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Runway in the sky


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Guest donaltopablo

Runway in the sky

Giant bridge over i-285 under way

By KIRSTEN TAGAMI

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/13/04

It is perhaps the ultimate Atlanta construction project: a massive new runway for the world's busiest airport plunked right on top of one of the world's busiest freeways.

image_542696.jpg

A dump truck picks up its load at the construction site of the $159 million fifth-runway bridge at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. From a motorist's perspective, going underneath on I-285 will seem like going through a 1,500-foot tunnel.

Work on the $159 million fifth-runway bridge at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is well under way, as anyone driving on I-285 near the airport can see.

Much of the support structure

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Interesting solution to the problem of expanding an airport that is running out of space for major expansions.

The last line scares me though..."The bridge will be wide enough to permit future highway expansion of up to 18 lanes of traffic by 2025, up from 10 now."

18 lanes of traffic?! Has anybody ever heard of mass transit? 10 lanes is about as wide a freeways get here, and I don't think they plan on expanding them to 18 lanes anytime soon.

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Guest donaltopablo

LOL! I'm not aware of any plans on the DOT 2030 plan to expand 285 to 18 lanes, but maybe I missed something. Currently the widest freeway in Atlanta is 16 lanes total, although that will likely grow to 18 when they add HOV lanes. That honor belongs to I75 just north of the 75/285 interchange.

But the question have they ever heard of mass transit is a good question :) But it's kinda of like getting a telemarketing call in the middle of dinner:

"Yes, I've heard of mass transit, no I'm not interested." Click. LOL.

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What is it with cities & HOV lanes? We don't have any in Detroit, but based on what I've seen in other cities, nobody uses them. Why waste all kind of money to build a lane that nobody uses? IMO, the money used to build HOV lanes is better used towards some sort of a mass transit system.

ATL needs mass transit though. If it continues growing & sprawling like it is now, traffic will be an even worse mess than it is now.

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Guest donaltopablo

What is it with cities & HOV lanes? We don't have any in Detroit, but based on what I've seen in other cities, nobody uses them. Why waste all kind of money to build a lane that nobody uses? IMO, the money used to build HOV lanes is better used towards some sort of a mass transit system.

ATL needs mass transit though. If it continues growing & sprawling like it is now, traffic will be an even worse mess than it is now.

I love HOV lanes. It means when I am carpooling (which is common) I can get just about anywhere as quickly as I could during non-rush hours.

For example, I was a regular business traveler. When I drove to the airport during rush hour (morning or evening) it generally took 1.5-2 hours from my suburban job. Just recently on a trip to the airport to freight something, in the car pool lane, it took 35 minutes, which is about average drive time during non-rush hour.

HOV lanes are cool with me.

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