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February 2007
MARTA to rename four train stations
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s no longer an Ashby Street near MARTA’s Ashby rail station. Bankhead Highway, the namesake for MARTA’s Bankhead station, also has bit the dust.
Both roads have been renamed in recent years to honor local African-American leaders. MARTA officials in turn are considering renaming the train stations, along with two others, to reflect the city’s rapidly changing landscape.
Ashby, on MARTA’s west line, would become the Joseph E. Lowery station, while Bankhead, on the system’s northwest spur, would be named the Donald Lee Hollowell station.
The West End station, on the south line, would become the Abernathy-West End station to reflect Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, which runs in front of the station. The Civic Center station would be called the Ivan Allen Jr. station, for the former Atlanta mayor whose name graces a high-rise office, hotel and apartment development sprouting nearby.
But making the switch is not as simple as it may seem. A station’s name is plastered from the parking lot to the rail platform * more than 200 times in some locations. Custom-made signs would need to be built and installed throughout, at a cost approaching $1 million, according to a MARTA study.
Each station’s name appears in braille at station entrances, lit up on large illuminated fiberglass panels at rail platforms, and on dozens of small metal posts lined up along the tracks, designed to be seen by riders inside the train. Parking lot entrances are marked by 18-foot high signs that would have to be swapped out, at $8,000 a pop.
To keep costs down, the transit system would wait to reflect the changes on its printed maps, including bus schedules, until the next regularly scheduled printing cycle.
MARTA officials say changing the station names should make the riding experience more logical.
“It’s just to reflect what’s going on in the neighborhoods,” said Ed Wall, MARTA’s board chairman.
This wouldn’t be the first time MARTA has changed a station name. Hightower, the end point on the west line, became the Hamilton E. Holmes station in 1997, in honor of one of the first African-American students to attend the University of Georgia. The Omni station in downtown Atlanta has morphed over the years and is now known by the unwieldy name of Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center Station.
An attempt in 2001 to change West End station in honor of Ralph David Abernathy ended after residents complained, saying they wanted to preserve the identity of their neighborhood, which incorporated into Atlanta in 1868. The current proposal for an Abernathy-West End station is a compromise MARTA officials hope will fly.
Some MARTA board members wonder if changing the names is worth the trouble and expense, and may cause confusion for people long accustomed to the old names.
“You’re talking about $1 million to rename stations that are functioning,” JoAnn Godfrey McClinton, a newly appointed member from DeKalb County, said during a recent MARTA board meeting. “I don’t see the necessity to change names at will.”
McClinton succeeded in tabling the issue to give MARTA staff more time to conduct research, including touching base with residents near the affected stations to see how they feel about the proposed changes. Vine City resident Makeda Johnson, who uses the Ashby station, said she has mixed feelings about the proposed change but will probably support it.
“You have the history of people knowing exactly what Ashby Street is, what the station is, But you also have the conflict because there is no more Ashby Street,” said Johnson, who serves as chair of the local neighborhood planning unit.
“It would probably make more sense to rename it to the name the street is. In time, people will become accustomed to it.”
She added: “Of course, people who are outside of Atlanta or haven’t been here in a while will be confused, so [MARTA] will have to do a lot of PR to minimize the confusion.”
Do you have an idea for renaming an existing MARTA train station? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.
Winter weather elsewhere causing flight delays in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The winter storm that dumped up to two feet of snow in the Midwest on Sunday moved into the Northeast Monday, causing delays for some flights at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Departures bound for New York’s LaGuardia airport were being delayed an average of just over an hour late Monday morning, according the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flights from Atlanta to Philadelphia were experiencing delays averaging 45 minutes, the FAA said.
Lingering snow in Chicago was causing delays of about 30 minutes on flights headed to O’Hare International Airport.
Flights headed to the west coast weren’t immune, as windy conditions in San Francisco were causing delays averaging nearly an hour, according to the FAA.
Permalink | Categories: Weather
Trapped construction worker freed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Forsyth County construction worker trapped beneath dirt when a trench wall collapsed was freed and air-lifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta.
The man was freed after having been trapped for more than two hours. He was initially trapped by dirt up to his neck, but his co-workers were able to remove some of the dirt before firefighters arrived and completed the rescue.
Emergency crews stabilized the man in an ambulance on the scene and transported him to a helicopter waiting nearby to fly him to Grady’s trauma center, Fire Department Capt. Jason Shivers said.
Although the man appeared to be able to move his arms and legs, Shivers said “he was definitely in a life-threatening situation.”
Shivers listed the man’s status as “questionable because we don’t know what kind of internal injuries he might have sustained from the kind of crushing pressures a collapse like this causes.”
Fatal wreck jams I-75 north in Bartow
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Police are clearing up an accident that resulted in two fatalaties and blocked all lanes of traffic on I-75 North in Bartow County.
Lanes began reopening at about 4:40. One lane is expected to remain closed into rush hour. Motorists are advised to avoid the area if possible.
The accident occurred around 2:30 after a high-speed chase that originated in Cobb County. Rick Parham, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said police were attempting to apprehend a suspect wanted for drug offenses.
Cops executed a “pit maneuver” to halt the vehicle near the Cassville-White Road exit on I-75, he said.
The two people killed were in the car that was trying to escape. Another person in that car was critically injured, Parham said. Identities were not immediately available.
Trooper Larry Schnall, a spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol, said the chase began on I-75 in Cobb County, just south of the Cherokee County line.
He said a trooper tried to stop the car for speeding when the driver fled. The chase ended about 21 miles away in Bartow County with two people dead and one injured. The injured man was taken to North Fulton Regional Hospital.
Schnall said investigators found “enough drugs that it would be a felony” in the car.
No one else was injured. But at least one other car was struck during the chase, Schall said.
Permalink | Categories: Traffic
Northeast snowstorms cancel Atlanta flights
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Air travelers headed to the northeast may want to make sure their flight has not been canceled before heading to the airport.
Gina Laughlin, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines, said the airline had canceled 40 flights for Wednesday, largely due to snow and ice making a mess of airports from Washington, D.C., to Boston.
Other airlines have also canceled flights to the northeast, but exact numbers were not immediately available. Travelers should check with their carrier if they are leaving tonight.
Laughlin said Delta is expected to have a normal schedule Thursday because the storm affecting the northeast should pass overnight.
Jury awards $1.7 million in MARTA rape case
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A jury awarded $1.7 million Wednesday to a woman who was raped after being abducted from a parking garage at the MARTA Lindbergh Station in Buckhead in 2002.
The woman , a Delta Airlines gate agent, filed the civil case against MARTA for not securing its property.
MARTA documents showed that it’s police force had been ordered to be “omnipresent” at all stations, particularly those with higher incidents of crime such as the Buckhead station, according to court testimony.
But MARTA officials failed to produce other safety records, such as documents showing which officers were on duty that night and where they were positioned.
Outraged, Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall briefly halted the trial last week. And on Tuesday Schwall declared MARTA in default, meaning MARTA’s attorneys could no longer call witnesses and MARTA was declared negligent.
“I made a finding that certain documents either existed and were lost, or existed and the plaintiffs were not told about them,” Schwall said Wednesday after the judgement.
Jurors polled leaving the courtroom said MARTA should have better documentation of its reports.
MARTA board chairman Ed Wall said the transit system was not treated fairly by the judge.
“He didn’t even let us put on our case,” he said. “He just shut us down. We had witnesses and testimony. It just doesn’t seem fair at all. We had a vigorous defense. The only person to blame for that rape is the person who did it.”
Fatal wreck jams Downtown Connector
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A fatal accident has closed several northbound lanes of the Downtown Connector near 10th Street in Midtown.
Evening commuters are advised to avoid the area as northbound traffic is backed up all the way to Turner Field. Traffic will be disrupted until at least 6:30 p.m., police said.
At least four vehicles were involved in the accident.
The 44-year-old male driver of a blue Honda Accord was killed when his vehicle spun out of control after striking a white Chevrolet Cavalier, according to Atlanta police.
The driver of the Cavalier was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in stable condition.
More information was not immediately available.
A Woodward Academy school bus (#30) carrying 16 students was struck by the blue Honda, but no children were injured, police said.
Permalink | Categories: Traffic
Events to bring downtown traffic jam
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bad news downtown commuters — traffic is expected to get even worse.
Events scheduled for the next few days in the downtown area promise to clog surface streets, Interstates and even sidewalks.
The car-attracting events include:
• 10,000 visitors a day to the Georgia World Congress Center Rental Show from Wednesday through Saturday.
• 35,000 visitors to the Georgia World Congress Center Flower Show from Wednesday through Sunday.
• The Atlanta Hawks will host the New Jersey Nets at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Philips Arena.
• 20,000 visitors to the Georgia World Congress Center World of Wheels show from Friday through Sunday.
• The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will host the University of Connecticut at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
The Atlanta Police Department strongly encourages the use of MARTA for these events.
Permalink | Categories: Traffic
Truck crash causes traffic woes on Ga. 400, Ga. 306
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ga. 306 at Ga. 400 in Forsyth County could be closed through 6 p.m. after a traffic signal was hit by an 18-wheeler, causing wires to fall across the roadway.
Capt. Frank Huggins, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, said the accident shut down the southbound ramp from Ga. 306 (Exit 17) to Ga. 400. Northbound traffic on Ga. 400 can exit and go eastbound, but, from the Ga. 400 bridge, Ga. 306 is closed to westbound traffic, he said.
Permalink | Categories: Traffic
Lanes of I-285 blocked at Northside
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An accident involving three vehicles has blocked several lanes of traffic on I-285 East at Northside Drive in Fulton County.
Motorists are advised to avoid the area if possible.
The wreckage should be cleared by 4:15 p.m., according to the Department of Transportation.
No injuries were immediately reported.
