There is no such thing as a guaranteed clear trip. At any time, a major wreck or traffic pacing for road work can ensnare drivers already committed to a particular route. Neither crashes nor traffic pacing have guaranteed clearance times and neither seems to have a protocol for getting traffic moving again as quickly as possible.
In fact, law enforcement agencies around town could use some more benchmarks for, at very least, releasing stuck traffic trapped between the last open exit in a backup and the actual crash scene.
These blindspots were wildly apparent, as authorities worked some terrible morning crashes in the last week.
A fatal motorcycle crash at around 5 a.m. on Thursday, June 23rd shut down I-75/northbound at Hudson Bridge Road (Exit 224) in Stockbridge. The ensuing investigation kept the interstate blocked for almost the entirety of the morning drive, finally clearing at about 8:45. Smilin’ Mark McKay in the WSB Skycopter reported a 12 mile-backup that started back at Bill Gardner Parkway (Exit 212) in Locust Grove.
While first responders forced traffic off of I-75 onto Jodeco Road (Exit 222), the approximate two miles of stopped trucks and cars between that exit and the crash just sat, idling for hours and blasting air conditioners on that muggy morning. Highways 19/41 and 42/23 jammed as I-75/northbound alternates.
On the Monday morning before that, a fiery big rig crash caused WSB Triple Team Traffic to issue a RED ALERT on I-285/eastbound (Outer Loop) east of Flat Shoals Parkway. That stretch of freeway also stayed completely shut down for hours, causing another absolutely horrendous backup.
AJC photojournalist John Spink perched nearby to both of those crash scenes and compassionately observed the length of time each scene took to clear. But he also noticed little, to no effort by authorities to reverse trapped traffic up shoulders and off ramps and off of the shutdown interstates. Spink just watched the traffic sit there and even noted a medical response needed for one motorist stuck in the I-75/northbound backup.
Investigations need to be thorough. Tricky cleanups require finesse and manpower. But are the people working these scenes properly prioritizing getting at least some traffic moving behind them?
Take the case of I-75 in Henry County. The motorcycle in that wreck came to rest in the right lanes. And while the investigators may have needed to look at the left wall and left lanes, could they not have at least started on that side of the road and then opened a lane or two to get this traffic moving? Could HERO operators have suspended the tolls in the adjacent Peach Pass Lanes and diverted traffic into them? There still would have been a large traffic jam, but at least one open lane would stymie a dozen mile-delay.
On the I-285 closure in DeKalb, the torched tractor trailer was on the right side of the road. Once the fire was out or at least under control, shouldn’t the crew have tried to open the left lanes?
Instead, in both cases, responders not only kept all lanes closed, but they did little to try and free the stopped traffic behind them. In some instances, police will temporarily open a lane or a shoulder to release the trapped traffic and then re-close all lanes. They also sometimes deploy squad cars to direct traffic the opposite ways up the emergency lanes and then up the entrance ramps and onto the next-closest exits behind wrecks.
But HEROs and law enforcement are often significantly understaffed, so there is not always enough staff to direct traffic behind a scene.
Though both of these maneuvers take time and can potentially even slow investigations and cleanups, they prevent people from sitting completely still for hours on end. Taking these steps help people get to vital doctor’s appointments or allow precious freight to get on to the proper destinations.
Police, fire, EMS, coroners, HERO operators and wrecker drivers can easily get tunnel vision at a crash scene, concerned with the very important micro-goals of investigations, cleanup, and injury-treatment. Some jurisdictions do particularly good jobs at getting traffic moving at crash scenes, but far too many don’t prioritize that crucial step.
Every responder or construction organization should audit their approaches and see if there are any ways to minimize lane blockages. If there are any safe ways to open at least one lane, they should strive for that. If there are faster ways to set up work zones, they should try to shave that time. If staffing allows, crews at long standing closures should enable traffic control to keep people from getting trapped behind closures.
When extended blockages are in place long enough, drivers really do not have excuses to get stuck in the jams. WSB Triple Team Traffic works 24/7 to alert people of backups and posts all of the biggest problems on our Triple Team Traffic Alerts App. We provide constant updates on 95.5 WSB and post incidents and updates on Twitter. The information about big problems is out there; our expert team prides itself on providing it. Motorists cannot expect those working crash scenes to care more about their commutes, if the drivers themselves don’t even take the necessary steps to avoid those blockages.
Doug Turnbull, the PM drive Skycopter anchor for Triple Team Traffic on 95.5 WSB, is the Gridlock Guy. He also hosts a traffic podcast with Smilin’ Mark McKay on wsbradio.com. Contact him at Doug.Turnbull@cmg.com.
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