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.