Freeway Traffic Lights (Atlanta: how much, hotel, licenses)

[atl1221]

Has anyone else noticed traffic lights appearing on a lot of exit ramps around town lately? i know they are currently on the downtown connector SB, and I-75 NB ITP.....but recently ive seen some added to I-85, I-285, GA-400, and I-575. Personally, I think these are bad because they really back up the entrance ramps to the freeway, and therefore back up the secondary roads too. I understand they are supposed to loosen the freeway volume, but i'm concerned the secondary roads will be jammed up (worse than they are already.) does anyone have an opnion on this topic? am i concerned over nothing? I know these are EVERYWHERE near LA...does anyone from there have an opinion? just curious.....

[pinetreelover]

I saw a GA DOT representative speaking about them on the news. She cautioned that they take a while to get timed correctly (think months) and that the more of them they install, the more effective the entire approach will be. I suppose that once several exits in a row have them and they are timed well then the idea is that the flow smooths out and there shouldn't be secondary road back-up. Sounds impossible to me. There is very little about traffic that is that predictable. I guess we'll have to wait and see...

[wxjay]

Originally Posted by atl1221

Has anyone else noticed traffic lights appearing on a lot of exit ramps around town lately?

Don't you mean entrance ramps?

The key here is that study after study show that controlled access onto the freeways work to loosen bottlenecks and congestion. That's why they are being installed. Drivers here in Atlanta amaze me - most do not know the meaning of the word "merge" when dealing with entrance ramps onto the freeway. That goes for the people making the merge AND those folks driving on the rightmost lane on the highway. To those on the right lane already: don't you know you're supposed to switch to the second lane to allow cars entering the freeway to come on?

Back to the topic at hand: Having used the ones on Northside Dr. going onto I-75 N, I don't see any major backup on Northside necessarily. Yes the entrance ramp is clogged, but it moves quickly and I-75 N seems to flow great inside the perimeter.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by atl1221

Has anyone else noticed traffic lights appearing on a lot of exit ramps around town lately?

My worst fear is that the Atlanta metro is going to become a metered hell just like the Twin Cities did just over a decade ago.

(For background, there are over 400 metered entrance ramps in the Twin Cities metro freeway system, and there have been multiple studies done to determine how much good those meters do ... with mixed results).

Sometimes those ramp meters work wonders, but if they aren't placed and timed correctly they can easily cause more problems than they solve.

[K'ledgeBldr]

I remember these things from back in the late '60's or early '70's- they didn't work then and I know they won't work now. As Jay pointed out above- its the drivers that cause the problems. No matter how well the lights are "timed" that doesn't in any way garantee the "timing" of the driver, and/or the acceleration of the vehicle. Plus, even when most people do accelerate down the ramp- they get to the merge point and slow down, rubberneck to the rear (because they don't know how to use side-veiw mirrors correctly) and bottle-neck the ramp.
As I see it- Waste of tax-payer's money.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by wxjay

To those on the right lane already: don't you know you're supposed to switch to the second lane to allow cars entering the freeway to come on?

Hell, they speed up in the right lane to try and cut you off. After all, they can't have someone get in front of them. I honestly think Atlanta has some of the worst drivers I have ever seen in my nearly 30 years of driving.

So many of the traffic problems are caused by idiots following too closely or zipping in and out of lanes, and then getting into an accident. That causes backups and traffic jams. Meters may help, but the state of GA should start testing people more carefully and pulling a few licenses from some of these drivers.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by pinetreelover

I saw a GA DOT representative speaking about them on the news. She cautioned that they take a while to get timed correctly (think months) and that the more of them they install, the more effective the entire approach will be. I suppose that once several exits in a row have them and they are timed well then the idea is that the flow smooths out and there shouldn't be secondary road back-up. Sounds impossible to me. There is very little about traffic that is that predictable. I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Every two years the local new stations do stories about how up to 50% of Atlanta's traffic backups are caused simply by mistimed lights. The city will then tell the reporters that they are, "Taking steps to correct this". Two years later they redo the same story. They've been doing these stories since the late 80s. Any guesses as to how well the timing project has gone?

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

Every two years the local new stations do stories about how up to 50% of Atlanta's traffic backups are caused simply by mistimed lights. The city will then tell the reporters that they are, "Taking steps to correct this". Two years later they redo the same story. They've been doing these stories since the late 80s. Any guesses as to how well the timing project has gone?

Well, I will admit to being in my 50s and ever since I was a teenager, I have heard that three things were soon to be corrected and forever set right:
1. Peace in the Middle-East
2. Women's shoes that fit
3. Synchronization of traffic lights

As Dr. Phil would say..."How's that working out for ya?"

[Tennesseestorm]

Its funny this thread came up, because we are having a very similiar issue here in Bristol, Tennessee / Bristol, Virginia (near the state lines). Around the exit 7 area of I-81 (which is a thriving retail area), at the off ramp (which is actually quite long), has bad traffic backing up @ times- sometimes where you have to stop on the freeway (which is luckily 6 lanes (three on each side) in that urban area of the freeway). There have been several times when we have about been rear-ended. They have the state of the art "indicators" (as well as VDOT traffic cameras) that show when traffic is backed up to a certain point, but with the high traffic @ those intersections @ the freeway off/on ramps and people trying to turn onto Linden and toward "The Highlands" now, the light does not stay green very long. This is something I am about to address to the city/state. Seems like it is not just an issue here as well.

Not sure if you can tell @ night, or anytime, but here is a link to the Virginia traffic cameras... its the camera with the largest green dot that is in the southwestern part of Virginia... its the one looking toward the 11 story Holiday Inn hotel/convention center... there are times you can see the traffic back up).....
Traffic Cameras

Originally Posted by atl1221

Has anyone else noticed traffic lights appearing on a lot of exit ramps around town lately? i know they are currently on the downtown connector SB, and I-75 NB ITP.....but recently ive seen some added to I-85, I-285, GA-400, and I-575. Personally, I think these are bad because they really back up the entrance ramps to the freeway, and therefore back up the secondary roads too. I understand they are supposed to loosen the freeway volume, but i'm concerned the secondary roads will be jammed up (worse than they are already.) does anyone have an opnion on this topic? am i concerned over nothing? I know these are EVERYWHERE near LA...does anyone from there have an opinion? just curious.....

[K'ledgeBldr]

Our bureaucracy at work.
$100k- $150k EACH! For a friggin' light.
That's highway robbery (pun intended)! Article in today's AJC.

Ramp lights on Ga. 400 await fixes | ajc.com (broken link)