Back in 2013, legendary Atlanta traffic reported Captain Herb Emory made a casual reference to “The Jammys” on the morning after the Grammy Awards were held. I hijacked “The Jammys” and every year since I have used this column to award the Atlanta Jammys Awards for the best and worst commutes.
For the third year in a row, I’ve polled local Atlanta traffic experts (this year it was members of Triple Team Traffic on WSB Radio and WSB-TV, plus Crash Clark from Channel 11 and Katie Beasley from Fox-5) and asked them to vote for The Jammys.
Without further ado, I present the third annual Jammys:
Best Interstate Commute
For the third year in a row, Interstate 85 on the south side (Fulton and Coweta counties) wins the award without any real competition. Unless there is a crash or major construction issue, this slice of interstate is usually benign.
Worst Interstate Commute
As always the voting was close on this “award” but yet again, the north side of Interstate 285 wins the dubious honor of worst interstate commute. Mornings, middays, afternoons and evenings, you should always expect some type of traffic issue on Interstate 285 between Interstate 75 and I-85 on the north side of the perimeter. I-75 in Cobb County, I-85 in Gwinnett and GA 400 all received multiple votes making it a tight race. I suspect that when the new Braves stadium opens in 2017 I-285 will win this vote unanimously.
Best Supporting Road
For the first time ever, Covington Highway in DeKalb County wins this award. Crash Clark explains his vote for the Interstate 20 alternate route:
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Covington Highway for the east expressway and this year I actually got a chance to prove my theory during several major accidents on I-20 inbound during the a.m. commute. Sure there are traffic lights and you’re not traveling through a wormhole and going from Conyers to downtown in the blink of an eye but it works. “
Atlanta Road in Cobb County and Satellite Boulevard in Gwinnett County also received multiple votes for best alternate routes.
Worst Supporting Road
In a very close vote, Highway 9 in north Fulton County topped Highway 41 in Cobb County. Katie Beasley sums up her vote for Highway 9.
“It would take twice as long as GA 400 with all the traffic lights.”
This is the first time that Highway 9 beat Highway 41 for the award.
Bad Driver Award
The Downtown Connector (I-75/85) wins this award for the third straight time, with honorable mention going to I-285 on the east side in DeKalb County. The biggest criteria for this award is the freeway with the most crashes. Mark McKay, airborne reporter for WSB Radio and WSB-TV explains his vote.
“This is what happens when you merge two interstates with out-of-town drivers right in the middle of a major metropolitan city.”
What do you think? Did the experts get it right? Send feedback via email to: mark.arum@wsbtv.com or Twitter @markarum.
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