AJC.com > Opinion > Opinion Talk > Archives > 2007 > May > 09
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
What’s the worst exit ramp in Atlanta?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My vote goes to the southbound Williams Street exit off the Downtown Connector. Ever since the opening of the Georgia Aquarium and the revitalization of the west side of downtown Atlanta, this exit ramp has been a disaster. It empties two right lanes and one HOV lane off the busy connector onto a very short ramp that ends with a traffic light at an expanded Alexander Street (now Ivan Allen Blvd.), where, incredibly DOT and Atlanta traffic engineers have allowed left turn lanes and a second, non-synchronized light 50 yards further up Williams Street at West Peachtree Place. Besides that flawed design, there is construction all around the area (workers and cement haulers are allowed to park on the street) convention shuttle buses, Georgia State student buses, express buses yellow school buses full of little tykes heading to the aquarium all jockeying for position with commuters trying to get into downtown Atlanta. It’s bad enough on slow days but add any sizeable show at the Inforum or the Atlanta Trade Mart and you have all the ingredients for a standstill on the southbound connector, which means a backup at the Brookwood interchange, which means backups on not just 75 southbound but I-85 southbound as well. Seriously, this one needs to be fixed. Quickly. Where’s the AJC’s Lane Ranger when we need him?
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