This picture was taken at 7:10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on a Wednesday morning.  I am roughly 3.5 miles away from my final destination, and it will take me 30 minutes to traverse a stretch of road that would ordinarily take just under four, if traveling at the legal speed limit of 55 mph.  It is not the fact that this was exceptionally bad that serves as the impetus of this post, it’s the fact that this is absolutely ordinary that it does.

Actually, that’s not entirely true, because I’ve seen endured it worse before, many, many times.  These electronic signs scattered insufficiently throughout the outskirts of the Metro Atlanta area are harbingers of dread and symbols of ineptitude.  15-17 actually isn’t bad, as it’s usually 24-26 most of the time, and if there’s absolutely any precipitation, it’s 38-40; the general rule is to add 10-12 minutes to that, which is a more accurate estimation.  And if there’s an accident, it’s guaranteed to occur right under the sign, so that there’s absolutely zero chance of you knowing there’s an accident in advance and detour, and that you’ll see the sign just as you’re approaching the calamity.

Just once, during a particularly bad morning, I’d like to simply see it say “YOU’RE FUCKED.”

Continue reading “Somewhere, something has gone terribly wrong” →

I was sitting in traffic the other day, which is a fairly common occurrence to those that live in Atlanta.  Whenever this occurs, inevitably, I, or someone like Jen often asks “why is it always this bad?”  The question is pretty redundant, because we all know the answer to it, but it’s partially frustration and partially the fact that there’s really nothing else to say when you’re stuck in suffocating Atlanta gridlock.

Aside from the sheer lack of surface streets leading to a massive reliance on the highways, if you were to ask me, I’d tell you that the biggest problem causing Atlanta traffic is simply Interstate 20, which slices neatly through the middle of Atlanta, going east-west.  At three points in the Atlanta highway system does I-20 intersect, and at any given point during the day (or night), those will inevitably be the worst points of traffic.  The I-85/I-75 connector probably gets it the worst in both directions on a daily basis, but the west intersection of I-285 and I-20 is notorious for predictably horrific traffic, especially for those traveling southbound; it’s incredible how people needing to travel westbound on I-20 manage to choke out and congest four lanes across 10 miles of roadway on a daily basis.

Continue reading “Are there any other cities like this?” →

Long story short:  Atlanta’s State Route 400 AKA the toll-road that directly connects Midtown to Sandy Springs is finally getting rid of the toll plazas, and will very soon become a free road to travel.  Many believe that this will ease congestion throughout the city.

Here’s my prediction: traffic on 400 will become worse than ever once it becomes a free road.  When it occurs to every single person who grinds through I-75 to get onto I-285 to get to Sandy Springs because they don’t want to pay the 400 toll, a good chunk of them are going to start taking 400.  In addition to all the people who take 400 on a regular basis, because that’s their daily routine already.

Continue reading “Small prediction” →