Gwinnett.talk

By mom of 2

October 22, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this

Commute leaving at 6 was excellent, did not have to brake until Indian Trail and only slightly. Record Time from Dacula to Downtown

By Roddy

October 22, 2007 3:13 PM | Link to this

I have been driving 316 west bound to I-85 south bound during rush hour since construction began on the new interchange several years ago.

This morning, it felt like I received an enema that relieved three years worth of constipation!!

A big thanks, DOT—- Great ride!!!

By jeed

October 22, 2007 3:14 PM | Link to this

Could these flyover bridges be the solution to the area’s traffic problem?

Ummm, see Spaghetti Junction.

By southsidetoby

October 22, 2007 3:24 PM | Link to this

Folks, you should not believe for a second that the 316/85 project is a solution to the problem. What the road builders have done, yet again, is subsidize yet more uncontrolled, ill-advised development further and further out. Drivers will conclude, as they always have, that they can make the journey through the bottleneck in “record time” and, therefore, that it makes sense to move even further away. When will this state learn: building more roads simply creates more and more traffic when the only cost to drivers to using those roads is the amount of time it takes for them to make their journey.

By CBL

October 22, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this

Capt. Herb is no longer the only one with the birds-eye view of the gridlock below. It won’t be long before Gwinnetians get to sit on the bridges and do the same.

By Weather Man

October 22, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this

I LIKE TURTLES !!

By Weather Man

October 22, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this

I LIKE TURTLES !!

By Weather Man

October 22, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this

I LIKE TURTLES !!

By Weather Man

October 22, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this

I LIKE TURTLES !!

By Weather Man

October 22, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this

I LIKE TURTLES !!

By Jay

October 22, 2007 3:47 PM | Link to this

Relax, it has only been one day! Ask me again in a month.

By T

October 22, 2007 3:48 PM | Link to this

We choose more lanes so we don’t have to sit on a Marta train for twice as long as it would take to drive. I’ve been on my last single track Marta ride for life. If we could just build three more lanes and raise the speed limit, everything will be alright. And I will never have to watch a guy eat crumbs off the floor of the Marta train again…

By Angry Man

October 22, 2007 3:58 PM | Link to this

I have been one mad mother* since the construction began, but today I could not have been happier. Three cheers for the DOT!!!

By Bob H

October 22, 2007 3:58 PM | Link to this

Yeah, some great test, on the 1st weekday the new bridge opened it took me 2 1/2 hours to get downtown. it usually took 1 1/2 hours before:(

By dfas

October 22, 2007 4:17 PM | Link to this

$150 Million and all that we get is to back up to sugarloaf instead of old peachtree? What a bargain.

Not to mention, the dumping into the fast lane of 85 will continue - watch out HOVers!

By Carpool Dawg

October 22, 2007 5:34 PM | Link to this

Thanks for nothing! I carpool from Athens to Atlanta and used to at least save a little time, but with the new flyover it took longer than ever because we had to merge over so many lanes just to get to the carpool lane (I think we finally got over around Indian Trail). Ask me again when it is not raining and the carpoolers have a carpool lane directly on to I-85. In the meantime, I may just give up carpooling….what’s one more car on the road when I can listen to what I want to on the radio and get there at the same time!

By T

October 22, 2007 5:48 PM | Link to this

i do not see how it will fix the problem. you still have the bottleneck at i85/i985 and you still have stop lights all the way through 316 in lawrenceville. fix those 2 problems then i will jump for joy.

By doglvr

October 22, 2007 5:54 PM | Link to this

It’s sad to read so many pessimistic responses to the new bridges. Not only did the construction of the bridges finish months ahead of schedule (the only good thing about the drought), but I was able to take major highways all the way to work instead of clogging the secondary roads like I used to have to do. Thanks!

By Wilson

October 22, 2007 5:57 PM | Link to this

Mostly I like not having to worry about commuting through that interchange since I don’t live in a McMansion way the hell out there.

By David Lee

October 22, 2007 6:02 PM | Link to this

HOW ABOUT A SAFE MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM? I SAID SAFE!!!!!!JERKS!!!!!

By SharonH

October 22, 2007 6:23 PM | Link to this

I think you would have more responses to this topic but people are stuck in traffic.

By Mishap

October 22, 2007 7:42 PM | Link to this

Carpool Dawg, Even in a carpool, I don’t see how a 70 mile one way commute is even close to reasonable. The moving costs have to be less than the cost of gas and lost time driving that kind of a distance. Unless you are in school, there’s absolutely no reason why you would have to live that far away and I don’t believe the DOT should kowtow to ultra-commuters even if you’re in a carpool.

It’ll be a matter of weeks before enough people move up 85 and 316 that the commute will once again becomes untenable and they start the widening game all over again.

Even if there are 12 lanes each way and a 90mph speed limit, people will move further out to get their own dream mansion they couldn’t otherwise afford if it was located in an actual populated area. With that kind of speed and volume, one errant cell phone call or raindrop is enough to shutdown half the city.

Makes me glad that I telecommute 4 days a week and plan to move in-town when I buy.

By ronny

October 22, 2007 7:43 PM | Link to this

did not help one bit, the traffic from i-20 east onto i-285n was just as bad. you guys should try this side of town sometime. wait forget that last part. say good night gracie

By Ken

October 22, 2007 7:44 PM | Link to this

Perhaps now all those people coming down Cruse Rd. and Club Drive will stay on 316 instead of cutting through Lawrenceville. It will not solve the congestion on 85 but at least I’ll be able to get out of my subdivision after 7:00 AM.

By Doucheatron5000

October 22, 2007 7:46 PM | Link to this

It is a great thing….until traffic downstream backs up!!

LOL!!

By Tim

October 22, 2007 10:14 PM | Link to this

Good, now maybe the UGA football fan clones will stop loosing what hair they still have in fits of merge rage that seems to accompany any home game. God, I swear they all look the same….

By bob

October 22, 2007 11:25 PM | Link to this

Now remember when you widen 400 and fix 285/400 interchange that we expect the same upgrades with out adding tolls to the roads like I85. There is no reason why we should pay extra to improve our infrastructure when they do not.

By saveh20

October 22, 2007 11:43 PM | Link to this

Is this all you people have to worry about? What about the mussels and dirty Camaros in Al and Fl that need washing? Jeez…

By Michael

October 23, 2007 2:10 AM | Link to this

I have driven from 316 to 85 and from 316 to Pleasant Hill since the interchange was “opened.” Both of these were non-rush hour, but it looks like some improvement at those times. It keeps trucks from having to merge over 3 or 4 lanes (especially if they needed to exit at PH). It also gets rid of the bottleneck of having 316’s two lanes reduce to one.

Does this solve everything? Absolutely not. I-85 didn’t become a solid wall of traffic during rush from from at least I-285 past 316 because of one intersection. That was because people kept moving here and nobody bothered to get mass transit going until the transportation system was figuratively on life support.

The solution will be hard to reach until some of you people commit to having MARTA rail in your lives. I know it will be an inconvenience to have to interact with strangers getting to work, but you can at least try it. If New Yorkers can do it, why can’t Atlantans do it? Are y’all telling me you’re afraid to do something that Yankees do? Come on!

By Joe M

October 23, 2007 6:37 AM | Link to this

Did anyone notice that all it did was back up 10 lanes at Pleasant Hill instead of 6! Widening 2-3 miles of I-85 is not a solution. Why not put rail right up the middle of I-85 and stop wasting money on widening a few lanes, and planting trees and flowers for us to look at while we sit still.

By noch

October 23, 2007 7:00 AM | Link to this

Maybe I did it wrong…getting from Hwy 120 onto I85, I had to merge, merge, merge, and drive almost to Pleasant Hill before getting on the highway. That is definitely not an improvement for me!

By Kay

October 23, 2007 7:29 AM | Link to this

BIG BIG improvement for me! Thanks DOT! For those that are STILL complaining, did you realize that all of the new ramps are not yet open? Give it some time people.

By GA

October 23, 2007 7:35 AM | Link to this

Please realize that all of the bridges are not yet open. The completion will not be until December 2008. I enjoyed my drive in today. I gained an extra 20 minutes this morning! Thanks DOT!

By Laura

October 23, 2007 7:37 AM | Link to this

THANK YOU DOT! What a big improvement with my drive today!

By Frank

October 23, 2007 7:44 AM | Link to this

After spending a horrible time in traffic on I75 for a training class, it was a welcome relief to get back to I85 again. Eat your heart out Cobb!!

By KA

October 23, 2007 8:41 AM | Link to this

The bridge is lovely! I was smiling all the way over it. Thanks to all of the bridge designers and workers who made it happen!

By Still Frustrated

October 23, 2007 9:16 AM | Link to this

I live in Dacula…Hamilton Mill area. I was so excited that the new ramp was opening so that I could pick up 316 instead of having to sit on 85 all the way down to the 285 interchange. My job is in Tucker. Yesterday, I was smooth sailing until I got to 85 and it was pretty much a standstill all the way in. I saw a couple of accidents and the little rain. I said, “Well tomorrow will be different”.
Today was no different. As a matter of fact, I feel like it’s worst. I counted 6 lanes and I was just sitting.
I’m starting to think that the people who’d taken back roads to try to avoid the construction has now returned and we’re back at square one. OMG!!!!

By Professor Smooth

October 23, 2007 11:21 AM | Link to this

Yes, more lanes = more traffic. Just wait until gas is 5.00 a gallon. No wonder why America is falling, everyone is getting more and more stupid. Wake up, people!

By Bob H

October 23, 2007 12:00 PM | Link to this

Well Day one took me 2 1/2 hours from Dacula to Downtown. Day two was a little better 1 3/4 hours. Before the new bridges opened it only took 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. I still haven’t seen any improvement yet. Well there’s always tomorrow.

I agree with (Still Frustrated).

“I’m starting to think that the people who’d taken back roads to try to avoid the construction has now returned and we’re back at square one. OMG!!!!”

By Camille

October 23, 2007 2:07 PM | Link to this

I’m not really sure why anyone thought that there would be a difference between now and before construction started. The only change is that cars are not dumped into the “fast” lane of I85 from 316. There will still be the same amount of traffic on 316, if not more, as the people who tried to avoid the construction return to 316. Also, trying to compare Monday’s traffic with traffic on any other day of the week doesn’t really make sense as traffic for some reason tends to be a little lighter on Mondays (and sometimes Fridays, too). I live in Lawrenceville, and I still have yet to figure out why this is so, but it takes me a much shorter time to reach my destination on Mondays and Fridays than it does on the other days. And, I’m only going from Lawrenceville to Technology Park in Norcross, so my commute is not that bad (although I never take the highways).