Aerial Road Photos - West Metro Athens

Fellow road enthusiasts, here's a little "roadgeek treat"... some West Metro Athens aerial road photos taken from Terraserver-USA.

The above diamond interchange, where US Highways 29 and 78 and GA Highways 8, 10, and 316 meet, is located just outside Athens in Oconee County.

Before 1995, US 78/GA 10 (a.k.a. "Atlanta Highway") continued northward into Athens/Clarke County and dead-ended into what was US 29/GA 8 at the location in the next photo below:

Above: Old US 78/GA 10 (now US 78 Bus/GA 10) dead ends at Old US 29/ Old GA 8 just inside Athens/Clarke County.

When GA 316 was opened all the way to the Athens Perimeter (GA 10 Loop/422) in 1995, US Highways 29 and 78 plus GA 8 joined 316 on its final leg.

The next photo shows GA 316's eastern end at the Athens Perimeter.

Once you cross the bridge over the Athens Perimeter, the road becomes Epps Bridge Parkway, which will put you back on US 78 Bus/GA 10 eastbound just west of Downtown Athens.

US 29/78 and GA 8 join GA 10 Loop/422, proceeding eastward toward the University of Georgia.

In 1989, one of my favorite Athens-grown bands, The B-52s, immortalized the Atlanta Highway in their song "Love Shack".... love shack, baby love shack!!! :)

That concludes your "roadgeek treat" for tonight. Thanks for visiting and please come back again.

Georgia Loves To Name Highways

Recently, during a YIM discussion with Alex of AARoads.com, we briefly discussed Georgia's penchant for naming highways (or stretches thereof) for famous people.

For example, there are stretches of highways named for polilticans, including, but not limited to, the following...

Tom Murphy Freeway - a stretch of I-20 from the Alabama state line to I-285 in West Atlanta named for former Georgia House Speaker Tom Murphy.

Cynthia McKinney Parkway - a stretch of GA 10 (Memorial Drive) in DeKalb County named for the controversial and outspoken Congresswoman who represents much of DeKalb County.

Zell Miller Mountain Parkway - GRIP corridor GA 515 from the northern end of I-575 at the Cherokee/Pickens County line to the North Carolina state line named for former Governor and former U.S. Senator Zell Miller.

But did you know that there are even stretches of roads named for country stars with Georgia roots? Yes, Virginia, they, too, can have highways (or stretches thereof) named for them.

For your reading pleasure, here they are...

Alan Jackson Highway - I-85 in Coweta County from Exit 51 to Exit 57 (Senate Resolution 781) . Jackson's hometown is Newnan, the Coweta County seat Senate Resolution 781.

Travis Tritt Highway - GA 92 from Hiram Sudie Road to Ridge Road in Paulding County. Tritt's hometown is Marietta (Cobb County), but since he makes his home in Paulding County (just west of Cobb), the State of Georgia decided to honor him there as per House Resolution 849.

Trisha Yearwood Parkway - SR 83 north from the Monticello Square to the city limits (House Resolution 453). Yearwood's hometown is Monticello, the Jasper County seat (incidentally, her latest CD is titled "Jasper County").

And finally...

Chet Atkins Parkway - I-185 in Troup and Harris Counties, named for the late guitar legend whose ties to Georgia are that he spent part of his childhood in Harris County. (House Resolution 245)

Dear readers and fellow road enthusiasts, that concludes tonight's meaningless trivia. Next time you contemplate life Here In The Real World, or you're wondering if She's In Love With The Boy", or perhaps you are on your way to the Country Club, just rememeber that if Georgia hasn't named a road for your favorite singer or musician yet, then please be patient and give our folks under the "Gold Dome" some more time. Based on their penchant for naming roads after folks, they'll GIT-R-DONE!!! (NOTE: "Larry the Cable Guy" is not from Georgia, though his "redneck" mulleted Blue Collar compatriot Jeff Foxworthy is. I'd be willing to bet the farm that Foxworthy will have a road named for him eventually.)

That's all for now. Thanks always for reading and please visit often.

Hammin' On The PC

Fellow road enthusiasts... especially those of you who are hams...

Over this past weekend, I have installed and configured a "freeware" application called EchoLink, which allows ham radio operators to communicate with others worldwide via their PCs.

So how does this differ from standard Internet "instant messenger" systems? Here's how...

Using Voice Over IP (VoIP), EchoLink links your PC via the EchoLink server to actual radio transceiver sites and allows hams to communicate to hams who are operating either via EchoLink or via ham radio transceivers. Here is an illustration taken from the EchoLink website...

Before one can use EchoLink, however, you are required by the EchoLink to submit your licensing information to prove that you are the actual ham radio licensee. It took me about a week to do so via "snail mail".

So far, via EchoLink, I have communicated with hams in the U.S. and Canada, plus Australia, Iraq, Israel, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Again, this is open only to licensed hams since it is an Internet link to ham radio transceivers.

To learn more about EchoLink, visit www.echolink.org, and if you do get it installed and running, then please let me (KC4AZO) know. I'd enjoy some QSOs (conversations) with "roadgeek hams". :)

That's all for now. Thanks for visiting and please do so often.

Georgia DOT Project Info Available

For your reading pleasure, allow me to introduce to you the Georgia DOT's Public Outreach website.

On this website, you can access project information either by county or project name. They even include PDF documents that show maps and/or road construction details.

For example, here are some of the dozens of projects available just to get you started...

- SR 20 Widening In Forsyth and Gwinnett Counties
- New Bridges on the Islands Expressway (Chatham County Road 787 - Old Toll US 80)
- US 411 Connector in Bartow County

... and finally... GA 400 Widening/Reconstruction in North Fulton and South Forsyth Counties!!!

However, GDOT does not have anything on this website regarding the I-85/GA 316 interchange improvements... bummers. :(

Oh yeah... here's a "Georgia Road Geek Shout-Out" to a fellow ham and Forsyth Countian... Mr. "I Hate GA 400" himself... Tom (callsign withheld). Thanks for the QSOs on the Sawnee repeater and for your comments on our beloved road. Tom, you truly inspired me. :)

That's all for now. Thanks for visiting and please do so often.

My Virtual Bainbridge Trip

Tonight, via Yahoo! Instant Messenger, fellow road enthusiast and AARoads co-webmaster Alex Nitzman took yours-truly on a "virtual trip" along the Bainbridge By-Pass (US 27/84 GA 1/38).
Now that I've seen them, I want to talk the wife into a real roadtrip down US 27 to Tallahassee so that I can add several more Georgia counties (plus at least one in Florida).

Last February, Alex had taken a detour through Bainbridge and Thomasville, and of course he snapped a boatload of photos in the process. As always, the photos are of the excellent quality that we, fans of the AARoads site, have come to expect. If you've never visited AARoads, then you've never visited a "road site". The URL is www.aaroads.com.

At some point in the future, Alex plans to put these photos on the Georgia Gateway page of AARoads, so I don't want to "steal his thunder" by placing any on this blogsite.

Speaking of the Georgia Gateway, do expect some new photos of I-675 to be coming soon. For future expansion, he is also planning to add some Albany By-Pass (US 19/82/GA 3/300/520) coverage.

BTW, here's a picture of my mobile ham radio gear that I setup when I'm in my truck...

It's a Vertex VX-150 2m handie-talkie, running 5 watts power max through a glass mounted MFJ 1738 whip antenna. The standard antenna is a "rubber duckie" for normal handheld usage. The glass-mounted antenna, though, enables me to run it much better as a makeshift mobile rig.

A special thanks to Alex for the "virtual Bainbridge trip" and to y'all for reading "The Georgia Road Geek". Again, have a Happy Easter.

I Hate GA 400!

"I HATE GA 400!"

Well, at least that one ham had to say during our QSO (on-air conversation) this afternoon on the Sawnee Mountain repeater as I was making my way home up GA 400.

For your viewing pleasure, here is an illustration as to why one would develop a disdain for this particular highway...

ABOVE: Traffic jam on GA 400 North at Northridge Road (Exit 6)

Someone once said, "If life hands you lemons, then make some lemonade." In that spirit, I took advantage of the jam to take the following roadsign photos...

The first is one of GA 400's newest erroneous BGSes...

What's wrong with this sign? Two things...

- The Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area should be on a brown sign (MUTCD standard for parks and recreation areas).

- The Roswell Visitors Center should be on a blue sign (MUTCD standard for tourist information and motorist services).

MUTCD (pronounced "mut-sid") stands for Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the Federal Highway Administration's standard for all highway signs and signals.

Remember the erroneous "Roswell 9/Dahlonega 26" distance sign from several blogs ago? It was taken down and finally, the Georgia DOT erected the correct mileage sign as follows...

Here's a candid shot of a MARTA bus actually using the hard shoulder since traffic speeds were below 35 MPH...

And finally, some updated construction photos...

Top: Between Holcomb Bridge and Mansell Roads.
Bottom: At McFarland Road

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, please come back again, and have a Happy Easter!!!

The Interstates, GA 400, And Ham Radio

This morning, I received an e-mail from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) with the following news...

On April 5, 2006, the United States Senate approved a resolution introduced by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and the members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Interstate System.

The resolution is Senate Resolution 427. Please click here to read it from the Congressional Record.

In other Georgia Road Geek news...

The GA 400 widening project is coming along nicely, especially in the section between Holcomb Bridge Road (Exits 7/7A-B) and Haynes Bridge Road (Exit 9). The crews are already laying an initial gravel and asphalt base.

Further up GA 400 in Forsyth County, the crews there have graded out the shoulder on the southbound lanes and have added some rebar and concrete, similar to the work done on the shoulders between the North Springs MARTA Station (Exit 5C) and Windward Parkway (Exit 11).

Speaking of Windward Parkway, apparently, the Georgia DOT is in no hurry to fix the misspelled "Winward" BGSes.

On a personal note, I've gotten a new 2-meter (144-148 MHz) ham radio handie-talkie and have set up a good makeshift mobile system with a glass-mount antenna and a plug-in speaker microphone. If you are a ham and want to QSO (talk) with me, I usually monitor the Sawnee Mountain repeater (147.15 MHz +) during the afternoon while driving home. I've already talked to some of the local hams who hang out on it and even met many of them this past Tuesday at a Forsyth County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) meeting. I've even hooked back up with an old friend, Kevin, a railroad worker, "railfan", and fellow ham I've known since childhood. Kevin, if you're reading this blog, I just want you to know that it's great to hear from you again, pal. :)

Again, if you want to know more about the Amateur (Ham) Radio Service and how you can become a ham yourself, then check out the American Radio Relay League's website at www.arrl.org. If you're in the Metro Atlanta area, visit Ham Radio Outlet's store on Buford Highway. They carry a great selection of not only ham radio equipment, but also study guides for you to use to earn your "ticket" (FCC ham radio license). Mark (KJ4VO) is the manager and he and his crew will do you right. Just tell 'em Steve (KC4AZO) sent ya! :)

That's all for now. Thanks for visiting and "73 DE KC4AZO"!!!

Any Roadgeek Hams Out There?

Recently, I've been wondering if there are any road enthusiasts who are also licensed amateur (ham) radio operators.

My callsign in KC4AZO and I am an Advanced Class licensee (second-highest class available).

Even though I haven't been an active "ham", I've been contemplating dusting off the old 2m "handie-talkie" and getting back into the hobby at least in a limited capacity.

Anyhow, if you are a "ham", please let me know by e-mailing georgiaroadgeek at bellsouth dot net. I'm just curious as to how many "hams" read my blogs. :)

If you are interested in ham radio or otherwise just want to learn more about it, then please visit the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) website.

That's all for now. Thanks for visiting and please do so often.