Atlanta

[Tom958]

Per a GDOT press release, the DDI at 400 and Abernathy will open on Monday April 17th, weather permitting.

[Tomahawkin]

That DDI should have been done 20 years ago there. I'm ad nauseam in saying this but I don't understand why the Roswell Rd bridge wasn't rebuilt, especially with the bus and pedestrian traffic there. That bridge might be the most antiquated bridge in the city!

[Finrod]

I wonder when they're going to eventually reconstruct I-20 west of downtown out to I-285.  That road felt ancient and like it could fall over any time when I was commuting on it eight years ago.  I imagine the railroad underpass complicates things quite a bit.

I've never heard of any such project, and I don't know what railroad underpass you're referring to. Perhaps you're mistaking the Westview Drive bridge for a railroad bridge because the girders are so deep.

That's the one, I guess it just looks like a railroad underpass what with the crossing angle being so shallow.  Still, I can't imagine the local community would tolerate having it closed for any substantial period of time while I-20 is theoretically being rebuilt.

[Tomahawkin]

3 more DDIs are coming
1 @ 400 and Windward PKWY
1 @ Chapel Hill rd and IH 20
1 @ Roswell Road and IH 285
I'm curious as to how long these will take to build because these improvements are 20+ years overdue, IMO

[Tom958]

3 more DDIs are coming
1 @ 400 and Windward PKWY

I was unpleasantly surprised that they didn't build a SPUI there when they demolished and replaced the bridges to make room for more lanes under 400.

1 @ Chapel Hill rd and IH 20

After 285-Ashford-Dunwoody and 400-Abernathy, the third at diamond interchanges with a loop ramp in one quadrant.

1 @ Roswell Road and IH 285
I'm curious as to how long these will take to build because these improvements are 20+ years overdue, IMO

I'm assuming that none of these will require bridge replacement, so hopefully they'll happen fairly quickly.

[Tom958]

The 400-Abernathy DDI is open, but there's a lot more work to do there. A friend messaged me some photos. I'm not too excited about going over there myself in this dreary weather, but maybe I can swing by at some point in the near future after it's tidied up a bit. 

[Tomahawkin]

Taking guesses on the completion of the 285 bridges on the top end perimeter:

I'm taking the Over on a Labor Day completion date. Any guesses or does anyone have any 411 about the completion date???

"Tease The Folks!

The ramp from Chamblee/Dunwoody to 285 during evening rush is a complete cluster ####! Oy!

[Georgia Guardrail]

Saw some pylons going up on I-285 over Glenridge Dr.  Hopefully weather will cooperate and they will have those new bridges ready soon because I hardly see a day go by where I-285 westbound in that area isn't a total congested mess.

Does anyone have insight on when the SR 400 to Abernathy road southbound exit ramp will be in it's final combined alignment with the exit ramp to North Springs Marta Ramp?  Looks like right now they are using that area for gantry storage.  It would definitely help if they opened that ramp up soon.  There would be a lot less confusion.

[Georgia Guardrail]

On a unrelated note (but still related to Atlanta), I have a question about the southern I-75/I-85 split.  Why aren't there ramps going from I-85 to I-75 south or ramps going from I-75 north to I-85 north?

It's a pet peeve of mine when they make major interchanges without covering all possible directional ramps.

[Tom958]

Taking guesses on the completion of the 285 bridges on the top end perimeter:

I'm taking the Over on a Labor Day completion date. Any guesses or does anyone have any 411 about the completion date???

"Tease The Folks!

The ramp from Chamblee/Dunwoody to 285 during evening rush is a complete cluster ####! Oy!

I typed the question into Bing and:

2021

The new I-285 interchange at Ga. 400 north of Atlanta was supposed to be finished by the end of this year. Thanks to the discovery of unmarked utilities and the addition of work to the project, the new target date is late 2021, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

I dunno. Labor Day weekend seems as good a guess as any.

[Tom958]

On a unrelated note (but still related to Atlanta), I have a question about the southern I-75/I-85 split.  Why aren't there ramps going from I-85 to I-75 south or ramps going from I-75 north to I-85 north?

It's a pet peeve of mine when they make major interchanges without covering all possible directional ramps.

Oh so many reasons. First, there's very little demand for travel in that direction. Second, there are service ramps very close to it along both 75 and 85. I guess the ramp could be strictly from freeway to freeway to avoid cripplingly expensive braided connections and/or crazy-short weaves, but most of the few people actually using such ramps would likely do so in order to access Cleveland and Metropolitan Avenues. Besides that, as it stands, traffic bound between 75 to the south and Metropolitan Avenue to the north could use the ramps provided at Langford Parkway.

I've never thought about it before, but the opportunity to make that connection was when I-85 was first built in the early sixties. They could've built a trumpet interchange with a loop ramp for northbound 75 to southbound 85, merging into 85 from the left as at the I-20-59 interchange in Birmingham. Yikes! That'd also require a design speed of 45 mph or so on the northbound 85 mainline. Had that happened, I think it's likely that the ramp would've been abandoned during the Freeing the Freeways rebuild in order to increase the design speed of the northbound 85 mainline and to eliminate that dangerous and dysfunctional connection. Admittedly, that wasn't done on the north side, but that connection is a lot more important there and the land consumed by vastly increasing the footprint of the trumpet interchange there was mostly or all nonresidential.

[US 89]

Yeah, I’ve used the southbound-75 to northbound-85 connection several times but can’t say I’ve ever needed to make a similar movement on the south side. I imagine it’s because 75 and 85 are close enough north of 285.

[Tomahawkin]

Has anyone noticed the new cluster#### of a Bottleneck 285 and 85 is near the Interchange at the airport? 1 lane exiting 285 to 85 south isn't going to cut it, especially with the truck traffic that goes in and out of Air Cargo from the airport

[Georgia]

its been like that for a while, not really a new one at all.  if you are staying on 285 WB, stay in the far left lane if you want to go anywhere near the speed limit. 

[Tom958]

Has anyone noticed the new cluster#### of a Bottleneck 285 and 85 is near the Interchange at the airport? 1 lane exiting 285 to 85 south isn't going to cut it, especially with the truck traffic that goes in and out of Air Cargo from the airport

I think we've discussed this before. I've learned to forego the ramp to 85 south and take the next exit instead, accessing 85 south via the CD road. I've idly sketched out potential solutions, but I'm pretty stumped. I wonder what our Redesigning Interchanges crew would come up with. 

[Tomahawkin]

My guess would be Texas style flyover ramps. The would probably be implemented as connectors to elevated toll lanes that would run on 85 south to S.R. 74. That interchange needs to be rebuilt because of the truck traffic that uses that route to bypass 285 to get to IH 75 en route to Florida. This concept however is a pipe dream and would not start until the mid 2030's with the way GDOT is reactive instead of proactive when it comes to traffic issues south of IH 20

[Tom958]

Someone knocked down this overhead today. The backups on 285 and 85 were considerable.

[Tomahawkin]

!!!Breaking!!! Per GDOT, construction is finally set to begin on the 285/20 interchange in Dekalb county later this month. It's 25+ years overdue and I hope they bring overhead light given all of the shootings on area interstates over the past 5+ years. Hopefully a year from now we get the news on the Construction beginning on 285/20 interchange west of Atlanta...

[ran4sh]

Good luck getting DeKalb County to install lights. Even the Moreland Interchange doesn't have them, except for I-85

[Tomahawkin]

Yeah, it baffles me that 285 is one of the most dangerous interstates in the country yet officials both local and state continue to neglect overhead lighting on it. That road is dangerous in the dark and don't let it rain...

[ran4sh]

Well the state/GDOT doesn't generally pay for roadway lighting anyway, they say it's local government's responsibility to pay for them if wanted

[Tomahawkin]

Drove by the 285/20 interchange this morning. Ground clearing is going on. That interchange is going to like "Night and Day Different by Labor with all the missing trees along that stretch. It's going to finally look like a urban interchange! IMO

[Tom958]

Drove by the 285/20 interchange this morning. Ground clearing is going on. That interchange is going to like "Night and Day Different by Labor with all the missing trees along that stretch. It's going to finally look like an urban interchange! IMO

AFAIK, the design of the interchange will require relatively little disruption to traffic during construction. The left-turning movements from and toward the east will be carried on high flyovers, and the ones from and toward downtown will use the existing ramps. Both of the losing contenders for the design-build contract proposed layouts that would've been more disruptive to build, but Archer-Western pretty much stuck with GDOT's original concept, just with longer spans and fewer columns and straddle bents for the flyovers.

"This really shouldn't turn into an endless nightmare like 285-400," Tom said hopefully. 

[Tomahawkin]

I seriously hope the same contractor who rebuilt the Bridges on 285 North of there is the same one doing this interchange. They were quick in replacing those bridges. I Would imagine most serious work at this interchange will be done overnights and on weekends...?

[architect77]

Drove by the 285/20 interchange this morning. Ground clearing is going on. That interchange is going to like "Night and Day Different by Labor with all the missing trees along that stretch. It's going to finally look like an urban interchange! IMO

AFAIK, the design of the interchange will require relatively little disruption to traffic during construction. The left-turning movements from and toward the east will be carried on high flyovers, and the ones from and toward downtown will use the existing ramps. Both of the losing contenders for the design-build contract proposed layouts that would've been more disruptive to build, but Archer-Western pretty much stuck with GDOT's original concept, just with longer spans and fewer columns and straddle bents for the flyovers.

"This really shouldn't turn into an endless nightmare like 285-400," Tom said hopefully. 

just with longer spans and fewer columns and straddle bents for the flyovers.


-SOUNDS LIKE THIS might look really GOOD and ELEGANT!