Lane Flak, Travel Times, And Oddball Limits

Live, from Kennesaw, it's "The Georgia Road Geek"!!! (with apologies to Saturday Night Live) :)

Over the past few days since I posted my last blog regarding the new southbound lanes on US 19/GA 400, I've received feedback... and it hadn't been pretty, y'all.

Fortunately, it's not against me, but instead, the new lanes in question.

For those of you who have not been on 400 lately, the new configuration of 400 southbound between Windward Parkway (Exit 11) and GA 14o/Holcomb Bridge Road (Exit 7) is now 3 main traffic flow lanes with far right lanes that only run between the entrance ramps and the next exit ramp. From Exit 11 to Haynes Bridge Road (Exit 9), there was a net gain of one (1) new lane, but from Exit 9 to Exit 7, the net gain was zero (0).

There is a new far right lane that begins at each entrance ramp, but is an "exit only" lane funnelling traffic into the next exit. Otherwise, you have to shift left at least one lane to get into the main traffic flow.

Given this new southbound 400 configuration, I can see why folks are disappointed. I, too, would've liked to have seen 4 lanes continuous southbound for greater capacity.

Now, about those estimated travel times...

On the morning commute, it is quite common to hear about 30-minute travel times on 400 southbound from Cumming to the Buckhead toll plaza... and I do wonder sometimes if that is truthful, given the propensity for traffic to be quite heavy in Forsyth County. I leave the house by 6 AM most days and travel from McFarland Parkway (Exit 12, closer to Alpharetta than Cumming) to I-285 eastbound (Exit 4A), and it can take a good 20-25 minutes on that stretch alone.

Tonight, my wife and I are in Kennesaw for a festival and I drove straight from work in Northeast Atlanta to I-75 northbound, getting a rare first-hand experience in the crappy traffic of I-85 southbound to the Brookwood interchange (where I-75 and I-85 meet in Midtown Atlanta), and then I-75 northbound to Kennesaw.

On the I-75 stretch, the traffic moved at normal speeds until just after crossing the Chattahoochee River into Cobb County... where the infamous I-75-to-I-575 slowdown occurs. The message boards always give you the distance and travel times to certain points, such as the 75/575 split (Exit 268). While these may be estimates coming from GDOT's traffic command center, I tend to be fairly skeptical sometimes of how much reality is really factored into it... especially when I'm stuck in that dadburn mess!!!

Oh, one more thing before I sign off...

Have you ever encountered an "oddball" speed limit sign that is not in a 5- or 10-MPH increment?

For example, at the Roswell Senior Center, there is a "SPEED LIMIT 8" sign, and here at the Kennesaw State University Center, there is a "SPEED LIMIT 14" sign. Both of these beg the question, "How do you know if you're doing the exact speed limit unless you have a digital speedometer?" :)

Anyhow, I'll try to get a photo of each of those for you and put it on the website. Heck, I might... just might... even shoot some "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" footage. :)

That's all for now. I'm going to join my wife and listen to some storytellers soon (plus help with the registration booth). Thanks for reading, sharing your thoughts, and please come back again.

New GA 400 SB Lanes To Open Monday

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the new southbound lanes on US 19/GA 400 between Windward Parkway (Exit 11) and GA 14o/Holcomb Bridge Road (Exit 7) will be open tomorrow (Monday). Please click here to read the article.

For all you "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" fans out there, I'll get some video footage for y'all as soon as possible. In addition to video, I'll snap some photos as well.

As for the "sign goofs" I found on the southbound side, I'll keep y'all abreast on any happenings relating to that matter.

To the Trivunovics of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada... thanks for being the first from outside the U.S. to request an official "Georgia Road Geek" magnet. I just put it in the mail today. If there are any other readers (especially international readers) of this blog who would like a magnet, then please let me know and I'll mail you one as well.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, tell all your friends about us, and please come back again.

My New Ham Tag

After over 3 months of waiting, my amateur (ham) radio license plate finally arrived in today's mail... WOO-HOO!!! :)

During that time, I had to display a flimsy paper Georgia "temporary tag" on my vehicle.

Initially, I had the tag attached to my bumper, but after I discovered it barely hanging on, I immediately taped it to the rear window of my vehicle.

Not long afterward, as I was coming home from work, I was briefly stopped by the Chamblee police, who asked me why I had a tag with "JAN222007" written on it. I explained to the officer that I had an amateur radio tag on order from the state and showed him my registration. He was immediately satisfied and let me go along my way, even stopping traffic on busy Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to help me get out safely.

As for the tag itself, I now know why the county tag office gave me a date of January 22, 2007, on the "temporary tag"... because it takes the state so dadblame long to deliver the real plate to you.

In Georgia, standard license plates cost a vehicle owner $20 per year plus an annual "ad valorem" tax (property tax assessed according the the vehicle's value) imposed by the county where the vehicle is registered. With the ham tag, you only pay the annual county "ad valorem" tax. When renewing your tag each year, you also are required to provide the tag office a copy of your valid FCC Amateur Radio License. For more information on amateur radio license plates, please contact your county's tag office.

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

Sign Goofs And Milton County

Yesterday, at Fry's Electronics in Alpharetta, I bought us another digital camera, a Canon PowerShot A530, to add to our digital photography arsenal.

To try it out, I took it with me to work... and don't you know it, I found some "sign goofs" that just virtually begged me to take their pictures. :)

First one was on GA 141/Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (PIB) north at Chamblee-Tucker Road in Chamblee. The sign said "TO I-285" and pointed right, leading one to believe that they should turn there to go to I-285 instead of just proceeding up PIB. It had replaced a prior sign which said "TO I-85".

The second goof was spotted just this morning along US 19/GA 400 southbound between Windward Parkway (Exit 11) and GA 120/Old Milton Parkway (Exit 10). In that particular instance, two (2) new "big green signs" (BGS) for Old Milton were mounted just last night. There was one thing the contractor forgot to include on them... the state route shield for GA 120!!!

Please click here for the special feature page I created for these goofs.

In other Georgia road news, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has proposed improvements for 2 busy major highways in the Atlanta area, Buford Highway (US 23/GA 13) in DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties and Tara Boulevard (US 19/41/GA 3) in Clayton County. Please click here to read the article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

And finally, for all you "county clinchers" out there, legislation has been introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives (House Resolution 12) for a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at recreating Milton County from North Fulton County. If the bill passes the General Assembly and is signed by the Governor (which is likely), then it would go before all Georgia voters in a statewide referendum on November, 2008. Please click here to read it.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading and please come back again.

Classic Georgia Roadsign Photo - Dahlonega

With permission from the Lumpkin County Library, here is a classic Georgia highway sign photo from the Madeleine K. Anthony Collection of the Chestatee Regional Library System...

The above photo from 1971 shows how the Dahlonega town square looked just before it was revitalized into the much more attractive historic district of today. The University of Georgia, Georgia DOT, several Dahlonega area business and civic organizations, and students from my alma mater, North Georgia College, were all instrumental in this revitalization effort that ultimately resulted in the desirable tourist destination that it has become. Dahlonega's claim to fame is being the site of America's very first gold rush, which occurred in 1828, 21 years before gold was discovered in California.

Here is a photo I had taken in 1998 of roadsigns that existed in the same location 27 years later...

If you ever get the chance, I strongly recommend you visit Dahlonega and take in the history, sights, and scenes. For more information on Dahlonega, visit their official tourism website, www.dahlonega.org.

I thank Anne Amerson of the Lumpkin County Historical Society for e-mailing me the historical photo that I originally saw in the December/January, 2007 edition of "400 Edition", and I thank both Debra Capponi and Claudia Gibson of the Lumpkin County Library for giving me permission to share this classic roadsign photo with y'all.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading and please come back again.

Map Dots, More Videos, And Readers

Well, folks, 2007 has arrived and I hope y'all had a happy and safe holiday. This week was time to go back to my "real job" after a nice Christmas/New Years vacation spent with my wife and family... and here is my first blog for the new year...

Map Dots Coming Back

This week, it seems that the Georgia DOT (GDOT) has decided to put more than 400 communties back on the official state highway map.

This controversy has generated news stories both locally and nationally for the past couple of months. Here are links to the latest news in this "map dot saga"...

Tiny Towns Going Back On Highway Map (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

500 Communities Put Back On Georgia Map (Yahoo! News)

While it's too late for the regular-size print 2007 map, they will be back on the large print version to be released this summer by GDOT.

More Videos

Over the last few months of this year, road enthusiasts from all over America have been posting their own road videos.

Recently, Alex Nitzman, co-webmaster of AllAboutRoads (AARoads), has gotten into the act by posting some of his own road videos on YouTube (featuring some Atlanta freeway footage). Please click here to see them.

Last week, I posted the 12th episode of "ROADGEEK-CAM!!!" featuring various Florida road scenes I shot during our Christmas holiday travels to and from Lakeland. Please click here to see it.

... and finally...

Readers

Just yesterday, I decided that I wanted to get a reader so that I can read all my favorite blogs, news, etc., in one convenient portal. I chose Google Reader and so far, I like it. :)

Here are some of the blogs (subscription URL) I have subscribed to (and recommend)...

On The Road (http://blog.aaroads.com)
Ryan's Digital Roadgeekdom (http://ww.r-dub.us/r-blog)
Sure, Why Not? (http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com)

It's quite simple to subscribe to your favorite blog, news feed, etc. If you haven't got a reader yet, then I highly recommend you check out Google Reader.

Coming Next Time (I Hope)....

... a vintage 1970s roadsign photo from Dahlonega town square, pending permission from the picture's owner (Dahlonega Public Library).

Thank you for visiting and please come back again.