In my column last week I came right out and admitted that I didn’t know what was going to happen the first morning of the new shoulder lane on Ga. 400 between Holcomb Bridge Road and the North Springs Marta Station.
Never in my wildest dreams, or I guess nightmares, did I imagine how bad traffic would be that first morning. It was awful.
Opening day confusion was to blame. Commuters, and to be honest with you, traffic reporters, didn’t know that if you were travelling in that lane down from Holcomb Bridge Road, you would either have to get off at Northridge Road or, get out of the lane and then back in the lane after the Northridge exit. It was a mess.
The growing pains continued Tuesday with horrible traffic delays and unbelievable trip times being reported.
By Wednesday, commuters started to get in the groove and traffic improved. By Thursday and Friday, it was old hat, and traffic, for the first time in recent memory, actually got better on Ga. 400. The “extra” lane was actually helping traffic flow.
“I think the later it got in the week, the more people got used to it,” said Captain Herb Emory, traffic reporter for News Talk WSB and Channel 2 Action News. “We saw an improvement in the flow each day in that area between Holcomb Bridge and Northridge.”
Emory was in a helicopter over the new lane when it opened at 6:30 a.m. last Monday, so he got a bird’s eye view of the mess. He thought that confusion of the Northridge exit and the heavy police presence on the freeway added to the backups.
“The first day was improper planning. Things would have gone a lot smoother if they didn’t have to use the flashing blue lights. Any time you put blue lights on the freeway it’s going to slow people down,” Emory said.
Certainly the improved conditions on Thursday and Friday give reason to have some hope better traffic through North Fulton County.
“Oh yeah, it will get better,” Emory said. “I do have a feeling that this will help alleviate the daily gridlock traffic on that section of Ga. 400.”
If the shoulder lanes prove to be successful on Ga. 400, Emory feels that there is a chance that they could be implemented on other freeways in the metro area.
“I do have a feeling that this will help alleviate the daily gridlock traffic on that section of Ga. 400,” Emory said.
We may not know the true value of the added lane until the fall however. With the school year ending, it could be until August or September before we can really gauge the impact of the new shoulder lane during normal traffic flow.
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