Atlanta

[Tomahawkin]

Elevated toll lanes, I'm excited to hear that. That makes me believe that most of the route of toll lanes along 400 will be Elevated since there are ? Since there are so many roads, apartments and subdivisions that are 200' adjacent to 400 from Northridge all the way to McGinnis Ferry. And the new bridges that are being built are being built with little 400 expansion capacity at the ground level...

[kernals12]

How ironic that they're putting toll lanes on a former toll road.

[Tom958]

[Tom958]

How ironic that they're putting toll lanes on a former toll road.

The toll lanes are going outside of 285 only, where 400 was never tolled.

[The Ghostbuster]

I think the only way GA 400 could get toll lanes south of Interstate 285 is to remove the railroad tracks in the median (which will never happen). Unless they could somehow build the toll lanes over the railroad tracks.

[Big John]

I think the only way GA 400 could get toll lanes south of Interstate 285 is to remove the railroad tracks in the median (which will never happen). Unless they could somehow build the toll lanes over the railroad tracks.

Those are MARTA tracks.

[Tomahawkin]

The tunnel on 400 under Lenox Rd was seriously underbuilt and cant be expanded. That stretch will always be a bottleneck! Major 90's Bleep up by GDOT Among others!

[RoadWarrior56]

Replying to the previous post, as somebody who works in transportation in Metro Atlanta and has been here for the last 4 decades, I remember how long it took to get the 400 extension constructed in the first place.  The roadway was originally supposed to be an 8-lane extension of the old I-485 project, but when 485 was canceled in the 1970's, the 400 extension, which would have extended the I-485 route north between I-85 and I-285 was never officially cancelled.  However it sat in limbo for many years and there were efforts to kill the project (especially by the City of Atlanta), and it was almost killed more than once, although Fulton County wanted it, so it was kept alive.  By the end of the 1980's, the project moved forward and it was constructed as a 6-lane toll road, as some of the funding was also transferred from the also-cancelled I-420 project in SE Atlanta.   It was probably funding constraints, expensive right-of-way, as well as a possible agreement only to construct the facility as 6-lanes (although I don't know that part for sure), that led to the construction of the tunnel at the Lenox Road interchange with no room for expansion.  Also, keep in mind that SR 400 travels under an existing office building along Peachtree Road just south of that interchange.  In fact, that may be the tunnel you were referring to above.  I know that the building was constructed a few years before the highway but was designed to accommodate SR 400 under it, and there probably is no way to widen that section of roadway.

I will say as a highway engineer who has pretty good knowledge of traffic patterns in this area, virtually all of the freeways outside of I-285 have far higher volumes than the sections inside 285.  8-lanes may not actually be needed in this area.  Plus there is the bottleneck at its terminus at I-85.  There would be no place to terminate an extra lane on 400 if it were constructed.  Most of the traffic congestion issues on 400 are farther north.  Also, I do know that GDOT has no plans to extend the tolled express lane system inside 285.

[US 89]

I will say as a highway engineer who has pretty good knowledge of traffic patterns in this area, virtually all of the freeways outside of I-285 have far higher volumes than the sections inside 285.  8-lanes may not actually be needed in this area.  Plus there is the bottleneck at its terminus at I-85.  There would be no place to terminate an extra lane on 400 if it were constructed.  Most of the traffic congestion issues on 400 are farther north.  Also, I do know that GDOT has no plans to extend the tolled express lane system inside 285.

I lived here for 4 years and I would 100% agree. I've sat in plenty of traffic on 400 before, but it's almost never been on the northern section or anywhere in the northbound direction. It's always southbound backup from the bottleneck merge into I-85. I don't think an extra lane is needed or would solve much.

And yes, the degree to which traffic picks up on any of the radial freeways when they cross I-285 is kind of shocking. I-85 into Gwinnett County is especially awful for this. Will say though, going the opposite direction (into the city) it is really nice to be able to cross 285 and be smooth sailing for a good while. Especially on I-20 eastbound where trucks trying to get over into the 285 exits cause the whole interstate to back up for miles.

[Plutonic Panda]

Update on the SR-400/I-285 interchange: https://www.equipmentworld.com/roadbuilding/article/15545787/lanes-reopened-on-i285-in-atlanta-after-bridges-reconstructed

[ran4sh]

Makes me wonder about the reverse: Peach Pass taking E-ZPass.  Hard body probably makes that tough.

Seems unlikely unless GDOT has installed TDM readers, the new PeachPass-accepting states are all ones that have added readers for PeachPass's 6C tags to their gantries.

NC Quick Pass is able to work with them because their hard-case tag supports all 3 common protocols: TDM, SeGo, and 6C.

There are now signs posted with the express lanes specifying that E-ZPass is accepted (the signs list "accepted payments" and show the logos of Peach Pass, E-ZPass, NC Quick Pass, and SunPass). I have no idea what the technical details for Georgia handling E-ZPass are though.

[RoadWarrior56]

The question I have is.............is Peach Pass finally accepted on facilities in the east and midwest that use EZPass?

[Georgia]

The Changable Message Signs on the Express Lanes also mentioned that E-Z Pass was accepted(which would have been too late to be much help).

[ran4sh]

The question I have is.............is Peach Pass finally accepted on facilities in the east and midwest that use EZPass?

I don't think it has changed from what was announced a few months ago - specified E-ZPass states accept Peach Pass but not all of them accept it yet. (the remaining states are listed as accepting Peach Pass "soon").

https://peachpass.com/where-can-i-use-peach-pass/additional-states/

Peach Pass currently accepted at E-ZPass locations in IL, IN, KY, ME, MD, RI (plus FL & NC which already had interoperability), with the remainder of the E-ZPass region listed as "coming soon"

[RoadWarrior56]

I am glad about IN and KY.  Those were the two states I was most concerned about, since I frequently travel to Louisville and use the two Ohio River bridges.

[Tomahawkin]

Traffic on 285 (both directions) in Dekalb County was FUBAR even past 10am. Does anyone know when construction on the 285 toll lanes in Dekalb county will begin? I'm guessing early 2025???

[RoadWarrior56]

Probably at least 2030, and after that you would be looking at several years before completion.  The "top-end" toll lanes will be constructed first.

[Georgia Guardrail]

I noticed there have been some small changes in the Transform 285-400 project. 

First is the restriping on SR 400 northbound past Abernathy.  Now the freeway gradually goes down from 6 lanes to 4 instead of right before and after the Abernathy overpass.  A lot of space that was originally section off by the North Springs Marta Station is now utilized lane space.  (Unfortunately you can still see remnants of the old lanes which could be confusing for drivers.  There was a bad wreck possibly because of this change on SR 400 NB today.)

Second the original and final alignment of I-285 EB to SR 400 NB exit was put into place after having been temporarily reverted when they were repairing the bridge deck on the Lake Forest Drive overpass.

Finally, cars driving on the I-285 WB ramp to SR 400 SB now have access to the Glenridge Connector.

[Tomahawkin]

As much as I bang on GDOT, it's good to see the construction coming along nicely along I 20 east of 285. The Farrington road bridge replacement could be done by the start of next year. The contractor on this project is doing a great job...

[Tomahawkin]

Looks like GDOT is going to build 2 vehicular bridges over IH 85 near the CHOA hospital to relieve congestion off Druid Hills road. This was badly needed 15 years ago. IMO Druid Hills is as bad as Peachtree road during rush hour times. I drive that road often and sometimes the congestion doesn't ease til 10am or later

[Tom958]

Looks like GDOT is going to build 2 vehicular bridges over IH 85 near the CHOA hospital to relieve congestion off Druid Hills road. This was badly needed 15 years ago. IMO Druid Hills is as bad as Peachtree road during rush hour times. I drive that road often and sometimes the congestion doesn't ease til 10am or later

It's only one new bridge over 85, plus the ramp braid over the frontage road. C/o https://i85-sr42-interchange-0016054-gdot.hub.arcgis.com/




I didn't realize that the North Druid Hills bridge over Peachtree Creek will be closed for replacement. Might as well, I guess-- keeping two lanes open would slow the project and be nearly worthless for traffic relief for most of the day. I hope traffic finds better routes than the official detour northbound-- the offramp to Clairmont already backs up onto the mainline during the PM rush.

[Tomahawkin]

Do you know what that Druid Hills bridge demolition will start? I will avoid that area when it happens. I'm in that area 3-4 days out of the week for work...

[Tom958]

Do you know what that Druid Hills bridge demolition will start? I will avoid that area when it happens. I'm in that area 3-4 days out of the week for work...

Nah, but I'm sure it'll be well publicized, including on the Facebook groups.

[Tom958]

My mind is blown. 

First, some good news: The entire ramp from southbound GA 400 to westbound I-285 is being restriped for two lanes, including the tie-in to 285. This puts an end to the infuriating lack of a two-lane ramp for this heavy movement, leading to needless backups for most of the day. Yay, I guess, though the one-lane tie-in to 285 could've been done months ago. Thanks for wasting our time, GDOT. Further upstream, the southbound 400 CD is now its final three lanes, with two dandy APLs for the three-to-two-plus-two split.

However, the overhead signage for the 285-Roswell Road split is now a four-arrow overhead for a three-lane roadway. WTF? Either GDOT wants to cram more lanes where they won't fit before this $1.5 billion project is even done, or the plans are screwed up. Given that there are only three lanes upstream from here-- two for the ramp from southbound 400, one for the ramp for northbound 400 to Roswell Road-- I think the latter is more plausible.



Previously, the 285 sign wasn't there. The Roswell Road sign is pretty decently aligned over the two right lanes-- that's not a given with GDOT-- and I therefore assumed that the eventual 285 sign would have a single arrow. Between that and the inexplicable delay in opening the two-lane tie-in to 285, I don't feel stupid for not seeing this coming.

[Tomahawkin]

I'm ready to see how GDOT plans to construct and configure 4 toll lanes (2 in each direction) from the North Springs station to points up north. The 3 New bridges on 400 are built too narrow to have them at grade level. They are going to be elevated in many areas I guess? There are top many townhouses and apartments that are a stones throw away from 400 for the added toll lanes to be at ground level... That construction is going to be #### for people who live and commute along 400. And Old Milton PKWY needs a total makeover!