ATLANTA | Development Thread VI

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

The 1st segment (a 0.75 mile segment) of the Southside beltline will start construction in October extending the Westside trail through Pittsburgh neighborhood.

The next segment after that will be Bill Kennedy Way and through Grant Park with a start date coming once it is determined when Federal funding will be dispersed.

https://beltlineorg-wpengine.netdna-ssl....s/2019/04/Final-Presentation-7.22.19.pdf

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by Hokiehaven

I don't even see how they could add ramps to the highway. Seems like it'd be a cluster to add an exit, or onramp to the highway. It's way too busy in that stretch on 75/85 as is.

I agree, focus needs to be made on making the city livable and less notice of any aspect of the highway in Midtown would be a good thing.

There was a study (can't remember if it was GDOT or Atlanta) that recommended closing some of the on/off ramps on the connector. They are too close together, which caused a lot of merge points and creates safety issues. If I recall it didn't address the fact that these exits are horrible for the pedestrian experience in Midtown. Just look at trying to cross 75/85 on 10th street or North Ave, as compared to 5th street.

[testarossa50]

Originally Posted by shivtim

There was a study (can't remember if it was GDOT or Atlanta) that recommended closing some of the on/off ramps on the connector. They are too close together, which caused a lot of merge points and creates safety issues. If I recall it didn't address the fact that these exits are horrible for the pedestrian experience in Midtown. Just look at trying to cross 75/85 on 10th street or North Ave, as compared to 5th street.

Midtown is as done as it's ever going to be with regard to general use exits; the great rebuild of the 10th/14th exit in the mid-2000s is likely all we're ever going to get. There's one access point for all of north midtown (10/14/17) and another for North. Hard to get any more barebones than that.

Downtown is where there are opportunities to cut back. There are +/- 5 onramps and +/- 5 offramps going in each direction between North and I-20. That's quite a lot of merging. The Edgewood Avenue southbound onramp is the most troublesome imo.

[Atlriser]

IMO part of the issue with the connector southbound is all the on-ramps between 10th and I-20. If some of these were eliminated, the connector would probably flow better. I think they also need to barrier separate flow through traffic from local traffic somehow. I used to think southbound from 400 to I-20 was the worst but now I believe northbound from 75/85 S to 75/85 N is the worst. It is constantly backed up all hours of the day and you never know what time of day it could be at a standstill.

All summer, I’ve had to come and go off the University Ave exit for meetings and going northbound it is always at a standstill whether it’s 7, 9, 1 or 5 in the afternoon.

[Street Advocate]

Originally Posted by GeorgiaPeanuts

The 1st segment (a 0.75 mile segment) of the Southside beltline will start construction in October extending the Westside trail through Pittsburgh neighborhood.

The next segment after that will be Bill Kennedy Way and through Grant Park with a start date coming once it is determined when Federal funding will be dispersed.

https://beltlineorg-wpengine.netdna-ssl....s/2019/04/Final-Presentation-7.22.19.pdf

I wasn’t able to make the meeting. Was the second portion just that through Boulevard to Bill Kennedy, correct? There will still be a gap even if tfederal funding is received?

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

The presentation has an image that shows the two different segments upcoming and the gap is the dotted line between them. It also shows a sketch of the two sections

[BunkyWay]

Originally Posted by Atlriser

There are no plans to add any additional interstate access points anytime in the future. I am glad. Need to focus on the people that live in the area not the ones driving into midtown. The actual residents of Atlanta have been ignored by the state for the past 50 years. That trend needs to change and our needs addressed going forward.

So you want companies to relocate to new, glassy high-rises in Midtown, but then also want to make it harder for those Companies' employees to get to Midtown from other points in the metro. Makes perfect sense.

While you're at it, you should also argue for spending billions on MARTA expansions despite ridership declines for over a decade.

[arctk2014]

Originally Posted by BunkyWay

So you want companies to relocate to new, glassy high-rises in Midtown, but then also want to make it harder for those Companies' employees to get to Midtown from other points in the metro. Makes perfect sense.

While you're at it, you should also argue for spending billions on MARTA expansions despite ridership declines for over a decade.

Justifying transit investments with short-term ridership numbers as an ROI factor is a flawed approach. That would be likened to those who try to rationalize transit shouldn't be making money given how heavily subsidized our roads are currently.

Imagine if we treated transit infrastructure as an insurance policy so that in a healthy economy we invest in expansion and increasing access regardless of the immediate pay-off of ridership.

When the economy tanks people have options to bank on when they can no longer afford the costs of driving - which is what many people did during the Great Recession.

Many of the corporate relocations along MARTA's transit lines aren't necessarily for short-term payoffs but long-term payoffs and talent recruitment - it's about resiliency.

People want options even if the current economy is doing well. If you're not positioned in a transit-accessible area what happens to your employees if they're struggling to drive to work every day?

We should be setting up our transit systems all over America for success but in today's era of "instant gratification," it's difficult to win over long-term investments when everyone wants to cash out with a short-term ROI.

[montydawg]

Originally Posted by BunkyWay

So you want companies to relocate to new, glassy high-rises in Midtown, but then also want to make it harder for those Companies' employees to get to Midtown from other points in the metro. Makes perfect sense.

While you're at it, you should also argue for spending billions on MARTA expansions despite ridership declines for over a decade.

I have worked for a Fortune 500 company in midtown for 5 years. I could count on my hand the number of people who lived intown in my department. 90% lived in the suburbs, however many did take the bus in. I had to laugh when I read ‘they should spend money on me and not them’ from ATLriser. He is living in a bubble of he believes midtown could survive without the suburbs or the workforce that commutes via car. Companies would not be here is they didn’t have access to the entire metro population of workforce talent. If we can bring the population of the COA up to 3 million, we can talk about limiting highway access or introducing congestion pricing, but as is with only 500,000 population, no company would stay here if they only had the intown labor pool to choose from. Unfortunately even in NYC, there is a percentage of the population who chooses to drive instead of take transit to work. These people cannot be ignored and driving will continue to be a mode of transportation vital to the economy.

I also strongly believe that transit should be a top priority for the state and Atlanta is not making enough investment in a region wide transit system, including the suburbs, which is sorely needed.

[montydawg]

Originally Posted by Atlriser

There are no plans to add any additional interstate access points anytime in the future. I am glad. Need to focus on the people that live in the area not the ones driving into midtown. The actual residents of Atlanta have been ignored by the state for the past 50 years. That trend needs to change and our needs addressed going forward.

I might also point out that the State DOT is responsible for providing a regional transportation system (by law, only roads)- and local governments are responsible for local projects and roads. If you are looking for transportation projects curated for COA residents, you should be looking at the COA for that- and not the state. The state does not fund local projects.

[ATLMidcity]

I visited the Atlanta city compilation page for development news and all I got was a hissy fit about transit and auto access to Midtown, and a picture of a slob fantasizing about a girlfriend who lost his lousy t-shirt...

[3yonce]

Google Maps finally updated the 3D for Midtown, West Midtown, and Inman Park/O4W, so there goes my productivity for the day...

[Libertarian]

For Buckhead, Fulton Industrial, etc. the Google imagery is still 3 or 4 years out of date.

[3yonce]

Originally Posted by Libertarian

For Buckhead, Fulton Industrial, etc. the Google imagery is still 3 or 4 years out of date.

Yeah, it seems to stop just past SCAD and Atlantic Station. It's not even showing the construction site at 1781 Peachtree.

[bigstick]

Originally Posted by ATLMidcity

I visited the Atlanta city compilation page for development news and all I got was a hissy fit about transit and auto access to Midtown, and a picture of a slob fantasizing about a girlfriend who lost his lousy t-shirt...

Yep that has been happening here a lot more often. It is "living in your parent's basement syndrome".....

[GeorgiaPeanuts]

There is currently a hawk hanging out on the SCAD webcam, been chilling there for over an hour:

[SteveD]

That is awesome!!

[DNR]

What a nice view he has from there. Maybe he can shift over just a little to the left.

[ATLSkyPalaceOwner]

Originally Posted by shivtim

There was a study (can't remember if it was GDOT or Atlanta) that recommended closing some of the on/off ramps on the connector. They are too close together, which caused a lot of merge points and creates safety issues. If I recall it didn't address the fact that these exits are horrible for the pedestrian experience in Midtown. Just look at trying to cross 75/85 on 10th street or North Ave, as compared to 5th street.

There are some stretches just north of I-20 that are pretty bad. Heading NB there's like 3 exits in the span of just over a mile. It causes so much weaving that all but one should be closed as a safety consideration, not even thinking about traffic flow.

[ATLMidcity]

For a minute I thought this was a forum about skyscrapers and urban development until I saw the bird sanctuary overlooking the asphalt-covered Connector.

Maybe a SAD metaphor for these "desperate" times in Podunk ATL.

Asphalt and animals. I guess it wouldn't be too far fetched to expect to see a sleuth sitting on a couch with a dog watching a — cat parade on the tube.