After an experiment to provide commuter relief on Ga 400 resulted in slower traffic on its first two days, the state transportation department said the third day saw marked improvement.
The Department of Transportation isn’t claiming success yet but officials said opening the southbound shoulder as an extra commuting lane from Holcomb Bridge to the North Springs MARTA station during rush hour is starting to ease congestion.
“We don’t want to jump to any conclusions,” DOT spokeswoman Jill Goldberg said, “but it appears that motorists adjusted and used the lanes effectively.”
The first two days brought a rash of driver complaints that vehicles merging from the shoulder lane back into normal lanes at Northridge Road exit caused traffic to slow more than usual. The DOT numbers backed up those complaints but on Wednesday the gripes dropped off -- apparently because the time sped up considerably, Goldberg said.
Preliminary travel times showed that at 7:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday, the commute was taking as much as twice the the earlier May average from Windward Parkway to Northridge Road. The average had been about 20 minutes; that jumped to 44 minutes Monday and 36 minutes Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the commuting time came in just under the normal 20 minute average at 7:30 and nearly 10 minutes below at 8:45.
DOT Commissioner Keith Golden said the shoulder lane had opened under the worst possible circumstances, including rainy weather and TV camera lights distracting drivers.
Now, he said, traffic is moving more smoothly and data showed that at some points during rush hour there were more drivers in the shoulder lane than in any other lane.
Staff writer Ariel Hart contributed to this report.
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