Ga. 400 - I-85 memorial suggested for Captain Herb Emory

A state lawmaker said he will pre-file legislation for the 2015 General Assembly to name the new Ga. 400-Interstate 85 interchange in memory of longtime traffic reporter Captain Herb Emory, who died over the weekend.

Sen. Mike Dugan (R- Carrollton) said Emory, who had been a traffic reporter for News 95.5 and AM750 WSB and Channel 2 Action News since 1991, “always put others before himself.”

“By renaming the I-85 and Georgia 400 interchange in his honor, his legacy will be remembered by those he safely guided home each day,” Dugan said in announcing his plans Monday.

The two elevated ramps connect southbound Georgia 400 to Interstate 85 north and I-85 south to Georgia 400 north.

According to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Emory stopped to help at a car accident on South Burnt Hickory Road near his home Saturday afternoon when he suddenly fell ill. He was transported to WellStar Douglas Hospital, where he later died from a massive heart attack, according to the county coroner.

Gov. Nathan Deal also said he supports the idea of naming the new Ga. 400 flyover ramps after Emory.

“He was an extraordinary individual,” Deal said Monday. “He was the voice of what was happening on our roadways, and he’s going to be missed. He is everything in person that you would expect him to be listening to him over the airways.”

Dugan said the memorial will also honor Emory’s extensive philanthropic work in Douglas County and involvement in organizations such as the Douglas Boys and Girls Club, Toys for Tots and the Douglas County Humane Society.

Visitation set for Tuesday

News 95.5 and AM750 WSB reported that a Tuesday visitation will be held at the Jones-Wynn Funeral Home, 2189 Midway Road in Douglasville, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and again at 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

Plans for a private funeral and a public celebration of life and memorial service were pending.

Colleagues carrying on

Tributes to Emory, who had been a traffic reporter since 1971, continued to pour in to the radio station Monday as his colleagues delivered their rapid-fire traffic updates from the ground and from WSB Skycopter every six minutes, while also paying tribute themselves during breaks.

News 95.5 and AM750 WSB also spent the entire noon hour Monday paying tribute to Emory.

Mark McKay, who regularly filled in for Emory, started the day in Skycopter early Monday, taking the seat that Emory would have taken.

McKay, a WSB traffic reporter since 2001, said Emory routinely worked for hours in his home basement, equipped with scanners and radios, to prepare for his traffic reports, which began at 4:30 a.m. and continued up to the time he would leave for his Skycopter rendezvous at Fulton County Airport/Charlie Brown Field . Even his car was equipped with scanners, his colleagues said.

The Emory-led traffic reports would continue from Skycopter, weather permitting, until 8:30 a.m. They would resume at 4:45 p.m. for the afternoon rush hour until 6:30 p.m.

“He loved being up there, but he also had such an appreciation for what the folks on the ground were contending with,” McKay said of the thousands of motorists stuck in traffic. “He was always their friend.”

Traffic reporter Mark Arum wondered how their first Monday without Emory would be.

“Emotionally I don’t know how I’m going to handle it, how the rest of the team is going to handle it, how the listeners will handle it,” Arum said Sunday. Arum said he’d heard Emory, who for years helped millions of Atlanta motorists navigate clogged interstates and side streets, say “good morning and good driving” for 16 and a half years.

Along with a “robo cam” operator in the rear of the helicopter, which is equipped with an outside camera for Channel 2 Action News traffic reports, Emory and pilot Jim Kelly would dart from morning rush-hour traffic jam to traffic jam, with Emory leading “triple team reports” every six minutes on radio and at regular intervals for TV.

Colleagues said speed and efficiency were paramount to Emory when it came to updates. Traffic reporters are expected to deliver their updates within about seven seconds, with Emory leading off. He would advise colleagues, “Keep it simple, Stupid” and “Just the facts, Jack.”

Emory would decide what part of town his colleagues would cover, with certain interstates updated at certain times.

According to Doug Turnbull, WSB’s traffic operations supervisor, Emory also came up with many of the references familiar to Atlanta motorists, such as “traffic troopers,” a reference to the scores of volunteers who routinely call in with their own updates, “red alert” conditions for major tie-ups and “Triple Team Traffic.”

“Triple Team Traffic” can refer to the number of people giving updates at any given time, or the source of the reports, including traffic troopers, the Traffic Center itself in Midtown or Skycopter. WSB stopped using its Skyplane in 2011.

“If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have the coverage that we have because he insisted on the importance of the relationship with the authorities,” Turnbull said of Emory.