Future Georgia Projects/Issues

[Tomahawkin]

Also, I didnt realize how bad rush hour traffic was by the Airport. Its just as much hell because of all the truck traffic! MARTA raik Needs to be expanded south of the City NOW!!! Not in 2024!!!

[lordsutch]

I would be in favor of a bypass of Atlanta for traffic headed to the Florida panhandle. It would get rid of some spring and summer break tourist traffic, especially on weekends

The problem is where would you put the thing. From a development perspective it's probably easier to route it west of Atlanta and it'd be generally shorter, but a lot of that traffic comes down I-85, not I-75 - and east of I-75 is where the NIMBYism is strongest (hence the death of the Northern Arc). US 27 would be a decent relief route, particularly once it's tied into I-185 at Lagrange, but it doesn't get close to I-75 again until south of I-10.

I do think a freeway that started on I-75 around Cartersville or Acworth, passed between Douglasville and Lithia Springs, then started curving southeast to run halfway between Peachtree City and Fayetteville, then ran to Griffin and roughly followed US 341 down to I-75 in Perry would be a viable relief route, particularly if you also extended GA 20 west to it to provide an alternative connection to the Atlanta Motor Speedway from the west. Most of the segments would have some degree of local utility at least, it'd give the underutilized US 19 corridor some useful extra connectivity, and would vastly improve north-south connectivity since there's basically nothing north-south in that region. But it'd cost a fortune.

If Georgia was in the new terrain toll road business I think it'd have the best prospects though.

As for getting MARTA commuter rail through Clayton County sooner, really that's up to whether the ARC wants to go back to the voters with a more viable TIA proposal than the one they shot down last time. Down here there's a quiet push to revive the Middle Georgia TIA with a vote in November coinciding with municipal elections when nobody is paying attention. I don't think transportation should be financed with a sales tax but it's apparently the only way the legislature can wash its hands of seeming responsible for a tax increase.

[VTGoose]

I would be in favor of a bypass of Atlanta for traffic headed to the Florida panhandle. It would get rid of some spring and summer break tourist traffic, especially on weekends

Extending I-77 from Columbia, SC, on to I-75 in Florida could handle some of this traffic as an alternative to I-85 out of Charlotte. Granted, that would put people at the eastern end of the panhandle, but it would also open up an underserved section of Georgia. Second best would be to upgrade U.S. 1 and U.S. 220 from the Augusta area to close to Vadosta.

Bruce in Blacksburg

[Henry]

I would be in favor of a bypass of Atlanta for traffic headed to the Florida panhandle. It would get rid of some spring and summer break tourist traffic, especially on weekends

Extending I-77 from Columbia, SC, on to I-75 in Florida could handle some of this traffic as an alternative to I-85 out of Charlotte. Granted, that would put people at the eastern end of the panhandle, but it would also open up an underserved section of Georgia. Second best would be to upgrade U.S. 1 and U.S. 220 from the Augusta area to close to Vadosta.

Bruce in Blacksburg

Wait up, they extended US 220 from Rockingham and no one told me? Seriously, I think an I-77 extension could do the trick, even though I-26 to I-95 is also a good routing for now.

[VTGoose]

Wait up, they extended US 220 from Rockingham and no one told me? Seriously, I think an I-77 extension could do the trick, even though I-26 to I-95 is also a good routing for now.

Most of the time I-26 and I-95 work, but then you still have to cross Florida at some point to get to I-75. For now, I-10 and U.S. 301 is the route of choice (I-4 through the middle of Orlando is problematic). The issue is when there is heavy traffic and/or bad weather in South Carolina and the limits of two-lane interstates filled with drivers who can't drive. Then 26/95 becomes the route from hell until the Georgia line or Columbia (depending on direction of travel). We tried the cross-country route through Georgia once, but it was slow going due to having to slow to go through towns small and large. Adding some bypasses and upgrading some sections of the highways (like providing a way around Wren) would improve this route considerably.

Bruce in Blacksburg

[afguy]

A new interchange on I-185 is coming to South Columbus...

A new interchange on I-185 is coming to south Columbus. The new effort that costs more than $55 million dollars is expected to benefit drivers in a major way.

Representatives with Columbus Plans hosted an open house Tuesday afternoon, about the interchange set to come to the Cusseta and Old Cusseta Roads area. Rick Jones is the Planning Director for the City of Columbus. He explains why this area was selected.

"If you were to look at a map, this area is pretty much closed off from the rest of the world,"  says Jones.

He explains how folks living in the area of Cusseta and Old Cusseta Roads are forced to get to I-185 right now.

http://wrbl.com/2017/08/29/new-i-185-interchange-coming-to-south-columbus/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_WRBL_News_3
https://mgtvwrbl.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/082917_cusseta-rd.pdf

[capt.ron]

US 27 gets very little snowbird traffic, it's not really the best way to go unless you are just deathly afraid of Atlanta traffic.  In the SW GA area, 231/431 are far more useful and in NW GA/middle GA, it is predominantly local traffic. 

27 also has the misfortune of not going to a snowbird destination, as 75 goes to the FL peninsula, 231/431 goto PCB and I-10 to get to FWB and Pensacola, and 27 goes to Tallahassee. 

For that to happen, US 27 needs to be on a new alignment once it approaches Trion & Summerville. One realignment was proposed and then dropped. I looked at an old GA map and it showed a dashed line east of Trion and Summerville and it connects up to existing 27 once it goes up the mountain east of Summerville. During the late 1980's they were turning the 2 lane 27 through Summerville (until reaching GA48) into a 5 lane.
It would also have to bypass other cities as it works its way south (Rome, Carrollton, and especially LaGrange.)

[Tom958]

For that to happen, US 27 needs to be on a new alignment once it approaches Trion & Summerville.

Not necessarily. I googled Cedartown to Chattanooga and the preferred route was to I-75 right through downtown Calhoun via GA 53, US 41 and some unnumbered local streets! Maybe the relocated GA 53 to Union Hill Road will be preferred once it's finished.

One realignment was proposed and then dropped. I looked at an old GA map and it showed a dashed line east of Trion and Summerville and it connects up to existing 27 once it goes up the mountain east of Summerville. During the late 1980's they were turning the 2 lane 27 through Summerville (until reaching GA48) into a 5 lane.

A few months ago, I drove as closely as possible the route of the Summerville Bypass, along Penns Bridge and Butler Dairy Roads. I'd read that the project was finally on the books after all these years, but now it's off again. Either way, it'd be a huge earthmoving project, and with a long grade of the greatest tolerable steepness. I'm guessing three times the magnitude of the Tallulah Falls bypass. I'm also thinking that it 'll remain in year six of the five-year plan forever.

It would also have to bypass other cities as it works its way south (Rome, Carrollton, and especially LaGrange.)

I guess the southeast quadrant of the Rome bypass is in the works, though I'm too lazy to look it up. Carrollton isn't too bad: existing US 27 included a short bypass with six lanes and an interchange at the railroad bridge. Or, a case could be made going via Newnan, using the other. already-built Carrolton bypass, and avoiding LaGrange altogether.

[Life in Paradise]

I would be in favor of a bypass of Atlanta for traffic headed to the Florida panhandle. It would get rid of some spring and summer break tourist traffic, especially on weekends

Extending I-77 from Columbia, SC, on to I-75 in Florida could handle some of this traffic as an alternative to I-85 out of Charlotte. Granted, that would put people at the eastern end of the panhandle, but it would also open up an underserved section of Georgia. Second best would be to upgrade U.S. 1 and U.S. 220 from the Augusta area to close to Vadosta.

Bruce in Blacksburg

Wait up, they extended US 220 from Rockingham and no one told me? Seriously, I think an I-77 extension could do the trick, even though I-26 to I-95 is also a good routing for now.

I believe that should have said US 221 which runs parallel to US 1 in SE Georgia, and then swings SW to Valdosta while US 1 starts heading towards Jacksonville, FL.

[2Co5_14]

For that to happen, US 27 needs to be on a new alignment once it approaches Trion & Summerville.

One realignment was proposed and then dropped. I looked at an old GA map and it showed a dashed line east of Trion and Summerville and it connects up to existing 27 once it goes up the mountain east of Summerville. During the late 1980's they were turning the 2 lane 27 through Summerville (until reaching GA48) into a 5 lane.

A few months ago, I drove as closely as possible the route of the Summerville Bypass, along Penns Bridge and Butler Dairy Roads. I'd read that the project was finally on the books after all these years, but now it's off again. Either way, it'd be a huge earthmoving project, and with a long grade of the greatest tolerable steepness. I'm guessing three times the magnitude of the Tallulah Falls bypass. I'm also thinking that it 'll remain in year six of the five-year plan forever.

When I was at GDOT, I actually worked on the Summerville Bypass design twice - in 2007-2008 and again in 2015.  You are absolutely right - it would have been an earthmoving nightmare.  We were looking at terraced retaining walls cutting into the side of a ridge up to 150 ft high, and fills on the downhill side just as tall! In addition, the town of Summerville was worried (and rightfully so) about the loss of business in their town if the main highway would be bypassing it by a good distance.  Given the construction expense, the inconsistent soil conditions and lack of local buy-in, our design work on the project was halted in 2016 and reassigned to a consultant.  A possible solution (and I don't know that this will be the final outcome) will be to widen the remaining 2/3 lane sections to 4-lane divided along the existing alignment, so it will increase safety and capacity without bypassing the town.

[Tom958]

When I was at GDOT, I actually worked on the Summerville Bypass design twice - in 2007-2008 and again in 2015.  You are absolutely right - it would have been an earthmoving nightmare.  We were looking at terraced retaining walls cutting into the side of a ridge up to 150 ft high, and fills on the downhill side just as tall! In addition, the town of Summerville was worried (and rightfully so) about the loss of business in their town if the main highway would be bypassing it by a good distance.  Given the construction expense, the inconsistent soil conditions and lack of local buy-in, our design work on the project was halted in 2016 and reassigned to a consultant.  A possible solution (and I don't know that this will be the final outcome) will be to widen the remaining 2/3 lane sections to 4-lane divided along the existing alignment, so it will increase safety and capacity without bypassing the town.

Another advantage of sticking to the current alignment is that Google thinks that the best route from Atlanta to Huntsville is via I-75, part of GA 140 that's being widened, US 27 to Summerville, then GA 48 and AL 40 to Scottsboro and US 72. The route may see significant increases in traffic in coming years. OT, but I found it to be a very pleasant and scenic drive as well as an efficient one.