some other major surface roads OTP that should have been built as partial expressways with constricted urban interchanges/grade-separated intersections at busy junctions, including:

> US-41 Cobb Parkway through Cobb County

> US-19/41 Tara Boulevard in Clayton and Henry counties

> Peachtree Industrial Boulevard through Gwinnett County

> GA-141 Peachtree Parkway/Medlock Bridge Road/Peachtree Parkway through the Peachtree Corners area of Gwinnett County, the Johns Creek area of Fulton County and South Forsyth County

> The GA-92/GA-140 corridor through South Cherokee, North Fulton and Gwinnett counties from I-75 Northwest to I-85 Northeast

> The Old Milton Parkway/State Bridge Road/Pleasant Hill Road corridor in North Fulton and Gwinnett counties from GA-9 in Alpharetta to US-29 in Lilburn

But I’m also pragmatic enough to know that many roads (particularly the I-675 to GA-400, Langford Parkway/I-420, Stone Mountain Freeway ITP and the entire Outer Perimeter roadways) are very likely to never be built because of their lack of public popularity and their very significant physical impacts on their respective corridors.

[primaltech]

Wait, there was gonna be an I-420, and it was gonna pass thru East Point?? THINK OF ALL THE RAP SONGS WE MISSED OUT ON.

[primaltech]

In all seriousness, since there seems to be ridiculous aversion to building any new roadways, they REALLY should spend the money and effort on upgrading the existing roadways. Whether they're freeway or arterial road or something in between.

We know it's possible. They dug Pleasant Hill Rd in a trench, underneath Buford Highway and the railroad track:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9809...7i16384!8i8192

They should do 50 more of those grade-separating projects, wherever it's feasible, for the major roads all throughout the metro, particularly where they intersect with other major roads and arterials and highways.

And diverging diamond interchanges at as many arterial road freeway exits as possible.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by primaltech

In all seriousness, since there seems to be ridiculous aversion to building any new roadways, they REALLY should spend the money and effort on upgrading the existing roadways. Whether they're freeway or arterial road or something in between.

We know it's possible. They dug Pleasant Hill Rd in a trench, underneath Buford Highway and the railroad track:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.9809...7i16384!8i8192

They should do 50 more of those grade-separating projects, wherever it's feasible, for the major roads all throughout the metro, particularly where they intersect with other major roads and arterials and highways.

And diverging diamond interchanges at as many arterial road freeway exits as possible.

Atlanta has built probably hundreds of RR over/under passes. Why not road underpasses?

[Prickly Pear]

Yes (all of them)

[MattCW]

If I had to pick, I couldn't boil it down to just one, I have to stick with two. 675 to 400 and Freedom Parkway to 78. The latter in particular would have pulled a lot of traffic out of peoples' front yards and onto a highway. That whole side between Emory and Northlake is filled with cut-through traffic at the rush hours. Some would still occur getting to the 78 highway, but there's so much cut through traffic heading outbound toward I-285 that could instead drop down to 78.