We had an interesting situation develop last week in the Atlanta traffic world. After a rainy morning rush hour on Monday, we saw a major road failure on an interstate. The heavy rains, combined with a broken water pipe and drain structure, caused the pavement on Interstate 85 near Clairmont Road in Dekalb County to sink. As a result the authorities were forced to close two southbound lanes of the interstate to make emergency repairs.
A situation like this is not something commuters are used to dealing with.
“It’s been a very rare thing,” DOT spokesman Mark McKinnon said. “I’ve been with the DOT for 14 years and I don’t recall seeing one on the interstate collapse like this. So it’s pretty rare that it happens.”
When word came down Monday afternoon that the repairs would be lengthy and that the lanes would be closed for Tuesday’s morning rush hour, the traffic and news teams shifted into high gear to make sure the traveling public was made aware of what could be a nasty driving situation.
Initial worries in the traffic reporting world, were that traffic on I-85 would back up into Gwinnett County because of the lane closure in Dekalb County.
When Tuesday morning rolled around, those worries were put to ease. At the height of the rush hour, and at the height of the backups, the delays only started at Interstate 285 on I-85 southbound. Two full exits south of the Gwinnett County line. When the scenario was repeated on Wednesday morning, the delays were even less severe. At its apex, the delays started south of I-285, even better than Tuesday’s commute.
Why the lack of pandemonium? Why weren’t the delays worse? Simply put, it’s because drivers knew about the situation before they got on the road. That knowledge because of the intense coverage in the media, enabled drivers to find alternate routes. Granted, there were many options to avoid I-85 (the interstate access road, Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Buford Highway), and that certainly helped out, but the key was letting drivers know ahead of time.
A situation as dire as a major pavement failure on an interstate caused less slow traffic than a minor fender bender would on a normal day.
That’s the key to surviving Atlanta traffic and avoiding unusual delays: knowledge. The more you know, the faster you know it, the more likely you are to avoid extra traffic. Whether you watch television traffic reports before you leave the house, listen to radio traffic reports on your drive to work or use a traffic app on your smartphone, last week’s emergency road repair on I-85 showed what should be obvious to commuters by now. Knowledge is power. Especially when it comes to your drive.
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