Atlanta

[Georgia Guardrail]

I hate it when they try to cut corners and just restripe a road to "widen" it.  It's cheap and dangerous.

Conversely, repaving and restriping makes much more sense as part of road diet projects, which I think are especially effective for improving those crumbling, poorly designed four-lane access roads in central Atlanta with faded medians.  It makes them easier to navigate and friendlier for pedestrians. 

[architect77]

Responding to the previous post, my response be that there is always an ongoing tradeoff between safety and capacity, especially where freeways are concerned, notwithstanding the cost considerations.   I don't like 11' lanes on freeways either, especially on I-285, but sometimes it is the only way to squeeze lanes into some of these corridors, and if you take the width from the shoulders, that causes its own safety issues.

I attended the open house for the East side I-285 Express Lane project in 2021 or 2022. They may have revised the plans but I remember seeing Express Lanes proposed to on the grouwnd, barrier separated with all of the general purpose lanes rebuilt to a slightly different alignment. That's where I remember seeing a couple of 11' wide lanes.

If they are totally rebuilding the I-285 roadway, I would imagine that no left merges will remain like at US78. I know that existing right of way has its limits, and I know that they don't want to acquire much new right-of-way. With all of that I can see an 11' lane might be unavoidable in certain spots, but I just feel that building a roadway to serve the next 50-75 years should be as ideal as it can be. I realize that the overpasses along I-85 barely accommodated a 5th lane being added in the 90s.

I think we all ride on freeway 11' lanes more than we realize, but I can't emphasize enough how I-85 through Gwinnett with its original 5 wide lanes was so pleasant until they painted the center HOV, then HOT, then Express Lane into existence. Today the middle lanes are not enjoyable or comfortable when traveling at high speeds.

[ChiMilNet]

Responding to the previous post, my response be that there is always an ongoing tradeoff between safety and capacity, especially where freeways are concerned, notwithstanding the cost considerations.   I don't like 11' lanes on freeways either, especially on I-285, but sometimes it is the only way to squeeze lanes into some of these corridors, and if you take the width from the shoulders, that causes its own safety issues.

I think we all ride on freeway 11' lanes more than we realize, but I can't emphasize enough how I-85 through Gwinnett with its original 5 wide lanes was so pleasant until they painted the center HOV, then HOT, then Express Lane into existence. Today the middle lanes are not enjoyable or comfortable when traveling at high speeds.

Not to mention that too many people ride in that I-85 express lane going 5-10 below the speed limit as a result, which is just very annoying. I have had to exit the lane and then quickly re-enter (where legally allowed, of course) to go around a few such drivers. Having a wider lane would likely help with this, but I don't see them making any changes in the foreseeable future, especially with much higher priorities.