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[Tomahawkin]

This looks like the funds collected from the toll lanes are being put to use. IIRC I believe the HOV lanes on Both IH 75 and 85 will be converted to toll lanes sometime down the road?

[Tom958]

On Saturday I drove 285-400 for the first time since the new westbound 285 to southbound 400 ramp had been opened.  Here's the revised mainline signage, taken from the Perimeter Center Parkway bridge. As you can see, the signage indicates that three of the six lanes are dropped at the exits for 400 and Roswell Road. My intention when heading west on 285 was to exit at Roswell Road and double back east on 285, so I moved from lane five into lane four as the signage indicates. After the 400 exit, I saw that there was still a lane to my right which was headed to Roswell Road, and the lane I was in stayed on the 285 mainline. Thanks, GDOT. I realized what was going on in time, but how many others won't?

The sign will be correct when the 285 mainline is narrowed to three lanes, which is now supposedly planned for June. We'll see, I guess.




Also, the auxiliary lane on eastbound 285 between the Ashford Dunwoody onramp and the Chamblee Dunwoody offramp is now closed. The luxurious mile-long merge we've enoyed since the seventies is now a short, shoulderless taper. Surprise!

[Tomahawkin]

Nice pic and explanation. I need to check the 400 NB area near Abernathy. A DDI Is supposed to be under the 400 overpass. I'm wondering how in the hell are they going to fit 4 toll lanes north at the Sandy Springs MARTA station in the distant future?

[Tom958]

I'll just leave this here. It appears to cover the whole 316 corridor.

https://transformingsr316-gdot.hub.arcgis.com/?fbclid=IwAR1pkV1O9n7isaWxkQF_sBGLPxYE_DTLNR6Y5iDoHSGUChMkBi4p05bUiMM

Also, this morning there was a GDOT announcement of evening lane closures for the setting of beams on the new Covington Highway bridge over 285. I'm surprised and impressed that it's happened so quickly. The tops of the new bents are several feet higher than those of the old ones, so either there'll be some unusual type of beam to reduce the height, or Covington Highway will be raised by what I'd call a huge amount. We'll see soon enough, I guess.

[Tomahawkin]

Yeah, I'm amazed at the rate that they are getting the Covington HWY Bridge built. Hopefully they will replace the Bridges at Ponce, and Rockbridge Roads at the same rate. IMO There should be 2 added toll lanes in each direction instead of 1 on that section of 285 in Dekalb county...

[Tom958]

Yeah, I'm amazed at the rate that they are getting the Covington HWY Bridge built. Hopefully they will replace the Bridges at Ponce, and Rockbridge Roads at the same rate. IMO There should be 2 added toll lanes in each direction instead of 1 on that section of 285 in Dekalb county...

Two toll lanes per direction is the current plan, announced a few months ago. same on the west side.

[Georgia]

285/20 East Interchange was awarded this month.
Construction to start in 2023 and done by late 2026(so bank on 2027 at best)

From the project website
What is the Project?
The I-285/I-20 East Interchange Project will improve traffic
flow and safety at the busy I-285/I-20 East Interchange in
DeKalb County.

This project will:
•Construct new I-20 westbound (WB) to I-285
southbound (SB), I-20 westbound to I-285 northbound
(NB) and I-285 SB to I-20 eastbound (EB) ramps
•Widen the I-20 EB to I-285 northbound ramp from one
to two lanes
•Construct WB collector-distributor (CD) lanes*
between Wesley Chapel Road and I-285/I-20 East
Interchange
•Construct one WB auxiliary lane between Lithonia
Industrial Boulevard and Wesley Chapel Road**
•Construct one EB auxiliary lane from Panola Road to
Lithonia Industrial Boulevard
•Extend auxiliary lanes on I-285 NB
•Extend one auxiliary lane in the I-20 EB CD lanes to
the Wesley Chapel Road off-ramp
•Construct replacement bridges along I-20 to
accommodate the new auxiliary and CD lanes

[Tom958]

This project will:
•Construct WB collector-distributor (CD) lanes*
between Wesley Chapel Road and I-285/I-20 East
Interchange

Actually, it won't, unless there's been a change in the design. The ramps are braided and appear at a cursory glance to be a CD, but they're not. I found it disturbing that I had to explain this to a GDOT engineer at the public information meeting.

[Georgia]

I mean, i think at that point we are arguing semantics and terminology.
If you want to take 285 from 20WB, you are going to have to make that decision at Wesley Chapel and will have 2 to 3 lanes to drive on until you merge on 285. 

good news for the interchange is that bar 285 NB to 20EB all movements are multi-laned. 

[Tom958]

I mean, i think at that point we are arguing semantics and terminology.
If you want to take 285 from 20WB, you are going to have to make that decision at Wesley Chapel and will have 2 to 3 lanes to drive on until you merge on 285. 

You're  arguing "semantics and terminology" because you don't know what you're talking about. "Collector-distributor road" is an engineering term with a specific meaning that needs to be used correctly and not debased out of sheer apathy and sloppiness by either laypeople such as yourself or GDOT.

If you don't believe me, here's the layout. See for yourself.

[Roadsguy]

here's the layout.

Does this link not work for anyone else?

[US 89]

here's the layout.

Does this link not work for anyone else?

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.
<Error>
<Code>AccessDenied</Code>
<Message>Request has expired</Message>
<X-Amz-Expires>300</X-Amz-Expires>
<Expires>2022-04-28T01:35:49Z</Expires>
<ServerTime>2022-04-28T18:11:17Z</ServerTime>
<RequestId>XKQ0VAFN24R6FXM2</RequestId>
<HostId>cJn/G9B7ddqVld5VOv+cch3boDCTZS9mlbvp/y+FwjHr3oPQelHUI+VcJ7cVUN/itCG1hNNLUws=</HostId>
</Error>

[Georgia]

https://gdot.maps.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/c134c988644c465587eff605ab837393/data

I think that is the relevant roll map

[Tom958]

https://gdot.maps.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/content/items/c134c988644c465587eff605ab837393/data

I think that is the relevant roll map

Yes, that's it. Sorry for the wild goose chase, everyone.

This came up on my Facebook feed tonight: the virtual public meeting for the I-85-McGinnis Ferry Road interchange. Serendipitously, the text refers to the south-facing ramps as collector-distributors, which they aren't.  Plan view. If they're actively trying to piss me off, it's working.

[Tom958]

Headed westward on 285 approaching 400 yesterday, it occurred to me that the next breakthrough might be the opening of the final iteration of the westbound Ashford Dunwoody and Peachtree Dunwoody offramps, the latter of which would be the first of the four that'll pass under the outer spans of the surviving existing 1960s bridges. The final configuration will have a single offramp for both 400 and Peachtree Dunwoody (with no control cities on the old signage plan I've seen), but the existing ramps to 400 will still have to remain in use for a while. Still, it'd be advantageous to divert that traffic off the mainline before the mainline is choked down to three lanes in June or whenever.

[Tomahawkin]

I agree. And it's nice to see that they are adding street lights to the CD lanes, and some of the vertical mounts for the overhead sign bridges are being installed. Looks like this project will be completed a year and a half past the set completion date???

[Finrod]

I'm wondering if the stoplight installed at Paper Mill Road and Woodlawn Drive is ever going to be activated.  It was installed something like 2 years ago and has done nothing but blink ever since.

Just commuted through this area yesterday, 2.5 years after I posted this-- the Stop signs are still up and the stoplight continues to do nothing but blink red.  It's ridiculous, keeping this intersection as a 3-way Stop means that it's faster to go Johnson Ferry --> Powers Road --> Woodlawn Drive --> Paper Mill than it is just to go Johnson Ferry --> Paper Mill when there's any significant amount of traffic, because you're one of two or three cars waiting for the stop sign on Woodlawn Drive instead of the twenty+ waiting for the stop sign on Paper Mill.

[Tom958]

Crossposted at https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11045.msg2738221#msg2738221

This guy had been kicking around the i-285-GA 400 construction site for the last several months. It's made of the modified top half of this sign and the modified bottom half of this one. Below is my photo from a few weeks ago, but here's a Streetview from December 2021 when it was literally coming apart.



The last time I was there, the old battleaxe had been replaced with this new, temporary masterpiece, in the Series C text now used for temporary signage on this project. No exit number tab, pointless divider line, two arrows for one exit. MUTCD? What's that? 

[Henry]

Crossposted at https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11045.msg2738221#msg2738221

This guy had been kicking around the i-285-GA 400 construction site for the last several months. It's made of the modified top half of this sign and the modified bottom half of this one. Below is my photo from a few weeks ago, but here's a Streetview from December 2021 when it was literally coming apart.



The last time I was there, the old battleaxe had been replaced with this new, temporary masterpiece, in the Series C text now used for temporary signage on this project. No exit number tab, pointless divider line, two arrows for one exit. MUTCD? What's that? 

There's nothing like some nostalgia to bring back what used to be prevalent in the area. AFAIK, all the old Series D signs inside the Perimeter have been replaced, right?

[Tom958]

There's nothing like some nostalgia to bring back what used to be prevalent in the area. AFAIK, all the old Series D signs inside the Perimeter have been replaced, right?

No, the ones on I-20 are still there. And it's Series C.

[US 89]

There's nothing like some nostalgia to bring back what used to be prevalent in the area. AFAIK, all the old Series D signs inside the Perimeter have been replaced, right?

No, the ones on I-20 are still there. And it's Series C.

Plenty of old style Georgia signage still alive and kicking on I-85 too, both down by the airport and northeast of the 75 split. There is also some on 400.

[Tomahawkin]

Im hoping some of the permanent overhead sign bridges get installed between now and Labor day? i loathe seeing people cutting across 3-4 lanes in this area because they cant see those signs, especially with all the truck traffic. I see a new VMS that is ready to be installed at The N. Springs Station at 400 overpass, but its my opinion, that 60 percent of people dont pay attention to the Overhead VMS Signs unless there is a serious accident in the area???

[architect77]

Im hoping some of the permanent overhead sign bridges get installed between now and Labor day? i loathe seeing people cutting across 3-4 lanes in this area because they cant see those signs, especially with all the truck traffic. I see a new VMS that is ready to be installed at The N. Springs Station at 400 overpass, but its my opinion, that 60 percent of people dont pay attention to the Overhead VMS Signs unless there is a serious accident in the area???

\

I think most people read all of them just for the travel time estimates. You find out if your trip is going to be 10-15 minutes or 45 minutes to the next specific location.

Does it seem plausible that maybe all of the overhead gantries are installed slightly leaning down on one side for water to shed along the structure to one side?

Because I have a hard time identifying any that are horizontal to the ground. It could be intentional since that's the commonlity between all of them, leaning a few degrees down usually toward the center divider.

The espress lanes on I-285 could require 200-300 raised signs. I hope it's not a plethora of steel gantries supported on both sides. They cost $60K each, twice as much as a cantilevered support.

[Tom958]

I hereby declare myself pleasantly amazed with GDOT. Sometime since my last visit to 285-400, crews removed the no-longer-needed sign for the Peachtree Dunwoody Road exit... AND scooted the battleaxe mega-BGS over by a lane so that it correctly indicates lane five rather than lane four as EXIT ONLY for Roswell Road. They also removed one of the arrows from the EXIT ONLY panel for 400, which I'm not sure is an improvement- - it's lane five, not lane six, that leads to 400 south. There must've been quite a bit of discussion about it.

My reflex is to say that it would've been nice if this had been done promptly, but maybe it was. I don't frequent this part of town-- I was there today for a doctor's appointment. After all, it wouldn't have been possible to scoot that BGS over until the Peachtree Dunwoody sign was removed. So, I offer a cautious tentative attaboy to GDOT and the 285-400 project team.

As stated in the post I quoted below, the earlier configuration would almost certainly have been correct once the dreaded reduction of the mainline to three lanes happens, which I thought was supposed to be in June. I suspected that GDOT had decided to erect and live with incorrect and misleading lane assignment signage until then. Maybe the big switch has been delayed, or maybe the operational effects of the erroneous signage had become intolerable enough to compel them to mitigate them. We'll never know, of course. Presumably, when the big switch happens, they'll move the sign back to its previous location.

On Saturday I drove 285-400 for the first time since the new westbound 285 to southbound 400 ramp had been opened.  Here's the revised mainline signage, taken from the Perimeter Center Parkway bridge. As you can see, the signage indicates that three of the six lanes are dropped at the exits for 400 and Roswell Road. My intention when heading west on 285 was to exit at Roswell Road and double back east on 285, so I moved from lane five into lane four as the signage indicates. After the 400 exit, I saw that there was still a lane to my right which was headed to Roswell Road, and the lane I was in stayed on the 285 mainline. Thanks, GDOT. I realized what was going on in time, but how many others won't?

The sign will be correct when the 285 mainline is narrowed to three lanes, which is now supposedly planned for June. We'll see, I guess.

[Tom958]

Also, the auxiliary lane on eastbound 285 between the Ashford Dunwoody onramp and the Chamblee Dunwoody offramp is now closed. The luxurious mile-long merge we've enjoyed since the seventies is now a short, shoulderless taper. Surprise!

The same thing has now been done at the ramp from Chamblee-Dunwoody to westbound 285. I first noticed it because there's a merge arrow sign prominently displayed in the gore, which unfortunately was not done at the Ashford-Dunwoody onramp. This closure will enable the westbound offramps to Ashford Dunwoody and GA 400-Peachtree Dunwoody to be completed, as will the closure referenced above on the eastbound side will do for the eastbound onramps.