DEL.ICIO.USFight brews over tab for highway lights
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, January 12, 2009
Atlanta’s highways could get much darker pretty soon.
The city now pays $1.2 million a year for lights on three interstate highways that cut through Atlanta and on Langford Parkway, but City Councilman Jim Maddox thinks the state or federal government should pay that bill. And if neither of those governments steps up, the lights would go out under the councilman’s legislation.
Allen Sullivan/aesullivan@ajc.com
ALLEN SULLIVAN / aesullivan@ajc.com Parts of I-20 cut through the city limits of Atlanta. To save money, City Councilman Jim Maddox wants the state and federal governments, not Atlanta, to pay for lighting interstate highways.
Other local governments in metro Atlanta, scouring their budgets for savings in a brutal economy, could follow suit.
Parts of I-20, I-75 and I-85 go through Atlanta’s city limits. That includes complicated — and potentially dangerous — multi-lane stretches of the Downtown Connector, where I-85 and I-75 converge and drivers weave between HOV and exit lanes branching and curving in and out. It carries 380,000 vehicles a day, many of them from out of state.
Several motorists say Maddox should hit the brakes on that idea.
“I don’t think that would work,” said Tucker resident Deborah Harrington, 42, who uses the connector to get to work and to visit her mother, who lives in Atlanta. “Even though you’d have your car lights on, it’d still be too dark.”
Maddox, Atlanta’s longest-serving councilman, wants to save the city money as it grapples with what he describes as a financial “crisis.” Mayor Shirley Franklin last month laid off 222 employees, slashed payrolls by 10 percent and made cuts to most city services to cover a projected $50 million revenue shortfall.
Since it’s a federal highway controlled by the state, “they should pay for it,” said Maddox, who’s been on the council since 1976. “That’s one million to offset the cutbacks.”
Atlanta is a hub for freight and motorists traveling from the Northeast, Midwest, coastal ports and other parts of the South.
The interstate highways are owned and operated by the states, and in Georgia the state Department of Transportation builds, repaves and maintains them. At the local jurisdiction’s request, DOT may pay to install lights, but in most instances the local government will have to pay the power bill. DOT does pay the bill for a Downtown Connector tunnel by the Capitol, said spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan. But the state currently has no intention of picking up the tab for the city’s other lights, she said.
National highway lighting guidelines are voluntary, a spokesman for the Federal Highway Administration said. AAA Auto Club South spokesman Gregg Laskoski said having no lights on these highways would create safety hazards.
Motorists, he said, might be caught off-guard when driving from a lighted highway to one that is not. And many interstate exits have twists and turns that can be tough to navigate without proper lighting.
“That million dollars spent on lighting might be the best million dollars spent anywhere,” Laskoski said.
Maddox noted many stretches of interstate outside Atlanta are not lighted. As for concerns that turning off the lights would cause more collisions, Maddox said “that’s why cars are supposed to have their lights on.”
Atlanta resident Michael Jones, filling up his BMW on Friday near the Downtown Connector, believes the city bears some responsibility for maintaining the lights for stretches of the highways that run through its boundaries.
“The roadways are in the city of Atlanta, and it’s up to all of us to make sure that they’re safe,” said Jones. “I don’t know of any suburban roads with 10 lanes and speeds of 70 mph.”
Maddox’s resolution outlining his plan, introduced to the City Council last week, will be reviewed by the council’s Finance/Executive committee on Wednesday.
Atlanta isn’t the only jurisdiction taking a hard look at its road lighting bill because of the economy.
“That’s obviously one of the things that’s on the table,” said Brian Allen, director of transportation for Gwinnett County, which lights parts of interchanges with I-85 at Sugarloaf Parkway and Ga. 316.
“I think a lot of governments are in that situation right now,” Allen said. “It may be more important to keep ambulances and fire trucks running than it is to have interstate lights.”
John Gurbal, director of public works in DeKalb County, says DeKalb has not yet considered whether to turn off highway lights, but could.
“It’s a safety issue, so you can’t ignore that,” said Gurbal. But “do all the lights need to be on? That’s a whole other deal.”
Not every inch of roadway needs a light if cars’ headlights are working, safety experts say. Research is ambiguous on the benefits of lighting “in-between stretches,” said John Bullough, but more consistent in saying there’s a benefit to lighting interchanges. Bullough’s Transportation Lighting Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., is working on a study to fill gaps in the research now.
Paulk-Buchanan said the state generally doesn’t pay to light the interstates because safety research doesn’t call for it. DOT collects crash data on Georgia interstates, but apparently has never used it to study whether lighting seems to prevent crashes here, she said.
Whatever decision governments make, “the overriding goal should be to maintain safety,” said Bob Dallas, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, who agreed not all stretches of road need lights. If necessary, lights are shut off, he said, “You run the risk that you’ll have additional crashes. That’s really what it comes down to.”
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Comments
By art
Jan 15, 2009 3:25 AM | Link to this
I was in city court yesterday and was suprised to hear the City of Atlanta's prosecutor fining a city resident/ property owner for electricity stolen from Ga Power by rental tenants in his, and others properties......
The catch is that the city was going after the monies for it's own coffers, not for Ga Power....If the city is making money from these fines for Ga Power, why can't it afford to pay for the bills it incures on the d'town connector! As to be expected, double standards!
As to the comment on the pre-olympic lighting fiasco, it's back! These fools never learn...I remember.
By Bobc
Jan 13, 2009 8:43 AM | Link to this
Far too many bad decisions have been made by local governments, now they was ALL citizen's to pay for them, whether they live in that area or not!
Disgusting!
By Bobo
Jan 13, 2009 6:32 AM | Link to this
Does anyone remember the lighting situation on the downtown freeways before the Olympics? The city turned off the lights to save money and all the copper was promptly stolen. It cost a fortune to rewire the lights in time for the Olympics.
Penny wise, pound foolish.
By Ronald
Jan 13, 2009 4:10 AM | Link to this
Let us remember that cities (including Atlanta) vied with one another to have interstates go through their downtown areas when the system was being planned. The interstate saves Atlanta untold millions above and beyond the cost of its supplying lights, and local businesses hugely benefit as well. If the city refuses to pay even this paltry amount to maintain them, why not just close the highways down after dark and let the city deal with the traffic mess that ensues?
Ronald
By Jessica
Jan 13, 2009 12:09 AM | Link to this
Oh, for the love of...yes, that's make an already unsafe driving condition that much more so. How many wrecks do we have to go around in the daylight? The night's not much better because our headlights only light what's right in front of us. The larger lights help in letting drivers know what's ahead. This is not a difficult concept. With so many tourists coming through, it's crazy enough trying to explain how to get around. Imagine saying, "Look for the unlit area. Oh, wait. They all are. Well, if you pass the big building...wait, you can't see that either. Oh, fine, I'll just come get you and we'll go from there. Just follow my tail lights " It's going to create a bad image for a city the country already jokes about. Heck, I have friends from North Philly who feel bad for us. Really, North Philly? I don't think that's a good thing, especially since one of them lives between two crackhouses and she refuses to admit Franklin is from her home state.
How about everyone that makes over, say 40k a year get a 15% decrease in pay? That's livable, if you live carefully, and it'd create more money to make up for the "shortfall", aka the money they lost on the way to the bank deposit one night and maybe put something in some kind of bonds to make money for the future. Also, I think Franklin should have to take a pay cut and live like everyone else. She wants to cut the emergency services (really, really STUPID idea, given the likelihood of any number of disasters around a major city) and may invite more wrecks by agreeing. Brilliant common sense, that one.
I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually ashamed of my city. That's just sad since I used to love Atlanta.
By jasper
Jan 12, 2009 11:21 PM | Link to this
How soon we forget about that bus traveling through Atlanta on a lonely night with the highway lights on and drove up the ramp to their deaths, the next time you can say we just wanted to save money. Those lights are to expensive.
By patrick
Jan 12, 2009 10:44 PM | Link to this
Hey Pierce,
City of Atlanta vs Georgia Assembly loses every time. Its retarded but thems the breaks. Lawmakers get plenty of kudos for beating up on Atlanta back home just like Maddox is probably getting lots of kudos from some of the mouthbreathers in his district who also think its a great idea to suggest that creating a blatant dangerous situation state-supported highways (which everyone depends on, even if you don't drive...ever hear of delivery trucks?) wins in a cost-benefit analysis. Hacks are hacks, whether they represent Valdosta or Cascade road, went to UGA or GT. Bad policy is bad policy, whether you live ITP or OTP. I've been ITP for 7 years and am F$#$%NG tired of incompetence in governance at the CoA.
By Pierce Randall
Jan 12, 2009 10:05 PM | Link to this
I'd support the city on this one, but that's because I live in the city, and don't drive, and I think the state tends to give Atlanta back less than its fair share of taxes, anyway.
However, $1.2 million is surprisingly cheap -- not much more than MARTA's systemwide bathroom deployment, as reported to the AJC. Honestly, with the budget shortfall that exists, that's a drop in the bucket. Better focus on real budget solutions than drama. But what can we expect from the city council than drama right now, when they block every tax increase and then whinge about cuts to police service.
On the other hand, I can't say that it doesn't amuse me to read people who clearly don't live in Atlanta get their UGA-imprinted underwear in a bind over their access to drive in here. If it wasn't for Atlanta, you guys would be living in Mississippi. Think about that next time you demagogue against city government, douchebags.
By patrick
Jan 12, 2009 9:32 PM | Link to this
Hah this is the same old tired guy who thought he could balance the budget by tacking on a $1 ticket surcharge to all sporting events within the city. Or get away with having the City of Atlanta public works department repave his driveway for free. Dude maybe you should have demanded the state pay for it! Why stop there though, maybe the state should pay the several years' delinquent water bills for the flophouse for the homeless or Morris Brown College. I ask you: what sort of mickey mouse city lets any single utility customer run up a multi-year late bill worth more than $100,000??? Let alone several???? WHY ISNT MADDOX GOING AFTER DELINQUENT WATER BILLS INSTEAD OF SHOWBOATING TO HIS SLEEPY CONSTITUENCY?? I'll tell you why, because this town has tolerated political incompetence for so long that inertia has simply taken over. All you need is a polished marketing campaign and the right publicity stunts every few months (pothole posse anyone??) and you can cruise to victory every time in most districts in Atlanta. This guy's portrait is next to the political dictionary entry for 'hack'. Another great example of how the economic engine of Georgia is continually threatened by incompetence.
By Jason
Jan 12, 2009 7:29 PM | Link to this
@Patrick, last year the Georgia State Patrol took over responsibility for the interstate through Atlanta, just like they're responsible for it through out the rest of the state. So it appears that you're arguing for the state to pay for the power for the lights.
Maybe a better criteria would be: if you run speed traps on the interstate, you have to pay for the lights. Does Sandy Springs have room in their budget for interstate lighting?
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