I have been very critical of King Governor Barnes because of the way that he and his cronies have run this State. More power currently resides in the Governor's Office than at any time in recent Georgian history. I have been very critical of this, and I believe rightfully so. However, in the spirit of fairness, if he does something right, I am going to credit him for it. He actually has done something right, and I will take a few minutes to give him credit.
The Envirofreaks have stymied the development of the Atlanta area through court action over the past ten or more years. Due to their misguided actions, Atlanta was prohibited from adding more highway capacity in what was called a "non-attainment zone". This meant that dispite the phenominal growth of the metro Atlanta area, particularly the North Metro area, no new highway capacity could be built (either in the form of new freeways or widening existing freeways).
The logic of this escapes me. Their concern is the quality of air in Metro Atlanta. They act as if the people who live in the area don't care about their air quality. As I am moving there in a little more than two weeks, I am certainly concerned about the air quality in Metro Atlanta. However, please answer me this. If you stop the construction of new roadways and prevent the widening of existing roadways, all you do is choke up traffic. More cars on the same infrastructure results in more backups and more time idling on I85, Ga 400, or other highways. Please tell me how this helps the environment? How does having thousands of cars idling on Atlanta's highways help Atlanta's environment? Wouldn't Atlanta's air quality be better served by allowing traffic to move? Certainly seems so to me.
Governor Barnes was instrumental in getting this onerous court-ordered regime lifted off the people of Atlanta. He personally testified in a hearing earlier this year that ended in earlier decisions being overturned, freeing up Georgia to once again developed Atlanta's road infrastructure.
Now that this onerous regime has been lifted off of the people of Atlanta, we can address real transportation concerns. The State of Georgia should immediately address the traffic situation in the North Metro area by looking at the following areas. 1) Widen existing highways, especially I 85 (from the merge with I 75 to Hwy 316 - Exit 107), I 75 (from the merge with I85 to the Bartow County line), and Ga 400 (from I 85 to Cumming). These highways are constantly backed up, especially around rush hour. Just yesterday, I drove from Doraville back to Athens. From Spaghetti Junction to Jimmy Carter Blvd (exit 99), we were travelling from 10-30 MPH. This was only at 4:30 in the afternoon. I would hate to have seen it an hour later.
2) Start construction of the Northern arc. It would relieve so much traffic on I 75 and I 85 near the city. I would also relieve traffic on I285 of all the traffic travelling between northwest and northeast Georgia. Currently, most of that traffic takes I75 from Floyd County to Cobb, gets on I285 and picks up I 85 in Dekalb County. Keeping that traffic off of those roads relieves pressure on those roadways, and speeds up travel times from Athens to places like Dalton and Tennessee.
3) Upgrade Georgia 316. GA 316 needs two sets of improvements. Upgrading it to interstate standards should be of the first priority. It is a dangerous road from Lawrenceville to its terminus at the Athens Perimeter. The part from Lawrenceville to the I 85 merge is smooth and generally safe (except the merge itself). Much of the highway also needs to be widened. I would think that from Ga 20 (in Lawrenceville) to I 85 needs to be four lanes on each side, and from Ga 20 to the Barrow County line needs to be three lanes. This would address current needs and anticipated growth as it is spreading through Barrow County.
Many Envirofreaks have said that Atlanta doesn't do enough to promote public transit. The subway isn't as extensive as it is in other metro areas, this is true. However, residents of areas outside Fulton and DeKalb Counties have made it known that they do not want MARTA to be extended into their counties. Why should the people of Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton, and other counties should be forced to accept MARTA subway stops in their counties if they don't want them? However, there are long term steps that can help. Washington has a real network of HOV lanes. Between the main travel lanes on freeways heading into Washington, there is a set of barricaded lanes between. In the morning, the traffic goes into the city; in the afternoon, the traffic flows outward. These lanes are for the exclusive use of carpools and express busses. It is faster to get into the city on these express busses than it is to drive into the city during rush hour. It would take some doing to do it in Atlanta as the current Interstates aren't set up for that. However, I think this is a good long term goal for Atlanta if it really wants to promote carpooling and use of express busses. Single HOV lanes along side general travel lanes aren't going to be effective in accomplishing this purpose.
Thank you Governor Barnes for getting this burden lifted off of the people of North Georgia. Now, we can finally address the transportation needs of the people of the Metro Area, both for the short term as well as the long term.