Atlanta

afone · October 22, 2014, 09:39:50 AM

QuoteThe memorandum of understanding approved Tuesday by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners will allow the GDOT to include utility relocations as part of the project bid advertisement, the Gwinnett Daily Post reports.
Construction on the $110 million I-85 toll lane extention project is expected to begin in 2015 with lanes opening in 2018.

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2014/10/gdot-speeds-construction-of-new-toll-lanes-with.html

architect77 · November 09, 2014, 10:38:34 PM

When does construction begin on I-75 Toll Lanes in Cobb County? I thought is was supposed to begin in September. They've only been talking about it for 10 years.

lordsutch · November 09, 2014, 11:48:26 PM

Quote from: architect77 on November 09, 2014, 10:38:34 PM
When does construction begin on I-75 Toll Lanes in Cobb County? I thought is was supposed to begin in September. They've only been talking about it for 10 years.

Started last month. See here for current info on the project.

SSF · November 10, 2014, 05:44:52 PM

Looked to be moving along at a pretty good clip, lots of earth work done on a few interchanges and some exit ramp concrete work done at the same interchange

Tomahawkin · November 26, 2014, 11:52:10 PM

After seeing the G-Dot renderings of the toll lanes, IH75S (Clayton/Henry), The IH75/575N (Cobb & Cherokee Counties), IH85N (Gwinnett Extension). I don't see much in how that is the Answer to all the traffic issues in the metro area? There are still gonna be major bottlenecks at just about every big interchange with IH285...In fact most interchanges along IH 285 need to be redone not to mention the fact that 285 is still 3 lanes from Buford Highway prior to Spaghetti Junction to just After Chamblee Tucker is baffling. That's one of the worst bottlenecks that exists...

Tom958 · December 03, 2014, 07:33:31 AM

Oh, this poor, neglected thread!

Quote from: Tomahawkin on November 26, 2014, 11:52:10 PM
After seeing the G-Dot renderings of the toll lanes, IH75S (Clayton/Henry), The IH75/575N (Cobb & Cherokee Counties), IH85N (Gwinnett Extension). I don't see much in how that is the Answer to all the traffic issues in the metro area?

Well, duh. Nobody claims they will be. Look to Texas to see what's needed to keep pace with traffic growth in a growing, sprawly city of five million people:

Quote from: ChrisZwolleTraffic on I-10 in West Houston has grown to become the busiest stretch of freeway in Houston in 2012. The AADT east of the Beltway 8 interchange has exploded to 360,000 vehicles per day. Traffic grew by 100,000 vehicles in just 5 years. If current trends continue, it will become the busiest freeway in the U.S. in a year or two, overtaking I-405 near Long Beach, CA.

There are a variety of reasons why Georgia isn't Texas, but I think it would be reasonably accurate to say that the political center here, such as it is, is squeezed into irrelevance by teabagger cheapskates on the right and Beltline-is-a-great-idea sustainability types on the left.

The new toll lanes will at least add some capacity, and in theory will make it possible, after paying a toll, to traverse much of the metro area reasonably quickly. That's something that now can't be had at any price.

Quote...not to mention the fact that 285 is still 3 lanes from Buford Highway prior to Spaghetti Junction to just After Chamblee Tucker is baffling. That's one of the worst bottlenecks that exists...

Ha, I don't think so. The turning volumes between I-285 to the west and I-85 to the north are huge. All that adding lanes to 285 through Spaghetti Junction would do is exacerbate operational problems without adding any usable capacity.

In that way, 285 westbound dropping to only two lanes as it crosses I-75N is worse.

Fred Defender · December 03, 2014, 10:26:24 AM

Quote from: afone on September 17, 2014, 07:39:19 PM
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/capitol_vision/2014/09/shovel-turned-on-northwest-corridor-project.html

I must be old. I can remember my first trip to visit my older stepsister in Canton in 1985. I-575 had recently been opened and there was NOTHING at the GA92 interchange except a brand-new Pilot gas station. I-575 terminated at GA5 on the north side of Canton, and Sixes Road was Exit #6 (wish i would have taken a photo of that before the numbering change).

Come to think of it, I can remember the massive traffic jams that my parents used to encounter when we would drive through Marietta on the way to Ohio to visit relatives. I-75 terminated at Allgood Road, I believe. The backups were epic.

Speaking of Allgood Road:

If I am, indeed, correct and I-75 ended at Allgood, was there an interchange there? I don't remember HOW it ended - or exactly where. But I know that it ended in Marietta prior to opening to Roberts Road (Barrett Parkway) in late-1975 or early-'76. I remember driving on the Roberts Road-to-US411 stretch for the first time in June of 1978 right after I graduated high school.

Yep - I'm old.

Tomahawkin · January 19, 2015, 12:18:17 AM

Check out Freewayjim on YouTube. He posted that the hot lane bridge posts are coming up and along I-75 in Cobb County. It's going to be interesting to see how it ties into the Cobb cloverleaf interchange. That area is a clausterf..k...

afone · January 24, 2015, 06:52:30 PM

Here's some photos I took today of some Atlanta Freeways.

Atlanta Freeways by brandonwalker8402, on Flickr

Atlanta freeways by brandonwalker8402, on Flickr

S.R. 14 Spur by brandonwalker8402, on Flickr

adventurernumber1 · January 24, 2015, 07:20:31 PM

@afone, that is a very nice collection of pictures! Thank you for sharing!

Tom958 · January 24, 2015, 07:44:31 PM

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on January 24, 2015, 07:20:31 PM
@afone, that is a very nice collection of pictures! Thank you for sharing!

I second that. I had it on my list to take some photos of airport-related signage, but now I don't need to.

For anyone who doesn't know, this one is sited beyond the correct exit for the domestic terminals, presumably for the salvation of anyone who missed the exit. It's also beyond the entrance to 85 from the domestic terminals in case anyone needs another stab at terminal return.

afone · January 24, 2015, 08:07:41 PM

Thanks for the replies! I plan on getting photos of I-85 in Gwinnett and show some of the progress on the managed lanes on 75 north and south of Atlanta. One of these days I want to do Augusta and Savannah and show off their freeways.

Alex · January 24, 2015, 08:45:29 PM

Quote from: afone on January 24, 2015, 08:07:41 PM
Thanks for the replies! I plan on getting photos of I-85 in Gwinnett and show some of the progress on the managed lanes on 75 north and south of Atlanta. One of these days I want to do Augusta and Savannah and show off their freeways.

Excellent photos! Those APL's on the Downtown Connector southbound are new since I last photographed Atlanta. Probably will get through there again at some point this year.

I was just in Savannah in September and reshot all of Truman Parkway, including the new section opened last year. Beware that northbound turn from GA 204 onto GA 21. It took three cycles to make it through there in the late afternoon.

afone · January 24, 2015, 08:50:42 PM

Thanks for the heads up about Savannah, Alex. If you like Alex, you can use my photos on the aaroads site.

Zeffy · January 24, 2015, 10:39:52 PM

I echo the great pictures sentiment. These are some nice clean shots you took. Great job!

I take it any sign using the "D(M)" typeface is older than the ones using EM?

Gnutella · January 25, 2015, 05:22:45 AM

One thing I hated about a lot of the condensed-font signs in Atlanta is the goofy-looking capital 'D.'

As for the new signs, they look better, though the margins on a couple of them seem to be lacking. ('Birmingham' almost didn't fit on one of them.)

SSF · January 25, 2015, 01:07:21 PM

I hate the new font, I liked our unique style.

Eth · January 25, 2015, 07:45:43 PM

Quote from: Zeffy on January 24, 2015, 10:39:52 PM
I take it any sign using the "D(M)" typeface is older than the ones using EM?

Yep. The font switchover happened sometime around 2008, though I think the EM signs in these photos are even newer than that.

Tom958 · January 31, 2015, 08:29:11 AM

More crappy photos from Tom958.

Recent replacement on the northbound 285 ramp to I-85. These signs used to each have a downward-pointing white arrow. With the way the lanes are configured, I'd say that the correct way to do it would be a "next left" legend on the left sign and nothing on the right. That said, the two white down arrows scheme is simply and accurate enough, IMO. I don't know how they decided on this instead.

Two miles further south: let's have way too much information for a change. The previous scheme didn't mention anything beyond LaVista until after the LaVista offramp (note the demise of one of the last surviving cantilevered sign gantries in metro Atlanta), but now they've decided that information overload is the way to go. I guess that the perfectly adequate sign for Lawrenceville Highway that's now on the LaVista Road bridge will be removed.

EDIT: I just noticed that the new signs are for "Lavista" while the old ones were for LaVista." W/E.

And, appropos of nothing, here's one for the ADA Noncompliance Hall of Fame, on Peachtree Industrial near Pleasant Hill Road:

afone · February 01, 2015, 12:00:06 AM

Some photos I took today of 85,75,20,285, Stone Mountain Frwy and 400.

Atlanta Freeways by brandonwalker8402, on Flickr

xcellntbuy · February 01, 2015, 04:17:18 AM

Terrific pics. I have not been to all of these places in the Atlanta metro area. Lots to see in the future.

Eth · February 01, 2015, 08:25:14 AM

Quote from: afone on February 01, 2015, 12:00:06 AM
Atlanta Freeways by brandonwalker8402, on Flickr

I think this may be the single thing I dislike most about the new Georgia standard. If we must continue with the "all signs the same height" thing, okay, fine. But could we at least vertically center the destination text? Then it would actually look intentional and not like a manufacturing error.

Tom958 · February 05, 2015, 07:09:41 PM

More horrible cellphone pics by Tom958, this time of the latest (that I know about) rogue APL signs, on I-285 westbound approaching I-75 on the north side. First, here's the first sign of the sequence, just before the New Northside Drive overpass. Note the lack of EXIT ONLY panels:

The next one. I think it's still about a mile from the split, but there's no indication of that here or on any of the other APL signs. To me that's reason enough not to go 100% APL in a situation like this, even setting aside the lack of an optional lane.

And the joint between the panels is nearly as prominent as the vertical line. I hope the contractor is compelled to address that:

Last sign before the split. It and the one before it go into a little more detail as to where each lane goes. It's not exactly correct, but neither were the old signs, and IMO they're close enough.

From here I turned south to get to Cumberland Blvd. Progress on the hammerhead bents for the reversible HOT lanes is already fairly impressive, but I'd need to stop on the shoulder to get a decent photo.

Last thing: There's a signage boneyard on the northbound side of I-75, and there's a piece of another APL sign there.

Tom958 · February 05, 2015, 07:38:34 PM

As luck would have it, I had a work task in the Perimeter Center area, and while I was there I noticed signs for a GDOT open house about the 285-400 interchange. So I went. The designs have changed since the last time we discussed the project. The biggest and most interesting change is at the Abernathy-400 interchange: After analysis, the SPUI that's been part of the design concept since the nineties has been changed to a DDI! Looking at the the displays, I wondered whether they'd decided to keep the existing bridge there as they're doing without exception on 285, since it looks as though they've gone to some effort to provide two nice, straight four lane roadways through the DDI. I'm told, though, that the existing structure will be removed and replaced:

Also note that while the movement from southbound 400 to westbound Abernathy is three lanes (right is north, BTW), the reverse movement is only one lane. Nobody I talked to there seemed to find that odd at all.

The displays from the meeting are said to be online, but I don't feel like looking them up now.

EDIT: http://www.dot.ga.gov/Projects/activeprojects/StateRoute/Pages/I285SR400.aspx

Marc · February 06, 2015, 12:20:56 AM

Quote from: Eth on February 01, 2015, 08:25:14 AM
If we must continue with the "all signs the same height" thing, okay, fine. But could we at least vertically center the destination text? Then it would actually look intentional and not like a manufacturing error.

Agreed. TxDOT Houston is doing the same thing nowadays. Seems like such a waste to have a massive sign display one line of text, only for the sake of having it be the same height as its neighbor. I actually think it looks worse having them be the same height.

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